New Stadium Plans being submitted Friday 28th April 2017

[Massimo Giovanni]

What is in the best interests of the whole borough though?

The area around Roots Hall is over populated as it is, just dumping hundreds of new homes into the area with no new schools, doctors surgeries etc may not be in the best interest. This is on top of a new development over the other side of the park next to the Saxon King thats already being built, plus however many flats etc being built in Victoria Avenue.

??? so your suggestion is that they ignore it and hope it doesn't happen???
Wouldn't that be the worst type of "planning"?
And according to UK Guv requirements SBC area needs to be building at least a 1000 new homes a year - which is a number some what larger than current plans.

 

[Jam_Man]

??? so your suggestion is that they ignore it and hope it doesn't happen???
Wouldn't that be the worst type of "planning"?
And according to UK Guv requirements SBC area needs to be building at least a 1000 new homes a year - which is a number some what larger than current plans.

I didnt suggest anything of the sort.

Your post said "The Council MUST act in the interests of the whole Borough,"

I just asked whether dumping hundreds of homes in an area already over saturated with converted houses, with a large development about 500 yards away in one direction and hundreds of flats being built 500 yards away in another direction is actually good for the area.

They may have a quota for building new homes, but putting them all in the Fairfax area doesnt sound like the best place to put them.

I hope it gets agreed but I can certainly see why objections would be raised.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

I didnt suggest anything of the sort.

Your post said "The Council MUST act in the interests of the whole Borough,"

I just asked whether dumping hundreds of homes in an area already over saturated with converted houses, with a large development about 500 yards away in one direction and hundreds of flats being built 500 yards away in another direction is actually good for the area.

They may have a quota for building new homes, but putting them all in the Fairfax area doesnt sound like the best place to put them.

I hope it gets agreed but I can certainly see why objections would be raised.

I struggle to recall any uncluttered area inside the Borough tbh, maybe the Thorpe Bay Golf Course development plans could be resurrected but I would think there could be some objections to that piece of "brown field" site being used.
There is also quite a large field un-used on the site of the old demolished Eastwood School, behind the new builds/junior school.
The pulling down of the queensway flats will be a lot of better housing with less density maybe?
Other than those areas?
St Mary's school has been re-opened for the infants and has some capacity yet to be used.
Of the senior schools Futures, Cecil & Fairfax have spare capacity due to low ratings & the Grammars MUST be told to take at least 80% of local children.
There are a lot (Ok a few!) of new NHS surgeries around (e.g North Road) & a growing populace might be a good arguement against any restrictions being placed on Southend Hospital.

 

[Razam]

Has anyone heard anything from the council about the delay in the plans being uploaded? :unsure:

 

[The Big Dady]

Has anyone heard anything from the council about the delay in the plans being uploaded? :unsure:

Guess the answer to that is no.

I thought it was a legal requirement to make all submitted planning applications public within 14 days, but as this is SBC we are taking about, I assume in their case that is not true.

 

[Tommy2holes]

I've been thinking about this project.

Is this the biggest project ever completed in Southend?

If you combine the fossetts build and all that comes with it and also the roots hall build. Surely there can't have been many if any bigger builds in Southend. Maybe the regeneration of Vic ave in the 60s.

 

[rigsby]

I've been thinking about this project.

Is this the biggest project ever completed in Southend?

If you combine the fossetts build and all that comes with it and also the roots hall build. Surely there can't have been many if any bigger builds in Southend. Maybe the regeneration of Vic ave in the 60s.

I admire your positivity Tommy but we have a few hoops to jump through yet.

Your right though, for a town our size the building stage of FF alone should be a big financial boost.

 

[Tommy2holes]

I admire your positivity Tommy but we have a few hoops to jump through yet.

Your right though, for a town our size the building stage of FF alone should be a big financial boost.

I have been rons biggest critic but i have a very good feeling this time. Pressure to house the masses and with a faltering high street I would imagine that the project would be a huge shot In the arm of a failing town.

Of course I doubt the local council has much time for Ron Martin but it would be foolish to allow that to stifle a much needed development.

 

[The Big Dady]

From the ECHO today.

AN 11-screen Empire Cinema and an 80-room Travelodge hotel will be at the centre of a £50million development in Southend, which is set to start next year.

Cambridge-based Turnstone Estates is working in partnership with Southend Council to develop the Seaway car park off Lucy Road.

Turnstone’s Director Tim Deacon has confirmed a planning application will soon be submitted after the firm secured the cinema and hotel chains to kick-start the development, which will rival Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park.

The 1,370-seat cinema will have a large format Impact Screen. Along with the Travelodge Hotel, there will be ten restaurants and cafes, including a Frankie and Benny’s and a Chicquito, two indoor leisure units, a public square and a multi-story car park.

Mr Deacon said: “We have secured both Empire Cinemas and Travelodge for the scheme which means we can finalise our detailed design and progress to a planning application. We want to have an application in by the summer and start building next year, opening hopefully in late 2019 or early 2020.

“The layouts are very advanced and we’ve done all the survey work we needed to do for the planning authority.

“We have Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito and have really good interest from others who want to be in the town centre and seafront. Southend needs a proper, dedicated family leisure scheme.”

