Residents of Southend-on-Sea shared their vision for the City’s future as part of engagement to help the council form a new strategy for the city centre.

On Thursday 12 May, new community hub The Ironworks at number 90 on Southend High Street opened its doors to residents who wished to share their opinions on the subject, with an online version of the survey also available on the Your Say Southend platform.

This engagement has started the process to create a new strategy to regenerate Southend City Centre. The strategy will set a clear vision and series of actions to guide the future development and direction of Southend City Centre for years to come. It will also help to form a list of projects to attract investment into the City to improve quality of life, bring jobs, and improve the environment. 

The six-hour event hosted over 85 participants from various sectors including education, local business, housing, arts and culture, transport, health and many more people dropped in throughout the day to provide their thoughts and suggestions. The sessions were led by architecture and urbanism experts 'We Made That’, who hosted a ‘question and answer’ style drop-in. Many passers-by also received leaflets with the survey website address to take part at home online in their own time.

A spokesperson from We Made That said: “There was lots of positive and helpful feedback from the sessions which we will take forward and help us shape the city centre strategy and investment plan. We hope that people found the sessions helpful and informative.”

Cllr Ian Gilbert, cabinet member for economic recovery and regeneration, added: “It was fantastic to see so many people drop by to take part in the consultation last week, and for those who were unable to make the in-person session, the consultation is still available online. I encourage as many people as possible to take part in the online survey so that we can develop a strategy that reflects the views of Southend’s residents.”
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A physical exhibition of the event is currently available to view at the Forum Library, and the online version of the consultation is available on the Your Say Southend website, which will run until Friday 27 May 2022.

Five of Southend-on-Sea’s beaches will be proudly flying prestigious Blue Flags once again following the announcement made by Keep Britain Tidy.

The Blue Flag awards, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is an international award for well-managed beaches with excellent water quality.

East Beach, Shoebury Common Beach, Thorpe Bay Beach, Westcliff Beach and Three Shells Beach have all retained their Blue Flag this summer, highlighting the quality of the beaches across the City.

In addition, all Southend beaches have once again been presented with a Seaside Award by Keep Britain Tidy. The Seaside Award recognises beaches that are well-managed and maintained. This includes Bell Wharf Beach, where bathing had previously been discouraged.

The news comes after the recent launch of the new, eco-friendly electric pier trains, with the council confident the summer will be a record-breaking one for the pier and for local businesses, as the country continues to recover from the pandemic.

Cllr Carole Mulroney, cabinet member for environment, culture, tourism and planning, said “Receiving these awards for our beaches means that our residents and visitors can be sure that they are clean and safe and meet the highest environmental standards.

“Southend-on-Sea welcomes over 7 million visitors per year, and with Blue Flag and Seaside Awards flying above our beaches, residents and visitors will know that they are the best in the country. The flags attract visitors, and with us now being a City, this combination will prove a huge boost for local businesses through the popular summer months.
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“We want everyone to enjoy our beaches and help keep them award winning. We are all aware of the damage rubbish causes to marine life and the quality of the water, so we can all personally make a difference by disposing of rubbish responsibly when visiting the seaside or taking it home if bins are full.”

Improvement works to East Beach, Shoeburyness, which will provide increased parking and easier access for residents and visitors, are progressing well following the start of the work in April.

The two-phase project will see the existing layout of East Beach improved, with the existing car park - which is currently unmarked, made up of loose gravel and heavily worn - resurfaced and have 224 spaces marked out, including 11 disabled spaces. The car park is also being wired to accommodate electric vehicle charging points as demand grows in the coming years.
 
Further improvements are also being made to the area, with a dedicated footpath and cycle access from Shoeburyness High Street to enable better access to the area, alongside additional solar powered lighting columns and increased CCTV coverage. Works started on phase one of the project last month, with the footpath and cycleway being constructed, and the wiring for the electric vehicle chargers installed. This phase is on schedule and will be completed in approximately two weeks.  

