Death at Limes Farm

Published on 3 December 2007

Residents of Limes Farm in Chigwell are coming to terms with the tragic incident on Friday which led to a young boy losing his life. Police are investigating the incident and have made arrests. Councillor Mrs Diana Collins, Leader of Epping Forest District Council has expressed her shock and sympathy.

Councillor Mrs Collins said: “Limes Farm is a close-knit community of honest, decent and hardworking people who will have been deeply shocked by this incident.”

Limes Farm benefited from a major regeneration scheme in the early 1990s that improved the housing and removed many of the design issues associated with Council estates built in the 1960s. Alleyways and dark corridors were removed. New gardens and courtyards were built. Lighting was improved. A community association was formed and a range of partners worked to bring social activities to the estate.

Limes Farm is on the border with London. In recent years it has experienced on-going problems with young people from outside the area coming to the estate to cause trouble. A combination of organisations has worked to improve the situation by providing social support and activities for local young people. At the same time, Essex Police and Epping Forest District Council have co-ordinated anti-social behaviour orders with the Metropolitan Police. The local police office has been re-furbished and re-opened for surgeries. CCTV has been installed to monitor areas of the estate where anti-social behaviour was most common.

Councillor Mrs Collins said: “I would seek to reassure people. People have already seen a number of changes such as the recent introduction of CCTV and more work is in the pipeline. A meeting of local residents with the Council, Police and other organisations to discuss further initiatives had already been scheduled before this tragedy and will still take place as planned.

“Limes Farm is a community in shock. There will be questions to be answered but some of those may have to wait for the completion of any legal proceedings. In the meantime, this is a time for the community to pull together.”

Local Councillors Kewal Chana, David Bateman and Gagan Mohindra are working with Councillor Mrs Collins and Community Well-being Portfolio Holder for Epping Forest District Council, Councillor Ms Syd Stavrou who said: “For the vast majority of residents, Epping Forest District is a safe and pleasant place in which to live but we are not isolated from the outside world. This is the latest of a number of similar incidents that have occurred up and down the country. For those involved it is the worst of all personal tragedies and the repercussions will spread throughout their families and loved ones. As a wider community we have to say how sorry we are but that this kind of thing cannot be tolerated and must be stopped. The loss of one young life is one too many. We must make sure we do all we can to prevent such a thing happening again.”

« back