A hop-on hop-off open-top bus service 68 connecting visitor spots between central Southend and Leigh is to be launched in time for the summer holidays.

Operated by Go Ahead London, the route will run from Monday 24th July 2017 to Saturday 2nd September 2017, circuiting to and from Southend Pier via:

• The Kursaal
• Westcliff Palmeira Arches (for cafés)
• Chalkwell Shelter
• Chalkwell Station
• Leigh, The Ship (for Bell Wharf Beach)
• Leigh-on-Sea Rail Station
• Leigh Broadway

This new 68 route will be operated with a red and white open top bus, running on an hourly frequency for most of the day.

A spokesperson from Go Ahead London, said: “We are delighted to reintroduce this iconic open top service along Southend Seafront and hope that local residents and visitors to Southend will take the opportunity to travel with us during this period.”

Cllr Holland, Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, said: “I’m delighted that a private operator is investing in a new tourist service, which will make it easier for visitors to explore the many attractions in the West of our Borough when they visit the Golden Mile.

“The open-top bus service will be a visitor attraction in its own right and will directly benefit the community and businesses alike within Westcliff, Chalkwell and Leigh, by delivering customers to their door.

“We have highlighted the importance of improving transport links in the Tourist Strategy that we are developing with the Southend Tourism Partnership, so it brings me great pleasure to see this service coming online for the summer holidays.”

The Fares for the service, which are cash only and must be paid on the bus, are as follows
Adult Day Ticket £4
Adult Return £3
Adult Single £2

Child/Concession Day Ticket £2
Child/Concession Return £1.50
Child/Concession Single £1 
5 Together All Day £10 
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Further information about the service can be found at: https://www.goaheadlondon.com/events/post/discover-southend-68 

Five parks in Southend-on-Sea have been recognised by the Green Flag Award Scheme as some of the very best in the world.
 
Chalkwell, Belfairs, Priory, Shoebury and Southchurch parks are among a record-breaking 1,797 UK parks and green spaces that have been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award - the mark of a quality park or green space.
 
This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.
 
Cllr Ann Holland, Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive Green Flag Awards again this year.
 
“We know how much our parks matter to residents and visitors, and this award celebrates the dedication that goes into maintaining all of our parks and open spaces to such a high standard.
 
“Celebrating these awards during Love Parks Week makes it that extra bit special for all the residents and visitors, knowing they are in award winning spaces.”
 
International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme.
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“Each flag is a celebration of the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. The success of the scheme, especially in these challenging times, demonstrates just how much parks matter to people.”

Southend Pier welcomed 156,494 visitors in the first half of 2017 – smashing visitor numbers for the same period of any year since before the pier was ravaged by fire in 2005.
 
The previous record for first-half-year visitor numbers was in 2014, with 145,860 visitors.
 
The increasing popularity of the pier is being put down to a combination of an improving visitor offer, increasing visitors to the town overall and recent good weather.
 
Cllr Ann Holland, Executive Councillor for Culture, Tourism and the Economy, said: “The surge in visitor numbers is extremely promising and a ringing endorsement of the hard work that has gone into developing our visitor offer.
 
“Last year saw the introduction of ‘cultural beach huts’ on the pier, which have remained this year, with some now operating as concession stalls at the pier head and selling food, drinks and souvenirs. This was in addition the introduction of crazy golf and the refurbishment of the Royal Pavilion café under a new operator with a better menu.
 
“Other highlights this year will be an Only Fools and Horses Exhibition opening at the western entrance of the pier later this week, paddle-steamer The Waverley taking visitors to and from the pier from various destinations in the South East and London and a passenger ferry trialling a new service from Sheppey to Southend Pier.”
 
Bigger and bolder plans are in place for the year ahead. Work on extending the pier entrance to create a bigger, better welcome for visitors commences after the summer season and an architect is soon to be appointed to develop plans for a visitor centre on the former bowling deck.

EasyJet has today launched a brand new route between Southend Airport and the sun-soaked islands of Malta.

Starting from October 29, 2017, easyJet will fly to Malta twice a week, all year round, with tickets now on sale from just £53.39 one-way.

Located just south of Sicily, Malta and its accompanying islands of Gozo and Comino offers up an unlimited number of cultural and natural treats – 7,000 years of history (including three World Heritage Sites) temples that outdate both the Pyramids and Stonehenge, magnificent medieval walled towns complete with Baroque cathedrals and winding back streets. The famous coastline boasts some of the best diving sites in not only the Mediterranean, but also the whole world. When it comes to choosing where to stay, you’ll find everything from five-star deluxe to self-catered farmhouse chic.

The Maltese Islands’ weather is great all year round, so there is no best time to visit. Summers are long and hot, boasting temperatures well into the 30s coupled with almost no rain. Winter sees average highs of around 19 degrees and six hours of sunshine a day.

Glyn Jones, CEO at London Southend Airport said “I am sure Malta will prove to be yet another hugely popular destination to passengers from Essex and the South East. Thanks to our partnership with easyJet, and other airlines, we now have a fantastic mix of around 30 leisure and business destinations for people to explore.”
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Sophie Dekkers, easyJet’s Director – UK Market, said: “We’re delighted to announce another new route from London Southend Airport. Year-round flights to Malta provide our passengers from across the region with another holiday destination to choose from and we are sure it will be very popular. We’re seeing more and more people using our services from London Southend for both leisure and business trips and we’re keen to continue adding more varied routes to our schedule.”

Southend-on-Sea pupils are celebrating news that the area is performing above the national average for Key Stage 2 SATS. 

Pupils have been achieving and in many cases exceeding the Government’s new expected standard in tests for reading, writing, maths and grammar, punctuation and spelling.

According to provisional data released by the Department for Education today, 9 per cent more local pupils (65 per cent compared to 56 per cent in 2016) achieved at least the expected standard in the combined reading, writing and maths measure – compared with an England average of 61 per cent.

In maths, 76 per cent achieved the expected standard, above the national figure of 75 per cent and in reading, 73.5 per cent of local pupils achieved the expected standard (also above the national average of 71 per cent), rising from 67 per cent in 2016.

Just over seventy-eight per cent of the Borough’s year 6 pupils achieved at least the expected standard in writing, compared to an England average of 76 per cent.

Results in grammar, punctuation and spelling increased from 73 per cent to 76 per cent in 2017.

Cllr James Courtenay, Executive Councillor for Children and Learning, said: “Congratulations to local pupils and schools for what is a really great achievement. I am delighted to see improved results that are above the national averages yet again. These provisional results are very pleasing, particularly the 9 per cent rise in the combined measure.

“As delighted as we are, we want to give our pupils the best possible foundations for their journey into secondary education and we will continue to support our schools and their pupils to aim high and be the best they can be.  This is a challenge that we have accepted head on and will continue to commit to and deliver moving forwards.”