The award-winning Bonkers singer / songwriter made the faux pas live on air when chatting to Chris Moyles, stating that Billericay had a Latin ring to it. He said “I might sound a bit dizzy but I though Billericay was in Spain – it just sounds a bit Spanish.”

The pair had been discussing possible venues for Dizzee’s new music video when Moyles jokingly suggested a beach in Canvey Island or even Billericay town centre. After realising what he had said Dizzee was quick to ‘big up’ everyone in Billericay before sending them a big “hola”!

Work on the £2.5m package of investment in Castle Point’s leisure facilities kicks off next month at The Paddocks, Canvey Island. Around £136,000 will be spent on the Canvey Island based facility which could become a wedding venue if the council is successful in its application for a licence, when it reopens in July.

Runnymede Hall is next on the programme, closing for nine weeks from 19 July to 17 September for a £242,950 facelift. Woodside Hall maintenance will run alongside this, between 19 July and 27 August.

The £724,000 facelift for Runnymede Pool involves a six month closure starting in September. The 1970s built facility needs extensive repairs to pipework, boilers, windows, doors and the roof. These are expected to prolong its life for another 20 to 30 years. On re-opening users will benefit from an improved reception area and upgraded changing facilities

Further details on this, and also other things in the pipeline, can be found on the Castle Point District Council website.

The firm, states the Yellow Advertiser, admitted breaching health and safety regulations at its terminal in Thames Road after 163 tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas leaked into the atmosphere. The company was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court last Monday and ordered to pay an additional £27,185 in court costs.

The leak happened while a ship was unloading gas to the site early on October 27, 2008. The gas, which is stored in a liquid form, escaped from a pipe when an over-pressure safety device operated before a vapour cloud formed.

Health and Safety Executive inspector, John Hawkins, said: “This site is specifically designated as a major hazard site, and that means that the correct management of risk is absolutely essential.

The leak could have been minimised had the sensor operated as intended. It was fortunate that the incident did not escalate further, since no emergency alarm sounded. This case illustrates how important it is for companies to maintain effective measures to control risks from LPG.”

Stephen Rennie, managing director of Calor Gas Ltd, said he was disappointed the firm’s record of no previous HSE convictions in 75 years had been ‘tarnished’.

He said: “Everyone at Calor deeply regrets the incident at our Canvey site. While we accept that lessons can and will be learned from this event we would like to emphasise that at no time was any member of the public at risk.

Since the incident, a number of enhancements to equipment and procedures have been made. All of this has been done with the full co-operation and involvement of the HSE.”

Gateway FM remains committed to its party political independence and is careful to ensure that coverage of political events and comment should be both balanced and equal handed.

However, in the period between the Prime Minister requesting the Monarch to dissolve parliament and the closing of ballot boxes, we have an overriding duty not to be seen as exerting any undue influence upon voters by representing partisan interests or being thought to represent partisan interests.

Indeed, rather than provide a time quota for each party according to an agreed formula permitting more time to the principal parties and a lesser time for minor parties gauged proportionately to their estimated percentage of the vote (based on precedent), we are  adopting the simple policy of leaving party political content to others (you will probably have heard quite enough of it well before election date) and simply urging you to vote.

No matter what the outcome, all parties will reflect upon their share of the votes and draw inferences accordingly. As a voter, you have the right to express your opinion via the ballot box. Please do.

A great song and a great performance give a greatly talented singer the opportunity of a lifetime. Not bad for a Basildon boy.

If he is successful he will be jetting off to Norway in May and singing a song penned by pop legend Pete Waterman OBE.

Josh has been a frequent guest on Gateway FM and we fully support him at this exciting time.

A facebook page has been set up titled “Your county needs you” for people to join. Of course, the best thing that can be done is to watch the show on BBC1 at 8.30pm and cast a vote for him.

