Local authorities across south Essex are working together to support the training of over 1,600 local people for jobs in the construction industry by 2020.
 
This follows a successful bid for £1m of funding from the Construction Skills Fund, led by Southend Council and put together by local authorities across south Essex, including Basildon, Castle Point, Thurrock and Rochford Councils.
 
Plans have been put in place for three construction hubs to be set up in locations across south Essex at the Airport Business Park Southend, Basildon town centre, and Thurrock. These hubs, located on or adjacent to construction sites will be central to training people up for these construction positions.
 
Councils will be working closely with the construction companies and the sub-contractors to identify which skills they need on site and what roles they are recruiting for so individuals can be trained to match these needs.
 
The news comes as the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) announced that they would be setting up the Construction Skills Fund (CSF), which is backed and funded by the Department for Education. This programme is designed to enhance the construction industry as the government aims to build 1 million homes in the UK by 2020.
 
Cllr James Courtenay, cabinet member for Growth at Southend Council, said: “This funding opportunity is fantastic news not only for Southend-on-Sea, but for the whole of south Essex. Locally, we will be working with over 40 different construction companies, all of whom will benefit through the provision of work and site ready applicants for their construction vacancies.
 
“We have worked closely with agencies and organisations across the borough including HARP, local schools and colleges and also our partnering authorities. We are excited at this news and we look forward to creating a sustainable construction industry here in south Essex.”
 
Rochford District Council’s portfolio holder for Enterprise, Cllr George Ioannou, said: “This funding will make a huge difference to the lives of 1600 people who will be trained locally for jobs in the construction industry, as well as to the families they support.
 
“I am delighted that this opportunity will be offered on our doorstep at the Airport Business Park, a game-changing prime employment space which is set to provide new economic opportunities for south Essex.”
 
Sarah Beale, Chief Executive of CITB, said: “The Construction Skills Fund can be a genuine game-changer for both the construction industry and the individuals being trained. We have a massive need for homegrown talent and these projects will bring thousands of new people into our sector, giving them the crucial onsite experience they need to start a career in construction. These 26 hubs will be based at some of the most innovative sites in the UK, and CITB will be working hard to make sure they deliver the skills our industry critically needs.”
 
For more information about the Construction Skills Fund, please visit www.citb.co.uk/.

Leigh-on-Sea has been crowned the happiest place to live in Britain for the second time in three years after topping Rightmove's 2018 Happy at Home Index.

The town originally took top spot in the 2016 index, and has climbed back into first place again this year.
 
The findings follow a survey of more than 21,000 people by Rightmove, which asked people how happy they are with where they live across 219 areas in Britain, based on factors such as community spirit, feeling safe, earning enough money to live comfortably, proximity to green spaces and amenities, friendliness and artistic and cultural activities.
 
Leigh-on-Sea scored highly for community spirit, the opportunity to develop skills, and restaurants and shops.
 
Valerie Morgan of Leigh-on-Sea Town Council said: "We’re all quite friendly here. People like to pass the time of day with one another, rather than ignore each other. There is also quite a large dog walking community down here so there’s lots of social interaction and people stopping and chatting to each other.”
 
Rob Cooke, director of Hunt Roche estate agents in Leigh-on-Sea, said: “There is just a lot going on, there are some pretty trendy parts of Leigh-on-Sea.”
 
The 10 happiest places to live according to Rightmove’s survey:

1. Leigh-on-Sea, East of England
2. Farnham, South East
3. Monmouth, Wales
4. Christchurch, South West
5. Leamington Spa, West Midlands
6. Newbury, South East
7. Macclesfield, North West
8. Hitchin, East of England
9. Tunbridge Wells, South East
10. Kendal, North West

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.

Over 200 trees will be planted in Southend, to commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day, highlighting the pathways soldiers took 100 years ago.
 
Southend Council successfully bid for 215 trees through the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, an initiative that looks to preserve and enhance forestation across the Commonwealth.
 
The trees will be a mix of colourful and wildlife trees – including Hazel, Rowan and Silver Birch trees among others – and will be planted at locations to the east, centre and west of Southend. Due to a lack of rain in the borough recently, the trees will be planted at a later date, and are currently being stored at the council’s parks nursery, Barling Road.
 
The pathway locations will be at Shoeburyness war memorial, Southchurch Park east, and Eastwood Park. These pathways are open to further tree planting, and if charities or groups plan on planting trees to extend the pathway, this is something that could be considered.
 
Cllr Lesley Salter, cabinet member for healthy communities and wellbeing, said: “We are positively delighted that we are able to welcome the addition of over 200, UK native trees to Southend thanks to the wonderful work of the HRH Queen Elizabeth’s initiative – the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.
 
“These trees will provide a stark reminder of the poignant historic importance of Southend during World War One, and we hope they offer a serene location for people to contemplate the sacrifices of all those before us.”
 
For more information on the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, please visit https://queenscommonwealthcanopy.org/

An exhibition of posters, postcards and letters, designed by local school children in the Southend 2050 competition opened at the Focal Point Gallery this week.
 
The competition focused on how young people see our borough in the future, with the task of creating a poster promoting Southend to tourists in 2050, or designing and writing a futuristic message on a postcard from the same time. Children of secondary school age were set the task of writing a letter from their future selves. The fruits of this imaginative competition will be available for the public to view in an exhibition at the Focal Point Gallery until Monday 12 November.
 
Over 350 creative and aspirational entries were received. A shortlist was drawn up, and 64 top entries were chosen to go on display. The grand winners in each category were announced at the opening of the exhibition last night, which was attended by over 150 children and parents. The Worshipful The Mayor Cllr Derek Jarvis, Southend-on-Sea Youth Council Mayor and Deputy Mayor Marco Mann and Amy Burdett announced and congratulated the winners and officially opened the exhibition.
 
The winning designs in each category were:
 

•          Letter for my future self – Henry Bagnell
•          Southend 2050 poster – Joseph Murphy
•          Southend 2050 postcard – Jack Shepherd

 
Cllr John Lamb, leader of the council, said: “We were staggered by the number and quality of the entries to the Southend 2050 competition. The Children who entered the competition will be between 37 and 50 years old in 2050!
 
“The postcards, letters and posters were inspiring, imaginative, creative and demonstrated very clearly the pride our young people have for the borough in which they live, study and play, and what they want and expect for their future.
 
“I would like to thank all who submitted entries, and congratulate those who were shortlisted. You have given the people of Southend a vibrant and inspiring exhibition to visit.”

Southend councillors are to consider adopting a borough-wide “low-emissions strategy” as part of its work to improve the town’s air quality.
 
The council's cabinet will consider an officer report laying out measures the council could take to “improve health outcomes through reducing emissions from transport” and “supports sustainable development” across the borough. The strategy is closely linked to - and is a key component of - the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan”.
 
Central to the strategy are reducing transport emissions, using technology to measure and report on traffic, air quality and its causes more effectively and supporting the shift to electric and low-emission vehicles.
 
The strategy also outlines how the council can support lower emissions by ensuring that air quality is considered in its development control and procurement processes.
 
Cllr Mark Flewitt, cabinet member for public protection, said: "In June this year, the Council adopted its first Air Quality Action Plan, the top priority of which was reducing transport emissions. I am pleased to see a plan come forward so quickly.
 
“Taking action to improve air quality is crucial to improving the health of our town’s population. There is growing evidence that air pollution is a significant contributor to preventable ill health and early death.
 
“As a council, we need to take action. I look forward to discussing this plan with my council colleagues.”
 
A decision on whether to adopt the low emissions strategy is scheduled to be made on 6 November.
 
The full report can be viewed here

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