New planters, lighting columns and benches are being installed at the town centre end of London Road as part of a project to improve access and create a more attractive gateway to the town.
 
The work is part of the Southend Central Area Transport Scheme (S-CATS) and follows the reconfiguration of the highway and parking of London Road between Queensway and College Way as well as the introduction of new electric vehicle charging points.
 
A total of eight Corten steel lighting columns, which are designed to give a rust effect, were erected earlier this week together with seven complementary planters and seven benches. The planters will be planted with ivy within the next few weeks.
 
The landscaping scheme was the result of consultation with local businesses and marks the end of the first phase work along this stretch of London Road.
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Later phases of the project will focus on improving the section of London Road (from College Way to Victoria Circus) and then improving the Victoria Circus public area itself.
 
Cllr Andrew Moring, cabinet member for infrastructure, said: “I’m pleased to see work progressing on the landscaping of this important gateway to the town. The clever design allows us to introduce greenery to an area where planting trees into the ground was not an option due to the large number of pipes and cables beneath the road, as well as introducing attractive new lighting and seating.
 
“I’d like to thank all the local businesses who fed into the final design by sharing their ideas.”
 
Southend Central Area Transport Scheme (S-CATS) is a £7m project is being fully funded by the Department for Transport’s Local Growth Fund through the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).
 
The first phase of S-CATS was completed in 2017 with £1m worth junction improvements on Victoria Avenue (Great Eastern, Carnarvon Road and East Street/West Street).
 
Phase 2 (just completed) is a £2m public realm and streetscape improvement scheme along London Road (between Queensway and College Way through to Elmer Avenue) to make this an attractive gateway to Southend High Street.
 
Later phases of the project will focus on improving the section of London Road (from College Way to Victoria Circus) and then improving the Victoria Circus itself. A much wider stakeholder engagement process is planned to develop design options for these phases.

Two mini short-stay car parks are to be trialled on Southend High Street, with short-term parking spaces at another major central car park also increasing.
 
Southend Council has announced that its 14-space London Road North car park beside the Odeon cinema will be converted into a one-hour maximum stay car park with a fixed fare of 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour. Meanwhile, a further 12 short-stay car parking spaces will be created at the site of the former Pitman toilets with the same charging system operating.
 
In addition, the one-hour parking band will be reintroduced at Seaway car park during the summer months, bringing more than 600 extra single-hour parking options to the town centre. Currently, single-hour parking is only available at Seaway in the winter months. Single-hour parking here will be priced at £1.60 from April to October and £1.20 from November to March.

The new car-parking changes are all due to come into force from 1 April and will operate on a trial basis for a year.
 
Payment will be possible at London Road North and Pitmans via cash, phone or the Mobon app.
 
Cllr James Courtenay, cabinet member for growth said: “While we want residents and visitors to stay longer in our town, I acknowledge that sometimes people just need to nip into town to grab a coffee or collect an order. 

“Indeed, Click & Collect shopping is an increasingly important market for some of our high street retailers and these new short-stay parking options should cater perfectly for that market. This is something that local businesses told us was important to them as we consulted over the 2019-2020 budget.
 
“Over the next year, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the take up of these new car parks and speaking to town centre businesses to see what impact they have on high street trade.

“We will also be doing more to promote use of the more than 2,000 single-hour parking spaces the town already has, both in council and private ownership.” 
 
One-hour parking in Southend town centre
 
Tylers Avenue and York Road Car Parks – 340 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Short Street Car Park – 101 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Seaway Car Park – 630 spaces priced at £1.20 for an hour (November – March) or £1.60 for an hour (April – October) commencing 1 April 2019
Royals Shopping Centre – 400 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Victoria Shopping Centre – 670 spaces priced at £0.90 for an hour
Sainsbury’s – 340 spaces priced at £1 for an hour (reimbursed with minimum spend instore)
 
Road North (from 1 April 2019) – 14 spaces priced at 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour
Pitmans (from 1 April 2019) – 12 spaces priced at 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour
Southend Central Station (NCP) – 138 spaces priced at £1.70 for one hour
Luker Road (Britania Parking) – priced at £0.90 for one hour.
 
