Southend Council is set to campaign for an outer relief road to the east of the borough, another river crossing to the east of the Lower Thames Crossing, and for the Crossrail line to be extended to Southend.
 
The ambitious demands form part of a draft five-year plan (2019-2023) which will be discussed by the council’s cabinet on November 6th.
 
The draft plan has been drawn up on the back of a major public engagement programme called ‘Southend 2050 – be part of the conversation’ that started in spring 2018.
 
Over 35,000 people were reached through the work, with 4,000 people actively taking part and 55 events taking place.
 
This work has identified the sort of place residents and stakeholders want Southend-on-Sea to be, and the work needed now and over the next five years (to 2023) to help make that happen. The roadmap also identifies key milestones and projects that will be delivered up to 2023.

Other milestones in the draft plan include the first tenant moving into Airport Business Park Southend by 2020, the start of the Better Queensway regeneration scheme in the same year, the opening of the new Pier pavilion in 2021, and the completion of the Airport Business Park by 2023.
 
The milestones also highlight that a renewed partnership with the voluntary and community sector is a key aspiration for 2019, as is working with schools and academy trusts to secure improvements in underperforming schools.
 
Cllr James Courtenay, Deputy Leader of the Council, says: “Our draft five-year plan for the borough demonstrates a clear ambition and clear direction of what we want to do and what we want to achieve as a council and also as a place.
 
“We know that Southend-on-Sea, and south Essex as a whole, are going to grow in the future, and we are working with councils across south Essex on that.  It will bring numerous economic and social benefits to the area. 
 
“However, we are also adamant that this must be infrastructure led and that is why we are planning to campaign for a road to the east and aim to secure funding for it by 2023, call for Crossrail to be extended to Southend-on-Sea and also help make the case for a further river crossing to the east of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing.”
 
Cllr John Lamb, Leader of the Council, added: “I am delighted to present this plan for the future of our Borough. This is truly a resident and stakeholder led piece of work, and I want to thank each and every person who has got involved.
 
“Our ambition for the Borough and our draft five-year plan has come directly from what local people, businesses and stakeholders have told us they want.
 
“I want to be clear that this isn’t about the year 2050, but it is about planning for the future whilst also dealing with the challenges and issues we face today, tomorrow and over the next five years.
 
“Planning ahead and having an ambition is an essential part of any successful business or place.
 
“Our draft ambition and five-year roadmap has emerged from detailed engagement with a cross section of the community and helped us to identify what we want to achieve as a place, and how we deliver that collectively with our public sector partners, local residents and businesses.
 
“It has told us clearly what is important to local people and it is already helping us to deal with the here and now too.
 
“The excellent and extensive engagement work we have done has helped us to clearly focus on what needs to be done now and into the future to ensure that we achieve our outcomes for the community.”
 
Cabinet are being asked to approve the draft documents and refer them to all three November scrutiny committees for further comments before consideration by a special cabinet on 4th December and then Full Council on 13th December.
 
The draft documents can be read here (agenda item 4).

Visitor numbers to Southend reached a record high in 2017, according to a new tourism assessment.
 
The key results from the 2017 Economic Impact Assessment – an independent assessment conducted by tourism insights experts Destination Research - has shown that tourism in Southend reached new heights in a record breaking year.
 
Key results show that:

• More than 7.5 million trips were undertaken in the area, an increase of around 500,000 from 2016
• £335m was spent by tourists, an increase of £22m from 2016
• 9,587 jobs supported for local residents, an increase of 607 from 2016
• £50m generated from overnight visits, an increase of £2m from 2016

Cllr James Courtenay, cabinet member for growth, said: “Figures from the recent Economic Impact Assessment reveal Southend’s tourism economy continued to go from strength to strength last year. The council has worked closely with our partners, such as Southend BID, to entice day-trippers to the borough and encourage them to stay longer.
 
“I’m pleased to see an increase in number of trips, number of overnight visits, money spent in the borough through tourism and also more tourism jobs filled by local people. This is all fantastic news for the town.
 
“So far this year we have also seen record visitor numbers for the pier, and I am confident that visitor numbers for this year will be similarly impressive. Our focus now must be to continue to ensure our town remains a place people wish to keep coming back to and our recent High Street summit is and important part of that.”

