From the Echo: December 16th, 2013

ONE of the busiest junctions on the A127 is to undergo a £4.75 million revamp next year after the Government pledged to foot most of the bill.

The Tesco roundabout revamp, at the junction of Nestuda Way, will include more lanes, traffic lights and six months of traffic delays.

Work will start in July. Southend Council says changes were needed to provide for growth as Southend Airport attracts more business to the town.

Council leader Nigel Holdcroft said: “This is excellent news and demonstrates strong support for our plans to remove bottlenecks on the A127.

“Improving access into Southend will create jobs and boost the local economy.”

Transport officers are yet to finalise plans for the roundabout, but the draft includes more lanes and “smart” traffic lights that can sense how much traffic is waiting, similar to Cuckoo Corner.

The Southend-bound carriageway of the A127 may be widened from two to four lanes and right turning lanes may be added to Nestuda Way and Thanet Grange, which leads to Tesco and RBS, to stop waiting vehicles blocking others.

The Government will pay £3.2million towards the scheme, due to be completed by March 2015, with the rest coming from council coffers.

The council hopes the scheme will support the creation of 7,000 jobs and the construction of 1,785 houses by 2021. Most jobs are earmarked for a new Airport Business Park, off Cherry Orchard Way, which is reached from Nestuda Way.

The council has asked for more cash to redevelop the Kent Elms and Bell junctions of the A127 and expects to hear back next July. Any work would start after the Tesco Roundabout is finished.

Tony Cox, councillor responsible for transport, said: “We gave a commitment to reduce congestion at the junctions on the A127 following the improvements at both Cuckoo Corner and Progress Road, which were delivered on budget and on time.

“Improving the Tesco roundabout junction will not only ease congestion and improve traffic flow, it will also offer a major boost to encouraging economic growth at the proposed Airport Business Park.

“We are also actively making the case for further investment to secure improvements at Kent Elms Corner and the Bell.

“The improvement at the Tesco roundabout is an important further step towards completing all five junctions and represents strong government support for our plans.”

Southend Borough Council is collecting £1.8m in central government money to spend on a range of local business support packages.

The win follows the council’s successful bid for a share of £32m ‘City Deal’ funding made available by the deputy prime minister’s office to help stimulate and support economic growth. The government is keen to give England’s 20 largest cities outside London more responsibility for generating commercial and employment opportunities.

It’s envisaged the funding will encourage local firms and organisations to take advantage of a range of business-building initiatives including match funding of capital grants up to £40k to support priority sectors developing in Southend and potentially wider South Essex, innovation vouchers to help developing businesses make use of key academic institutions and courses to equip new and developing businesses in partnership with private sector operators such as the Chamber of Commerce.

Councillor Nigel Holdcroft, Leader of Southend on Sea Borough Council said: "The fund gives us a wonderful opportunity to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for linking national schemes and local initiatives so the business community can quickly and easily get the help and advice it needs to grow.

"And there’ll be funded help for forging much closer links with UK Trade and Investment, to help win overseas business. Potentially, this project could be rolled out to the wider Local Enterprise Partnership area as Southend is the only City Deal in the South East LEP in England."

City Deals are agreements between government and a city giving it control to take charge and responsibility for decisions affecting its area, do what they think is best to help businesses grow, create economic growth and decide how public money should be spent.

In January 2013, Southend put forward its proposal showing how it would to do this.

Southend falls into the 20 cities category - the 14 largest cities outside of London and their wider areas and the six cities with the highest population growth during 2001 to 2010.

Shoppers are being urged to champion local Southend firms and support Small Business Saturday on 7th December.

This is a national campaign to encourage everyone to back their neighbourhood's small companies.

Businesses across the borough are already taking part by staging events or promoting the day in other ways. These include a Victorian Christmas in Hamlet Court Road from 2pm, special offers being launched in 25 businesses in Leigh, on-the-day discounts at Boutique 69 in Southend High Street, and a free pot of tea with any slice of cake at Gleneagles Guest House, Southend.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is playing its part to boost Small Business Saturday too, by offering all day free car parking on Saturday 7th December in the following car parks:

•  Ilfracombe Avenue
•  North Rd
•  Hamlet Court Road
•  Elm Rd
•  North Street
•  Ceylon Road
•  Thorpe Bay Broadway

The Council's Executive Councillor for Public Protection, Waste and Transport, Councillor Tony Cox said: "Small Business Saturday is a key event, so we are supporting it with this free parking opportunity to attract even more people to enjoy all the perks and proximity of our local firms."

Deputy Leader, Councillor John Lamb said: "Southend has many vibrant small businesses helping maintain and improve the borough's prosperity and giving many benefits, so it is vital to make the most of these and support this national Small Business Saturday campaign. A similar drive in America last year generated sales worth an estimated £5.5 billion.

"We hope as many small Southend firms as possible - whether family businesses, local shops, online businesses, accountants, wholesalers or small manufacturers - will get involved. Small Business Saturday is a great way to further promote the "shop local" message to help Southend's small businesses. However it is important to point out that this is not just about retail.

"There are many service, manufacturing, supply and creative businesses which will be boosted by everyone trying to buy locally on Saturday 7th December and beyond. If you don't "shop local" now, you could risk permanently losing the chance to do so in future." 

For more information on how businesses can get involved and how the community can help, please visit www.businessonsea.co.uk or email economicd@southend.gov.uk.