Half and single-hour parking is also available in on-street bays in the following streets within the town centre area:
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Alexandra Road, Alexandra Street, Baltic Avenue, Cambridge Road, Capel Terrace, Cashiobury Terrace, Clarence Road, Clarence Street, Clifton Terrace, Clifftown Road, Devereaux Road, Gordon Road, London Road, Nelson Street, Prittlewell Square, Queens Road, Royal Terrace, Runwell Terrace, Southchurch Road, Warrior Square, Weston Road, Victoria Avenue, Whitegate Road, York Road.

​More than £35m of new projects are being put forward by Southend Council as part of its draft capital budget proposals for 2019/20.

In addition to existing schemes already ongoing or planned, this would give the council a capital investment programme of £177m for the next four year period, including over £18m of investment into the Pier, £26.3m investment into improving roads and pavements, £3m for community safety improvements and £1.2m on parks and open spaces.

An additional £36.5m worth of new projects are also included in the draft programme, but will be subject to external funding and detailed and viable business cases being prepared and approved, including up to £20m for commercial property purchases over the next three years, £10.5m for a new pavilion deck on the end of the pier and £1m for the refurbishment of the Cliffs Pavilion in summer 2020.

The capital budget, which is separate to the council’s day to day revenue budget, is used to make one-off investments in things like regeneration and housing projects, and to carry out essential improvements to leisure and cultural facilities and ICT systems. Funding is raised from a mixture of external funding, reserves and borrowing.

The proposals for new projects include £3.25m over the next two years to replace ageing Pier trains which were introduced in 1986 with a predicted 20 year lifespan and an additional £3m over three years to fix more pavements and roads.

Safety measures are also a big new investment, with a further £2m proposed to continue to upgrade the borough’s CCTV system and install new cameras in key locations following a recent consultation.

A new children’s residential care home, new public toilet provision, better traffic management and car park improvements are some of the other projects highlighted for new investment in the draft budget.

Over £20m is also being added to the capital programme from 2021 to 2024 for investment in the council housing stock, which will be funded through the housing revenue account (HRA).

Cllr James Courtenay, Deputy Leader of the Council, says: “Capital and revenue budgets are two entirely different things and we have a duty to fund essential things like ensuring we can look after our most vulnerable residents, and also ensure that facilities like the Pier and Cliffs Pavilion, which are a source of pride and joy for so many, are invested in and safeguarded for the future. Financially we have tightened our belts, but this must not be to the detriment of our future vision for Southend-on-Sea and our plans must remain bold and ambitious.

“The resident and stakeholder led ambition document Southend 2050, has helped us identify the type of town our residents and stakeholders want to see. With feedback from more than 35,000 people, it helps us to focus both on the work that is needed now, but also over the next few years, to help make those ambitions a reality.

“This can be seen with more investment in things that are important to people in the here and now, including fixing more roads and pavements, investing in more public toilet provision in the seafront area, and ensuring our housing stock is up to decent homes standard, but also looking to the future with investment in the Pier and the Bell junction for example.

“The proposals in this draft capital budget will make a real difference to important local facilities and infrastructure and shows that we are open for business and here to do the very best for local people and businesses.”

If all external funding and viable business cases are approved, then the capital investment programme could be £229m for the period of 2019/20 to 2023/24.

Other investment within the capital programme and already allocated includes £12.7m for the ongoing secondary schools expansion programme, £24.8m for the continued development of Airport Business Park Southend, £11.5m for the delivery of a new 60 bedroom care facility and day centre and £1.3m for the continued construction of  affordable housing on housing land.

There will also be a business and voluntary sector budget consultation event on Thursday 17 January at Holiday Inn, Eastwoodbury Crescent starting at 8.30am (registration from 7.30am). This will give local businesses and stakeholders the opportunity to hear an insight of the 2019/20 budget.

Free festive parking will return to Southend town centre this December.
 
All 10 of the council run car parks across Southend town centre will be free on Thursdays after 4pm for late-night shopping and all day on Sundays throughout December.
 
Cllr Andrew Moring, cabinet member for infrastructure said: “The Christmas period is important for local traders and that is why we are pleased to once again offer our free festive parking on Thursday evenings and Sundays. I hope that both residents and visitors to Southend-on-Sea will take advantage of this and help local retailers enjoy a bumper Christmas.
 
“We’re also supporting Small Business Saturday on December 1 providing free parking all day in seven of the council run car parks across the Borough, and I hope that residents use this opportunity to shop locally.”
 