The construction of the car park will be carried out as part of phase two. The project is being undertaken by Marlborough Highways and council engineers, and the project is due to be completed by the end of August 2022. 

Cllr Steven Wakefield, cabinet member for transport, asset management and inward investment, said: “East Beach has needed these improvement works for some time now, so it is great to see it underway. The improved layout will benefit visitors to East Beach but also residents and those from the surrounding area.

“It’s important that we improve our visitor offering to the east of the City. East Beach is one of our many sought out attraction spots for residents and visitors alike, and so it is great that these works are due to be completed in August, making our open spaces and facilities more accessible, which will include the proposed new cafés, refurbished toilets and beach. 

“It’s great news that the proposed café developments for East Beach also now have planning permission and we expect those to be coming forward over the course of 2022. Any expressions of interest for these should be directed to local agent Ayers and Cruiks who are engaged by the Council to market these.

“The car park will also have the facilities for commuters to purchase a season ticket – available on our website for just £45 per month - so that they can use the car park hassle-free and get on the train for their commute, and perhaps even grab a coffee from one of the cafés beforehand.
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“As we continue to work towards creating a carbon-neutral City by 2030, it is important we intensify the roll-out of electric car charging points to keep up with expected future demand. As such, wiring is being installed for all spaces, so they would have the capacity to become E-charging points in the future.” 

London Southend Airport was delighted to welcome the return of holidaymakers as it reopened its terminal this week.
 
From the start of May, easyJet returned to flying to London Southend Airport from Malaga six times a week, Palma four times a week and Faro twice a week using an A320 aircraft.
 
The return of easyJet flights is likely to prove popular with locals. In a recent survey that included responses from over 7,000 people living in the East of England, 90% of people gave the airport 8-10 in terms of favourability. Respondents are expected to be delighted with easyJet’s plans, having named Spanish destinations Palma and Malaga top of the list wish of destinations.
 
Glyn Jones, CEO, said: “London Southend Airport is delighted to welcome back passengers for the first flights from the newly minted City of Southend. People living locally, in London and across the east of England can now get back to quickly and easily travelling through our award winning airport, breezing through one of the UK’s quickest security experiences then relaxing before jetting off on easyJet flights to hugely popular summer destinations, Malaga, Palma and Faro.
We’d like to thank our truly outstanding team for all their efforts in making sure we’re ready to welcome back passengers and we want to recognise the huge support we have received from our amazing local community throughout an incredibly challenging time brought about by the pandemic. We look forward to seeing you at London Southend Airport soon.”
 
 Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager said: "We are delighted to be flying once again from London Southend Airport this summer, providing customers with convenient direct connections to explore or relax in some of Europe’s most popular beach destinations. We are proud to be the largest airline in the UK and to serve our customers from London Southend once again with more choice and great value fares.”

From 31 August, Southend Airport will offer passengers twice weekly direct flights with Widerøe to Bergen, known as one of the happiest places in the world.

Bergen is Norway’s second largest city and offers an adventurous retreat with the feeling of a small town. It has much to offer, from hiking in the hillsides, stunning fjords and mountains to exploring the cobbled streets and colourful buildings, seafood markets, art exhibits, museums and more.
 
Passengers can fly to Bergen via the new Embraer 190-E2 jet, which is the market's most modern and environmentally friendly jet in this class and has a seat configuration of two + two allowing 144 passengers. The 1 hour 50-minute flight will offer passengers a fast connection to Norway.
 
Christian Skaug, Commercial Director Widerøe, said: “We are strengthening our focus on Bergen as a hub for traffic throughout the country. With this new route we continue to build on the network Widerøe has developed in and around Bergen and Western Norway in recent years. We start cautiously, but if we see that the offer is well received, we will consider adding more weekly departures.”
 