Justin Ribbons, chief executive of Empire Cinemas, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering Turnstone to bring this multiplex cinema to the heart of Southend and we look forward to entertaining local film fans for many years to come.”

The announcement puts the Seaway development ahead of another big retail and leisure complex planned by Southend United Football Club at Fossetts farm.

An application for a new stadium along with flats and restaurants also includes a multiplex cinema but it is unclear whether an operator has yet signed a deal with the club or whether the town could support three cinemas, including the Odeon in the High Street.

Mr Deacon said the Fossetts development could potentially harm Southend High Street.

He said: “I think Fossetts has got a long, long way to run. It’s a scheme which could cause immense harm on the town centre. It’s a scheme which has no cinema tenant attached to it. It was approved, but it’s a scheme which has been hanging around a long time with no credible delivery.

“If they were to start building it I think a lot of the retailers in the High Street would move out there and that is exactly what the planning policy seeks to stop.

“It’s probably the most potentially harmful planning application in the South East in terms of impact on the High Street.”

The spokeswoman for Southend United, Mary Power of Power Haus, said: “Our application deals with town centre impact. Essentially what our retail leisure assessment says is there’s no marked impact on the town centre.

“When we submitted our application the town could support another cinema. The Seaway development has its own drawbacks in terms of the loss of car parking.

Council welcomes scheme

SOUTHEND Council has welcomed the announcement of a cinema operator for the Seaway leisure complex.

A council spokesman said: “We have been working with Turnstone Estates on this scheme for a number of years and so we are pleased to see the progress being made.

“The announcement that an anchor tenant has been secured is good news and highlights private sector confidence in the plans and Southend as an investment location.”

The spokesman added: “As with all large planning applications, there will be a further period of public consultation once an application has been received and validated, during which time members of the public can make their views known.

“This will be considered by members of the development control committee, who ultimately determine any large application like this.”

Jonathan Garston, Milton Ward councillor, also welcomed the scheme.

Mr Garston said it would be a boost for the area’s economy and would help prevent shoppers from going out of town to spend their cash.

He said: “This particular scheme has taken about four years altogether.

“Our view has always been the same in that we support the scheme and think it will help regenerate the area.

“We think it will stop residents going out of town to shop and we very much welcome it.”

Mr Garston added: “We want to make sure there is enough parking in that area and that residents are fully consulted.

“As long as residents’ concerns are listened to it should be a good thing for us.”

 

[The Big Dady]

From the ECHO today

Developers say there will be no parking space loss

THE Seaway development will boost the town’s economy, but it has worried seafront traders who fear a loss of car parking in the town.

The development is expected to create 450 new jobs, but concerns have been raised the town could become gridlocked if parking is reduced.

However, developers Turnstone Estates are confident there will be no loss of parking capacity in the town centre when they build over the 661-space car park - and they believe there could even be more.

A planning inspector will this week hold a public hearing to examine the Southend Central Area Action plan, which maps out development for years to come.

The town’s parking provision forms part of that plan and Turnstone says it has worked closely with Southend Council to ensure capacity is maintained and improved.

Tim Deacon, director of Turnstone, wouldn’t be drawn on exactly how many spaces will be available in Seaway, which will have a new multi-storey car park.

Mr Deacon said: “I’m not going to quote parking numbers at the moment, but this site has got the capacity to deliver a lot of parking.

“We’re delivering a multi-storey car park. It has the physical capacity. What I end up choosing to deliver will depend on the outcome of the public hearing but also the overall strategy of the council.

Mr Deacon added: “The council has committed £5million in their capital programme to deliver extra parking and whether that gets delivered on this site there will be no net loss of parking. I suspect at the end of the process there will be a lot more parking.

Mr Deacon said his company was confident there would be no loss of parking.

He said: “Extensive traffic studies and car parking surveys in the town centre clearly show a great deal of capacity in the town, particularly south of the railway line. Even on the sunniest days there is still car park capacity in the town. This is about getting to the right parking space. They are all within close walking distance.

“Our model will show there is enough car parking to cope with the existing demands on the Seaway car park and what’s created by the cinema and restaurants apart from a very few and infrequent periods where people will have to go to other town centre car parks.”

Paul Thompson, chairman of Southend Seafront Traders, wasn’t convinced, however. He said: “We don’t know how many spaces they are proposing and that’s the key. They are going to build on a 661-space car park - the main car park for the seafront.

“They have got to announce how many parking spaces they are proposing to put on the site. Festival Leisure Park in Basildon has 2,000 parking spaces. Until we see how many they are proposing we can’t say much.”

 

[Jai]

Guess the answer to that is no.

I thought it was a legal requirement to make all submitted planning applications public within 14 days, but as this is SBC we are taking about, I assume in their case that is not true.

It's 10 working days.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200126/applications/58/the_decision-making_process/3

I was slightly curious about this and called the council planning department today. They confirmed they had the plans but they had not been validated yet. Given the legal requirement of 10 days, it would seem this means the application is incomplete and they are waiting for the club to fill in gaps.

If they want the plans heard in September, it will need to be validated by tomorrow to allow for the 16 weeks consultation.