Free Sunday parking starts on Sunday 2 December and runs up to and including Thursday 29 December. Car parks included are: Alexandra Street, Warrior Square, Seaway, Clarence Road, Tylers Avenue, York Road, London Road (behind Pizza Express), University Square, Essex Street and Short Street.
 
Free all day parking on Saturday 1 December to celebrate and support Small Business Saturday will be available at the following car parks: Ilfracombe Avenue, North Road, Hamlet Court Road, Elm Road (Leigh-on-Sea), North Street, Ceylon Road and Thorpe Bay Broadway.

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.”

Passengers at Southend Airport can now enjoy an increased range of food and drink following the opening of Giraffe STOP and Costa Coffee.

The Giraffe STOP, which opened for the first time at the airport yesterday, follows the recent agreement with TRG Concessions to take over catering outlets. The airport also expects to see the opening of bespoke pub brand, The Navigator, later this summer.

The new outlets have led to the creation of 20 new jobs, including permanent manager roles.

Lauren Hawes, who lives in Southend will become the new Unit manager for Giraffe STOP having only started working with TRG Concessions at London Southend a few months ago. She said, “Working at my local airport has been a fantastic whirlwind experience for me. I haven’t been here that long but I’ve really enjoyed my experience and learnt a lot. It’s fantastic that the airport is creating such amazing career opportunities for local people like me.”

Nick Ayerst, the managing director of TRG Concessions, said: "We are delighted to have acquired sites at London Southend Airport, given its current growth and future prospects. We look forward to trading them with a view to developing further award-winning new concessions at the airport over the next few years. We welcome our new team members into the business and will be investing in them to help support future growth in our Southend business.” 
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Glyn Jones, CEO of London Southend Airport said, “This new partnership with TRG Concessions, which will bring six new high street brands to London Southend Airport, is fantastic news for passengers. It is also a great vote of confidence in the UK’s fastest growing airport, another step along our road to becoming both bigger and better. And as we grow, we can create even more job opportunities for the local community.”

More restaurants and bars are on the way to Southend Airport after a £5m partnership was announced this week.

Award-winning TRG Concessions will take over the existing airport-operated outlets and their teams in June 2018. These will then be transformed into a bespoke pub and dining concept named The Navigator, along with Giraffe Stop and Costa outlets, during the summer. They have further plans to introduce more nationally recognised food and drink brands over the coming years.

This partnership will see TRG invest more than £5m developing the food and beverage offer at London Southend over the next 10 years, with these developments expected to create further jobs in the airport.

Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport, said "We are consistently voted Best Airport in London and a key part of our mission is to deliver a great experience for our guests.  We know from customer feedback that improving our food and beverage offer is the main way we can make their experience even better, so this new partnership with TRG Concessions, which will bring recognised brands to London Southend Airport, is fantastic news for passengers. It is also a great vote of confidence in the UK’s fastest growing airport, another step along our road to becoming both bigger and better."

Commenting on the deal, Nick Ayerst, MD TRG Concessions said “We are delighted to have acquired sites at London Southend Airport, given its future growth prospects. We look forward to trading them with a view to developing further award-winning new concessions at the airport over the next few years. We welcome our new team members into the business and will be investing in them to help support future growth in our Southend business.”

Oak Furniture Land, the UK’s largest retailer of solid hardwood furniture, will open its first showroom in Southend this weekend.

Featuring a mezzanine floor, the 18,284 sq ft furniture store is located at the Airport Retail Park, in Rochford Road, and will open its doors at 9am on Saturday, March 31.

The new showroom has created seven new jobs and forms part of the company’s on-going expansion plans, which saw the retailer open 22 new stores last year.

The council has unveiled its draft capital budget for April 2018 onwards, with around £20m proposed for new and existing projects up to March 2020.

This additional investment means that, if approved, some £185m of capital investments will made into the Borough over the next four years.

It is also proposed that a further £2.7m of council capital funding is set aside towards developing ‘The Forum II’, an educational, cultural and business space for the digital, cultural and creative industries. This extension to The Forum will, subject to relevant approvals, be majority-funded by Local Growth Funding and South Essex College.

The capital budget, which is separate to the council’s reducing revenue budget, is a rolling budget used to make one-off investments in things like regeneration and housing projects, and to carry out essential improvements to leisure and cultural facilities and ICT systems for example. Funding is raised from a mix of external funding, reserves and borrowing.