Glyn Jones, CEO of Stobart Aviation, “We are pleased to offer this new route to one of Europe’s most stunning cities. A further 8 connections also become available from this destination, allowing easy connectivity across Norway. London Southend Airport is extremely accessible, boasts excellent customer service and has been ranked London’s best airport by consumer group Which?”
 
www.wideroe.no  
 
https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/fjord-norway/bergen/

After the Government announced multi-million pound funding for infection and prevention control measures in care homes, Southend Council has outlined how the money will be spent.

A total of £2,734,683 has been allocated to Southend and 75% of the cash will go directly to the 95 care homes in the Borough. The council has decided the remaining £683,670 will be used to support the whole care sector in Southend.
 
10% (£273,468) will be distributed to home care providers, and a further £196,950 will help support people in supported living placements and the remaining money will be used to fund additional infection prevention control advisors for Southend care providers and to provide out of hours escalation support.
 
Cllr Trevor Harp, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “There’s no doubt that this funding is welcome relief for local care providers. I am impressed with the ways in which our local providers have worked with us to continue to provide good care to their residents during this pandemic.
 
“This latest round of funding will support this work, whilst also allowing for future planning regarding infection prevention control, a key defence tool in the battle against Coronavirus.”
 
The funding will be distributed in two tranches and providers who are registered with the council and agree to comply with the Government’s spending and audit requirements, will have already received their first payment.
 
A daily review of the care market is in place, and the NHS capacity tracker has been used to identify providers (care home and home care providers) who need additional support.
 
Since the beginning of Coronavirus, the council has set up 13 isolation beds as an alternative provision for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients being discharged from hospital. Over 40% over Southend care homes have consistently paid staff their full wages.
 
Working with Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT), training has been supplied carers via the Care Home Education Team. Carers have not been allowed to transfer between homes to limit contact, and there has been training around Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
 
Cllr Harp, said: “We know those over the age of 70 and those with underlying health conditions are more vulnerable to coronavirus. I think it is admirable how everyone has pulled together to do everything possible to protect our older and more vulnerable residents from Coronavirus.”

Over 2,400 potholes were repaired across the Borough between April and June as the council’s highways contractor worked tirelessly throughout the Coronavirus lockdown.

With people staying home following the Coronavirus pandemic, the council’s contractor, Marlborough, took to the streets to repair reported defects through the Find and Fix programme.

The programme involved a team of spotters going out and actively finding and marking up potholes. They worked up to a week ahead of the maintenance crews, who followed up and repaired the approved defects.

The council defined intervention levels for potholes but we actively encouraged that this programme included any adjacent defects or those that were close to intervention levels so that the process became proactive rather than just reactive.

All spotted potholes were documented and the evidence (log sheets and images) were passed back to council staff for approval. A system within WhatsApp was developed to deliver the spotted defects, with associated locations references within the images for easy tracking.

In total, 2,430 defects were repaired between 2 April and 4 June 2020, more than the whole of last year (2,057). The repairs were also carried out at a cheaper cost compared to previous years, and lower than the national average cost.

Cllr Ron Woodley, cabinet member for transport, inward and capital investment, said: “The Find and Fix programme has proven to be a resounding success. With the greatly reduced traffic during the lockdown, the crews were able to work quickly and efficiently, without causing major disruption to motorists and residents.

“We are delighted to see the repair rate figure so high, and at a cheaper rate comparative to last year, benefitting the taxpayer. The programme has also eased the current burden on our highways inspection team who have seen a 50% reduction in recorded potholes on the carriageway.”

If you spot a road defect, please report this at MySouthend.

A shop local, shop safe campaign has been launched ahead of the wider reopening of shops on Monday 15 June.

Over recent weeks Southend Business Improvement District (BID), councillors and officers from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Leigh Town Council, the seafront traders association, Essex Chambers of Commerce and other local businesses have been working together to deal with the Government’s relaxation of lockdown measures and ensure that the Borough is a safe place to visit and shop.
 
The group is working hard to help our local economy bounce back stronger than ever and help businesses to reopen safely and keep residents safe too.
 