 

[londonblue]

It's 10 working days.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200126/applications/58/the_decision-making_process/3

I was slightly curious about this and called the council planning department today. They confirmed they had the plans but they had not been validated yet. Given the legal requirement of 10 days, it would seem this means the application is incomplete and they are waiting for the club to fill in gaps.

If they want the plans heard in September, it will need to be validated by tomorrow to allow for the 16 weeks consultation.

Either that or the council are getting their own back given how delayed the whole scheme is.

 

[kaymac]

From the ECHO today

What is there in that proposed development that will supposedly attract an upturn in trade to Southend ? As for the 'boost to the area's economy', that merely reconfirms the council remain as deluded and out of touch as ever they were.

 

[kaymac]

Either that or the council are getting their own back given how delayed the whole scheme is.

I'd suspect in their own idyllic little world the council would love to get their mitts on the RH site for development whilst having no new stadium or football club in the town.

 

[Jam_Man]

I'd suspect in their own idyllic little world the council would love to get their mitts on the RH site for development whilst having no new stadium or football club in the town.

The council would never get Roots Hall, its private land.

Wouldnt knock the council too much, they have agreed the new stadium on TWO occassions. Its not their fault we have failed to deliver it.

 

[kaymac]

Having watched how successive councils have destroyed the town over the last umpteen decades I maintain a highly critical opinion of them. Parochial in the extreme, good at flattening sites, can't remember the last development that benefited local residents on a grand scale and utterly clueless regards road / parking and transport policies.

With the building of a new stadium being dependent upon funding (realised by RH's sale to Sainsburys / whoever) there was never a chance it could be funded and delivered any other way, pretty certain the council were fully aware of that.

 

[Jam_Man]

Having watched how successive councils have destroyed the town over the last umpteen decades I maintain a highly critical opinion of them. Parochial in the extreme, good at flattening sites, can't remember the last development that benefited local residents on a grand scale and utterly clueless regards road / parking and transport policies.

With the building of a new stadium being dependent upon funding (realised by RH's sale to Sainsburys / whoever) there was never a chance it could be funded and delivered any other way, pretty certain the council were fully aware of that.

When it was initially agreed Sainsbury were behind the project and the banks had not crashed so there was no reason to believe funding would not take place. If there were there would have been no reason for Ron to have even taken us down this road in the first place.

The council was completely behind the project and its failure had nothing to do with them and everything to do with the recession and the subsequent change in policy of Sainsbury.

Whether they will be behind it now after years of not delivering and with competition remains to be seen.

 

[kaymac]

Okay then, so with no Sainsburys / other site buyer then just how was the stadium supposed to built / delivered in the eyes of the council??

 

[The Big Dady]

Interesting the timing of all this, now lets see.

Seaways Development

SBC owns the freehold of the Seaways car park. check
SBC to lease all Seaways car park land to Turnstone Estates on a new long lease. check
SBC to get fat cheques from Turnstone Estates for lease. check
SBC includes Seaway development into their Southend Central Area Action plan. check
SBC is working in partnership with Turnstone Estates. check
SBC has put rate payers money (£5million in their capital programme) to find additional parking that would be lost due to the Seaways project. check
SBC's Southend Central Area Action Plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week and hold a public hearing to examine it, this maps out development for years to come. check

Fossetts Farm/Roots Hall Development

SBC do not want out of town retail developments due to its alleged impact on the High Street. check
SBC have not included Fossetts Farm land in Southend Central Area Action plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week, this maps out development for years to come. check
SBC have not included Roots Hall land in Southend Central Area Action plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week, this maps out development for years to come. check
SBC do not want another cinema complex that could affect the viability of the their own favoured Seaways Development. check
SBC fed up with all the delays and revised plans. check


How can SBC view and discuss these two planning applications in an unbiased way? I think there is a conflict of interest here. check

 

[Floval Flyer]

Interesting the timing of all this, now lets see.

Seaways Development

SBC owns the freehold of the Seaways car park. check
SBC to lease all Seaways car park land to Turnstone Estates on a new long lease. check
SBC to get fat cheques from Turnstone Estates for lease. check
SBC includes Seaway development into their Southend Central Area Action plan. check
SBC is working in partnership with Turnstone Estates. check
SBC has put rate payers money (£5million in their capital programme) to find additional parking that would be lost due to the Seaways project. check
SBC's Southend Central Area Action Plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week and hold a public hearing to examine it, this maps out development for years to come. check

Fossetts Farm/Roots Hall Development

SBC do not want out of town retail developments due to its alleged impact on the High Street. check
SBC have not included Fossetts Farm land in Southend Central Area Action plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week, this maps out development for years to come. check
SBC have not included Roots Hall land in Southend Central Area Action plan is to be placed before a planning inspector this week, this maps out development for years to come. check
SBC do not want another cinema complex that could affect the viability of the their own favoured Seaways Development. check
SBC fed up with all the delays and revised plans. check


How can SBC view and discuss these two planning applications in an unbiased way? I think there is a conflict of interest here. check

SBC has been corrupt for donkeys years. Nothing changes, and as you point out the whole thing stinks!