Proposed new investment includes:

• Adding a further £10m to the current budget for investment in commercial property. As central Government funding reduces, councils must become financially self-sustaining. Continuing to build a commercial investment portfolio will help build long-term income streams to help fund services. The fund will also be used to secure housing for temporary accommodation. The funds will only be spent if and when appropriate opportunities arise.
• £3.7m on highways schemes, including:

£2.25m for flood prevention works, with half of this coming from external sources – this will see new underground tanks, bunding and increased gulley capacity created on the central seafront to deal with surface water flooding that runs from Queensway down to the central seafront in heavy rainfall. A pumping station and tank storage will also be created to pump out trunk sewers around Hartington Road against high tides, reducing flood risk in the area.

£350,000 to improve the condition of pavements around existing trees.

£325,000 to stabilise an area of emerging cliff slip close to Manor Road, to protect the public footway, coastal road and support of private properties.

£300,000 to undertake improvements to Shoebury Common North, including the creation of a new children’s play area, new paths, new seating and outdoor fitness equipment.

£250,000 to create coach parking and drop-off facilities to accommodate visitors to the seafront.

£200,000 to develop and improve car parking signage for the whole Borough and introduce new signage for the seafront car parks and potential park and ride sites.

• £1m for fire improvement works that become necessary due to any national changes to building regulations and compliance, and £500,000 for planned refurbishment to council property.
• £925,000 for essential works at our theatres and leisure centres.
• £875,000 to convert the former Beecroft Art Gallery in Station Road, Westcliff-on-Sea to 20 artist studios for rent. The building is owned by the Beecroft Art Trust and this project will largely be funded through £575,000 from Arts Council England and other external funding.
• £400,000 to create a small number of local residential care places for children.  This will enable children to stay near their communities, improve their life chances and reduce the number of costly out of borough placements saving £80,000 per year.
• £750,000 to get the Better Queensway project to the next stage of development.
• £500,000 to implement security measures required due to current national threat levels, focused on high footfall areas such as the seafront.

Cllr John Lamb, Leader of the Council, says: “Whilst it may seem unusual to see major investments at the same time as we are highlighting our ever reducing central funding and revenue budgets, we must remain bold, ambitious and invest in our Borough to ensure that we advance and prosper into the future.

“Capital and revenue budgets are two separate things, and we must continue to fund essential things like secondary school places, ensuring that our famous Pier is safeguarded, maintained and improved and investing in plans to look after our elderly and vulnerable through developing new facilities which we are already doing through money already allocated.

“These new projects will allow us to do things like build a commercial property portfolio to give us long-term income streams in the future, carry out important flood prevention works in the central seafront area, carry out fire improvement works where necessary and keep all our buildings up to the standard that local people rightly expect.

“We are also proposing significant new investment in a number of highways projects, and ensuring that we remain a modern business and workforce, by investing in ICT and software improvements.

“Wherever possible these projects will bring income into the council or just must be done.  Despite the austere times this gives us an impressive capital budget to make a difference to important local facilities and infrastructure and shows that we are open for business and here to do the very best for local people and businesses.”
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The new investment would take the approved capital programme for 2018/19 to 2021/22 to £185m of which the level of external funding to support this investment will be £72m. For 2018/19 alone, the investment in the Borough will be £88m.

A key planning document that will guide development of central Southend and the central seafront over the next five years has been given the go-ahead by a government planning inspector.
 
The Southend Central Area Action Plan sets out proposed planning policies by the Council for managing development and assessing planning applications in Southend Central Area through to 2021.
 
The Council has received the final report from the Inspector, Mr Mike Fox, who has carried out the independent examination of the Southend Central Area Action Plan. He issued the report following the examination hearing sessions that were held in May 2017 and after considering the representations that were made on the proposed modifications to the plan.
 
The Inspector recommends a number of proposed modifications to the draft – mostly proposed by the Council during the examination – and concluded that the SCAAP “provides an appropriate basis for the planning of the Central Area.”
 
This means that, if and when formally adopted by Southend Council, it will become part of the development plan for Southend.

Cllr Mark Flewitt, Executive Councillor for Housing, Planning and Sustainability, welcomed the inspector’s findings. He said: “I am delighted that the Planning Inspector has agreed with the soundness of this key document that will play a critical role in shaping future development in the town centre and central seafront.
 