Local businesses have been provided with signage, poster templates and guidance, and hundreds of public signs are also being put up in shopping areas across the Borough.
 
In central Southend, welcome hosts and sanitisation stations will be available for shoppers and people will be encouraged to keep left.
 
In Leigh-on-Sea, there will be a small number of parking bays suspended in Broadway West outside the bakers, butchers and greengrocers, on Elm Road outside the fishmongers and fish and chip shop and on Rectory Grove outside the bakers and health food shop. These have been identified as potential ‘pinch points’ for queues and this will create more space for people to safely queue.
 
Other areas will be monitored carefully and any necessary measures to help keep people safe will be brought in if necessary.
 
Shoppers are also being asked to ‘stay safe, stay apart’, and respect measures and staff in place working to keep people safe. The group is also asking people to shop local and to expect a different shopping experience for the time being.
 
Cllr Martin Terry, the council’s cabinet member for community safety and chair of the relaxation measures stakeholder group, says: “As shops reopen it is important that local people take responsibility to stay safe and stay apart from people they don’t live with. Please do your bit both to stop the spread of coronavirus and to support your local businesses.”
 
Denise Rossiter, chief executive of Essex Chambers of Commerce, says: “Our collective message is to shop local and shop safe. As a group we have worked really hard together to get plans in place across the Borough as the Government has eased its lockdown measures. We will continue to review plans regularly and I just urge people to visit and support your local businesses. They need it more than ever.”
 
Cllr Kevin Robinson, the council’s cabinet member for business, leisure and tourism, says: “The group has been working very hard to help our local economy bounce back and I want to thank everyone for their efforts. With wider reopening next week, this is the ideal time to encourage people to shop local and shop safe.”
 
Suzanne Gloyne, Southend BID manager, says: “We are pleased to say we are back open and we are pleased to welcome shoppers back to the Borough. We want people to shop local and we have worked collectively so that shoppers can be confident of a safe environment. We also ask everyone to do their bit too by keeping your distance, not blocking pavements and respecting the staff and new measures that are there to keep you safe.”
 
A guide for businesses that has been put together to help guide them through reopening is available at: https://www.southendbid.com/retailrecovery

Southend Airport has updated its careers page with some new vacancies and are looking for talented individuals to support the team as part of its preparations to welcome passengers back. 
 
The airport offers excellent career opportunities within the growing local airport, whilst COVID-19 has impacted operations the team are looking to invest tens of millions over the coming years to put in place an enhanced passenger experience to deliver customer confidence in a post-COVID world.
 
The Airport has already been named one of the safest in the UK and the only airport in London that is on the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) list, meaning its passengers will find an easier experience travelling to countries such as Greece.
 
Glyn Jones, CEO of London Southend Airport said: “We are working hard preparing to welcome passengers back to the airport. Lots of work is going on and new protocols being introduced to create a safe biosphere within the terminal to enable passengers to have confidence when flying from London Southend Airport
 
“Employing talented individuals is key to completing the airport family whilst supporting the local economy. It is a challenging time but we hope to offer new employment opportunities to maximise peoples potential”.
 
Visit www.southendairport.com to view vacancies on the careers page, applications should be sent to [email protected]  

Summer came early for Southend and its traders this Easter with soaring temperatures and the return of the Southend Shakedown motorcycle event making it the busiest in recent memory.
 
After temperatures reached the mid 20’s, tens of thousands of tourists and residents flocked to the town’s sun-soaked beaches to enjoy traditional fish and chips, soak up the sun, and admire over 3,500 motorbikes that had roared their way to the seafront on Bank Holiday Monday.
 
A total of 18,461 sun-seekers visited the pier over the weekend – more than the whole of March. The Pier saw a fun Easter Egg hunt along with the opening of the new tearoom where Jamie and Jimmy’s TV show is filmed.
 
