Southend Council is set to approve the selection of Swan Housing Association as its preferred bidder for the major transformation of the Queensway area in central Southend.
 
Councillors will discuss the recommendation next week (Tuesday 12th February) and approve the setting up of a joint venture LLP between the Council and Swan that would enable collective delivery of the Better Queensway scheme.
 
The council started the procurement process back in March 2018. Several companies went through various stages of the detailed process, with Swan coming through the robust procurement process as preferred bidder.
 
The report details how their tender has met the requirements laid down by the council, including building more than 441 affordable homes on the site and how Swan will help to deliver not only the regeneration but also manage it for the long term.
 
Swan’s example scheme developed for the purposes of the procurement process includes approximately 1,600 new homes, of which over 500 will be affordable. The example scheme also maintains four lanes of traffic on Queensway, new green spaces and improved walking and cycling space, and space to play. It also incorporates a community fund and improvements to energy and sustainability.
 
If approved by Swan’s Board, the council’s cabinet and Full Council on 21 February, the next steps would be to work towards awarding the contract in the spring. Following the award of the contract, the joint venture would be formally created and a full masterplan prepared for the site. This will involve further consultation with residents, business and other key stakeholders, and submission for planning approval in 2020.
 
Councillor James Courtenay, cabinet member for growth, says: “Better Queensway is the biggest regeneration project we are undertaking in a generation and will seek to transform this vital area right in the centre of our town, delivering better housing, better living and a better place for both the current residents and those that will make central Southend their home in the future. This regeneration will help make this area a key entrance into our town centre and connect what will be a thriving new community with it and also help us to deliver a key part of our resident led ambition for 2050.

“We are delighted to recommend Swan Housing, an excellent organisation with great values, commitment to the community and vast knowledge and experience of the local area, as our preferred bidder.
 
“Alongside meeting all the key requirements for the project, they also offer far much more than that, including access to their other properties from across Essex and London.
 
“This is really just the beginning and there is much more work to be done. We are now collectively focused on the next stages, including contract award and then working with all range of stakeholders, including residents and businesses to prepare a masterplan for submission for planning approval.”
 
John Synnuck, CEO of Swan Housing Association commented: “We are delighted to have been selected by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council as “Preferred Bidder” for the regeneration of Queensway.  We’ve been taking on complex regenerations just like this for the last 25 years and our award-winning schemes show that we can not only build high quality homes of all tenures but also fantastic public realm including green spaces; we can tackle complex road and infrastructure challenges; and put in the commercial space and facilities needed to create successful mixed-use regenerations.
 
“I’d like to say to all the residents and local stakeholders at Queensway, that we are looking forward to working with you to develop a masterplan for Queensway which will make it a great place to live and work and a place where everyone in Southend wants to go. 
 
“Together with our joint venture partner, Southend-on Sea Borough Council, we will work with you to transform Queensway from an isolated, and aging estate into a thriving community right in the centre of Southend.  We’re experts at supporting residents and local stakeholders through regenerations and we will be there every step of the way, with Southend and South Essex Homes, to support you."

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.

Blue Islands, a Flybe franchise partner, has today announced it will launch new daily flights to Guernsey from London Southend Airport, starting from 20 May 2019.

Tickets are on sale now at www.flybe.com. All ‘Just Fly’ seats are £29.99 one way, when booked by 30 Jan. From 31 Jan onwards fares will be from £29.99 one way.

The new service will be operated on 68-seat Blue Islands ATR 72-500, with flights taking just 75-minutes.

Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation, owners of London Southend Airport said “We are delighted that Flybe franchise partner Blue Islands, has chosen London Southend to provide a new route to Guernsey from our fast growing airport. We have now launched an incredible three new routes in January alone. With our own railway station just 100 paces from the terminal door, up to six trains an hour into London in under an hour and our award-winning customer service, we expect our latest route to the Channel Islands to prove very popular with passengers from London and the South East.”
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Rob Veron, Blue Islands CEO: “As a Channel Islands based airline, Blue Islands is proud to launch a new daily service from London Southend to Guernsey, making it easier than ever to discover our beautiful island. Equally, the service offers Guernsey residents an effortless way to arrive in London thanks to London Southend’s excellent train connections to central London.”​

​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.

The most serious potholes in Southend are to be repaired thanks to a Government cash boost.
 
The Government announced additional money for all councils in their budget to clear the backlog of maintenance works by local highways authorities.
 
Southend Council has been given £617,000 which will be used to fill the most serious potholes, give the High Street a mini-makeover, and resurface Western Esplanade and Leather Lane.
 
Cllr Andrew Moring, cabinet member for infrastructure, said: “I’m really pleased the Government recognised the need for this financial boost to clear the backlog of identified highway maintenance issues. As the majority of the money we have been allocated will go towards repairing the most serious potholes, hopefully drivers in the borough will soon see an improvement to local roads.”
 
The pothole repairs will take place across the whole of the borough and follows on from a concentrated effort between March and June 2018 to catch up on a backlog of repairs delayed by the snow and cold weather last winter. Earlier this year, Southend Council allocated an additional £100,000 to fund two rapid pothole repair teams, in addition to the council’s agreed £102,000 budget for road repairs, and £195,000 for pothole repairs over the next three years.
 
The work is also on top of a major resurfacing programme that has been taking place since the end of October, with 13 roads resurfaced over a five week period as part of ongoing improvement works to the borough’s roads. This work has included the resurfacing of Harcourt Avenue, Kings Road, Chelsea Avenue and part of London Road.  The road resurfacing programme is developed through a prioritisation process, considering a range of factors including current condition, visual appearance, customer reports and maintenance history.
 
The High Street will also benefit from a mini-makeover between January and March 2019. The pavements between Southend Victoria and Pier Head have already been assessed, with problems identified, such as damaged or missing slabs, signs and posts.
 
Some of the slabs will be replaced, with every attempt made to make the new materials match the original as closely as possible.
 
Alison Dewey, Southend Business Improvement District (BID) Manager said: “It is great news to hear that the Council is investing this money to improve the town centre’s street scene. I am particularly pleased to hear that there’s going to be a full repair of the paving and that it will be sealed, as this will help to prevent any staining from spillages that can seep into the flagging and leave a permanent mark. The work will help to give the High Street a much cleaner appearance.”
 
She added: “The BID currently funds various streetscape improvements, such as the hanging baskets, colourful bunting and banners, so the Council’s new investment will complement our initiatives to make the town centre and seafront look brighter, cleaner and more welcoming.”

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.