Council Reports In Memory of Peter Mecklenburgh Peter Mecklenburgh (20th May 1946 – 11th June 2022) Some Thoughts about a Well-rounded and Happy Man Peter Mecklenburgh died on Saturday 11th June 2202, aged 76. For some years he played an important part in Mile End life. He was Myland Parish (now Community) Council’s first Chairman and was re-elected to that post for the following three years, making four years in total. As such, he shaped the Council’s early development and influenced Mile End life greatly for the better. He was a caring and loving family man, constantly concerned for his lovely wife Frances and their two beloved daughters, both of whom were to test him sorely at times. He was funny, clever and articulate, with occasionally unusual pronunciations of ordinary words. He was imaginative and creative and something of an artist. He had an original mind. He was a doting Grandad. Advice to grandchildren often included, “You don’t want to be with the oldies, they’re miserable”. Peter was mostly an astute self-employed businessman, making a good living through various activities connected with building, property and development. When it came to the Local Planning Committee, Peter and they had at times a difficult relationship. On one occasion he had no alternative but to take the Borough Council to the High Court. He was successful. The Borough’s shifting attitude to development of land he and Frances owned in Severall’s Lane resulted in the two of them living in a caravan on the site for fifteen years! Most marriages would probably not have survived this—theirs’s thrived! In the late 1990s there was a strong feeling in Mile End that plans were being made for huge housing developments and that Mile End’s Borough Councillors were not keeping residents in the picture. This was much discussed in the Dog and Pheasant and eventually, in 1998, a decision was made to try and form a Parish Council so that there would be a body to speak for local residents. No-one knew how to form one, but the Essex Association of Local Councils proved really helpful. 13
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