Southend has been named as one of the first UK locations to be covered by new ultra fast broadband.

The multi-million pound CityFibre project aims to provide gigabit speed connectivity. It is estimated that the upgrade could mean economic benefits for Southend including £24m in boosted productivity and innovation and £15m in new business start-ups.

Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre, said: "We are committed to making Southend-on-Sea one of the best-connected digital towns in the UK. Building on our existing investment, which has connected local schools, businesses and public sector buildings, we are now committed to bringing this digital capability to homes and businesses."

CityFibre is working closely with Southend Council to plan and co-ordinate work.

Cllr Andrew Moring of Southend Council said: "We are delighted that Southend-on-Sea is at the forefront of full-fibre roll-out - the finest digital infrastructure the UK has ever seen. This significant investment into the Borough is very welcome.

​"This inward investment will help us attract businesses, help develop our emerging creative and tech sector and encourage hundreds of business start-ups. With this extension of the project, the full benefits will soon be felt by everyone who lives and works here."

​A major new road linking Kent and Essex will be a three-lane dual carriageway that would almost double capacity across the River Thames, Highways England has said.

The Lower Thames Crossing is billed as the UK's most ambitious road scheme since the M25 motorway opened 30 years ago, and will include Britain's longest road tunnel.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the toll road will "transform journeys, create new business opportunities in Kent and Essex and unlock productivity across the UK" when it opens in 2027.

A 10-week public consultation on the latest designs for the scheme opened this week.

The planned new 14.5 mile route will connect the M2 near Rochester in Kent and the M25 in Essex between North and South Ockenden.
It will also include a 2.4 mile tunnel between Gravesend and Tilbury - the longest road tunnel in the UK.

But public transport groups claim ministers should instead focus on improving rail links. There are also fears that traffic using the new crossing will blight communities with pollution on approach roads.

The tunnel is expected to divert vehicles from the Dartford Crossing, the only road crossing of the river east of London. It is used for 50 million journeys annually and is often the scene of frustration for motorists stuck in traffic jams for several hours following accidents.

The new crossing is expected to reduce traffic at Dartford by 22 per cent, with 14 million fewer vehicles using it every year.

And the route will almost halve the morning peak average journey times between M25 junctions 1b and 31 from nine minutes to just five, Highways England said.

Under the latest designs, the whole route of the Lower Thames Crossing  will be a three-lane dual carriageway rather than two lanes in some sections. This will result in a 90 per cent increase in capacity for traffic crossing the Thames east of London, compared with around 60 per cent - 70 per cent under the previous two-lane plan.

The scheme's budget has risen to a range of £5.3 billion to £6.8 billion due to more detailed design work and ground investigations. A previous estimate put the range at £4.4 billion to £6.2 billion.

The design has been updated to "minimise the impact on local communities and environment", Highways England said. Other changes in the latest designs include:

• A new rest and service area to the west of East Tilbury
• Removal of the proposed Tilbury link road to reduce traffic on the local road network
• Lowering the road by up to six metres in places to reduce its visual impact

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “We are making the biggest investment in improving our roads since the 1970s, ensuring journeys are quicker and safer. The Lower Thames Crossing will help transform journeys, create new business opportunities in Kent and Essex and unlock productivity across the UK.

“It will also cut congestion at the Dartford Crossing and improve connectivity from our industrial heartland to our ports in the South East.”

The scheme's project director, Tim Jones, said: “For too long the Dartford Crossing has been the only way to get across the Thames east of London. It is a vital gateway, but carries more traffic than it was ever designed for and drivers there suffer from regular delays, severing communities and holding back economic growth.

"The Lower Thames Crossing is the most ambitious project of its kind ever in the UK and the biggest single road upgrade since the M25 was completed more than 30 years ago. 
​
"It would almost double road capacity across the Thames cutting congestion, significantly easing pressure at the Dartford Crossing and boosting the resilience of the whole road network. This consultation is an important opportunity for people to share their views on our proposals and I urge anyone who has an interest to have their say."

To have your say on the consultation, visit www.lowerthamescrossing.co.uk/haveyoursay