You can find out about Josh on myspace http://www.myspace.com/joshdubovie plus there is a short video that’s well worth seeing on the BBC web site www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/contestants/ycny_2010/contestant_josh.shtml

So please join us in giving Josh your support. He’s a great singer  and could just be the guy to make Eurovision 2010 the year for us to celebrate a win at last.

Press Release

It is with great pleasure and a deep sense of pride in the achievement of all our members that I am delighted to tell you that Gateway FM has been awarded its five year FM licence to broadcast a community radio service to our area.

Now that the licence issue is clear, we can commit ourselves to preparing for the launch of this important addition to the local media.

As soon as I know a date when we are cleared to start, I shall let you know. In the meantime, please keep an eye on www.gatewayfm.com for further news.

—

Today’s Ofcom announcement of the award stated, “Gateway FM is a not for profit social enterprise. Its mission is to enhance community cohesion through developing a community radio station to reach, involve and serve the communities of Basildon and East Thurrock. The station proposes to present a mixture of output reflecting the range of interests and backgrounds in the target community.”

For further information, please contact Yvonne Williams on 01268 521299

Top singer Peter Andre visited Tescos at Pitsea as part of his nationwide tour promoting his new CD.

Crowds gathered to meet the star, however the star took time out first to talk to Gateway FMs Danny Lawrence and Basildon Upper Academy student Harry Finn.
Listen to the interview.

Peter Andre Interview

Some 5000 people were waiting to meet Peter, but few would have known that during his signing session he received the surprise news that his ex, Katie Price, otherwise known as Jordan, has married cagefighter Alex Reid in a reportedly private and simple  ’quickie’ Las Vegas ceremony.

Peter subsequently revealed that he has no negative feelings about the couple and just hopes they will be a good influence on his children.

The reigning Miss Galaxy International, Hayley Mac with champion former javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread MBE, Olympic bronze (1984) and silver (1988) medallist, World Champion (gold, 1987) and silver medallist (1983)

The Selex Club provided the venue for Friday’s ‘Battle of the Bands’  in aid of St Lukes.

The place rocked. The bands provided sound levels to make your ears hum and feet tap.

It was a great show with a welcome surprise guest: Olympic star, Fatima Whitbread.

She joined Hayley Mac, reigning Miss Galaxy International, to present the awards.

The winning band was Eighth Deadly Sin, in second place The Leonhearts and third place went to No Tomorrow.

Interestingly the spead of marks awarded by the judges was quite small, which reflects well on the quality of all the entrants into the competition.

The coveted first prize is a day in Basildon Recording Studio and the opportunity to perform and represent St. Luke’s at a variety of different events through the year, as well as more air time.  Of course, all the bands gained terrific exposure, for they had all been featured on Gateway FM’s ‘Live & Loud’ show.

Cllr Sandra Hillier, Vice-Chair of Basildon District Council was joined on the judging panel by Peter Davies, MD of Orion Display and a Corporate Partner of St Luke’s Hospice; Yvonne Williams, MD of Gateway FM; Greg Fidgeon, Editor of the Yellow Advertiser and Mick Finch, guitar and vocals for ‘The Most’. Mick is an experienced professional musician who was able to give valuable advice to the contestants.

Gateway FM’s Breakfast Time presenter, Brian Wesley, lost no time in getting Fatima to the microphone for a brief chat immediately before the winners were announced: click the link to hear what she had to say: fatima interview

For more pictures of the event, visit the picture gallery for ‘Battle of the Bands’ in the media section.

SEPT is one of the largest NHS providers in the country of health and social care services for people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities.

As an NHS Foundation Trust, SEPT is run locally, not by Government, and must work closely with the local community to develop services in a way that best suits the needs of local people.  Members meetings give the local community the chance to ask questions about the Trust and mental health services.

 If you would like to become a Trust member, you will find details via the website  www.southessex-trust.nhs.uk .

Gateway FM’s Ros Connors interviews Doctor Patrick Geoghegan from the South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust about Runwell’s history, the changes expected, and the stigma still surrounding mental health.

Click the link to hear the interview: Dr Patrick Geoghegan intv