“It has taken many years to reach this stage and we have listened carefully and responded to the differing views of local people and businesses throughout the process.
 
“We believe that, once adopted, the SCAAP will facilitate the new growth, housing, jobs and infrastructure that the Borough needs in a way that is sustainable and safeguards the local environment.
 
“The next step will be for the Council to formally adopt the SCAAP at our Full Council meeting in February, after which we can start using it.”
 
The full report from the Planning Inspector, along with the agreed modifications, can be found here: www.southend.gov.uk/scaap

Southend Council has announced free festive parking ahead of the Christmas shopping rush.
 
All 10 council run car parks across Southend town centre will be free on Thursdays after 4pm for late-night shopping and all day on Sundays throughout December.
 
Cllr Tony Cox, Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Regulatory services, says:  “We know how important the Christmas period is for local traders and that is why we are continuing to offer our free festive parking on Thursday nights and Sundays. I hope that shoppers and visitors will take advantage of this and help local retailers enjoy a bumper Christmas.
 
“Parking will also be free all day on Saturday 2nd December in seven council run car parks across the Borough as part of supporting Small Business Saturday, and I hope that local residents use this opportunity to shop locally.”
 
Free Sunday parking starts on Sunday 3 December and runs until New Year’s Eve. Car parks included are: Alexandra Street, Warrior Square, Seaway, Clarence Road, Tylers Avenue, York Road, London Road (behind Pizza Express), University Square, Essex Street and Short Street.
 
Free all day parking on Saturday 2 December to celebrate and support Small Business Saturday will also be available at the following car parks: Ilfracombe Avenue, North Road, Hamlet Court Road, Elm Road (Leigh-on-Sea), North Street, Ceylon Road and Thorpe Bay Broadway.
 
For more information please see Visit Southend website.

A £2m scheme to improve an important gateway to Southend High Street will be considered by the council’s cabinet next week.
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The project would see a much improved public area including better lighting, an improved drainage system, seating, block paving and enhanced landscaping along London Road (between Queensway and College Way). It will also include the removal of two mini-roundabouts and improved access and safety for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Smaller-scale improvements will also be made between London Road and The Forum along College Way, Queens Road and Elmer Avenue.

If approved, work will start shortly and will focus firstly on improving the drainage network, with an additional 100m3 of storage created, which will allow surface water to be held and discharged into the drainage system at a very slow rate during extreme rainfall and storms. This would be followed by the public realm improvements.
 
The project is being fully funded by the Department for Transport’s Local Growth Fund through the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) who will also be asked to approve the plans on 22nd September.
 
Key features of the proposed layouts in both options include:

• Realignment of the roads and pavements to include cycling space
• Replacement of Sainsbury’s’ mini roundabout with a simple junction acting as a traffic calming feature
• Replacement of the mini roundabout junction at College Way with a simple junction acting as a traffic calming feature
• Speed reduction measures at London Road’s junction with Ashburnham Road and Gordon Road
• Reduction in the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph
• Sustainable Urban Drainage System along the footway and cycleway
• Improved street lighting
• New block paving of footway, cycleway and parking bays
• Improvements to landscaping including introduction of trees and planters

 
Cllr Tony Cox, Executive Councillor for Transport, Waste and Cleansing, says: “These changes will provide a larger area for pedestrians and cyclists, a much improved street environment for shoppers and diners, and continued access for essential delivery vehicles, taxis and cars. It will also see a major improvement to our drainage network, with increased capacity for extreme weather events.
 
“It is a testament to council officers that we have secured this central Government investment in our town centre, enabling us to improve the appearance of this key gateway and also encourage further private sector investment.”
 
The work falls under the Council’s £7m Southend Central Area Transport scheme, which, when completed, will have seen work carried out across central Southend along Victoria Avenue, the London Road area between Queensway and Victoria Circus and Victoria Circus itself.
 
The first phase of the project saw three junctions along Victoria Avenue improved and was completed in the Spring this year.
 
Later phases of the project will focus on improving the section of London Road (from College Way to Victoria Circus) in 2018/19, and then improving the Victoria Circus public area itself in 2019-2020.
 
Consultation and engagement on the two options is underway with local businesses and other affected stakeholders.