Meanwhile, the hidden historical gem of Prittlewell Priory attracted 5,442 visitors to its popular Teddy Bear Hunt – compared to 538 in Easter last year.

In anticipation of the busy weekend, significant extra resources were drafted in, including parking marshals to coordinate car park flow and BID rangers to welcome visitors and help reunite lost children with parents.

An extra 25 Veolia waste staff were drafted in to remove waste, with crews removing over 11 tonnes of rubbish from the seafront - from both bins and litter-picks - and clocking up a total of 320 working hours between them.
 
Scott Dolling, Director of Culture, Tourism and Property, said the success of the weekend showed that the extensive planning between the Council, emergency services and local police as part of Operation Heatwave had paid off.

He said: “This was the busiest Easter we can recall for many years with huge numbers visiting the breadth of our seafront and award-winning parks. The sunshine certainly helped, but the huge numbers clearly show the continued appeal of Southend as a visitor destination.

“I, like many, was delighted to see the return of the Southend Shakedown and congratulate the organising committee on such a well-attended, safe and enjoyable event.

“As one of the key agencies involved in ensuring the event ran smoothly, we will be attending a debrief and taking on board feedback from attendees, traders and residents.

“In particular, I would like to thank our Veolia waste crews for their fantastic work - many local residents and businesses have also told us what a fantastic jobs they did. They worked long hours, raking the beaches early in the morning, regularly empty bins throughout the day, then picking up litter in the evenings.

“It’s clear that our joint preparations have helped ensure were welcomed, had a fantastic time and will want to return again and again.”

Traders also saw a boom in trade. Joan Tiney, chair of Southend Seafront Traders Association, said: “We had live music on at The Borough and the atmosphere was great with no trouble just people having a great day out. I have not seen the seafront so packed in a long time and the organisers are to be complimented on all their hard work.”
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Jacqui Dallimore, chair of Southend Tourism Partnership, said: “The Roslin Hotel, like much of the Borough, has been exceptionally busy over the Bank Holiday especially on our large terraces and it’s been great to see the whole area buzzing with the glorious weather.
“There really is no better place to be when the sun is shining but of course Southend’s offer is increasingly all-year round with such a diverse and wonderful events programme.”

​Record numbers of visitors are coming to Southend’s shores and they are staying here for longer, the town’s tourism leaders have heard.
 
Businesses, volunteers and council partners were told the welcome news at Southend’s fourth Annual Tourism Conference, where representatives of Visit Essex also stated that Southend was experiencing an increase in overnight stays – the only borough in the county to do so.
 
The conference, held on Southend Pier last week, saw attendees sharing ideas for the upcoming season and reviewing the town’s progress against its ambitious tourism strategy, Destination Southend-on-Sea, which aims to propel the town to being “England’s number one coastal destination.”
 
Delivering excellent customer service was a key theme of the conference, following on from the ‘Make Southend Sparkle’ campaign, which sees residents and businesses join forces to spruce up the borough’s streets with litter picks, beach cleans and planting.
 
Place branding and developing better communications were also key themes that delegates were keen to highlight.
 
Scott Dolling, Director of Culture, Tourism and Property, said: “News that more people are visiting Southend and that they are staying longer is a real boon for the town and shows that businesses, volunteers and the council are working well together to deliver against our ambitious tourism strategy.
 
“That this news comes before the Easter Holidays – which typically sees the year’s first large surge of visitors and will this year welcome the Southend Shakedown Resurrection – is especially welcome.
 
“This conference, now in its fourth year, helps bring like-minded, positive businesses and organisations together to see how we can work better together for the benefit of the town and its economy.
 
Jacqui Dallimore, chair of the Southend Tourism Partnership, said: “Southend welcomes 7.5 million visitors a year, with tourism supporting 9,500 people through direct employment and bringing £440m into the local economy. It’s vital that Southend’s visitor offer continues to grow and evolve and the Annual Tourism Conference is crucial in setting the tone and establishing the priorities for the visitor season ahead.”