The show home, a council-owned property in Leigh which has been retrofitted with various thermal, energy, and water technologies, will act as a test bed for the council to understand the latest in environmental innovations. We’re glad to see the council investigating the available green technologies, and we’re keen to encourage and support the appropriate installation of these technologies in the City’s social housing. 

Our team was grateful to have been given a tour by the project managers and delighted to hear that the City Council has committed the funding for a further 100+ council homes to receive overdue insulation upgrades. We had a robust dialogue with the council’s team; listening to their justifications and ambitions, and offering our industry-specific and academic recommendations on several considerations. 

Our score: Good, but further improvement is possible.

Our appraisal:

We were pleased to see technologies like single-room MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery) and insulated hot water storage installed within the property. We’re glad to see the council pursuing the correct fabric-first approach, with external thermal insulation and efficient glazing taking priority in its projects. The energy-saving devices are welcome additions, as is the study period in which the house’s performance will be monitored by the project team.

However, the excellent single-room MVHR systems and external insulation installed mean that the conventional radiator heating system is redundant and we feel its installation within the showhome is misleading.

We have some reservations about the materials being used in this project; specifically, we’re concerned that many of the materials used are plastics and petrochemical-derived, are high in embodied energy & carbon, and almost all are non-recyclable. The petrochemical-derived polystyrene exterior insulation will also off-gas harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We questioned why various cost-comparable natural and sustainable alternatives were not being used.

Many of our suggestions cited concerns regarding the maintenance and lifecycle of the devices installed, and the lack of end-of-life consideration for materials used, i.e. non-recyclable waste and electronics. We have suggested the Council take a bio-organic and wood-first approach to materials in future projects, such as timber windows and wood fibre insulation, which has additional carbon sink benefits and sustainable end-of-life built-in. These are however more expensive, so the Council needs to make a value decision on specifying such materials. We say that ethics and value outweigh racing to the bottom on cost, and these decisions will send a clear signal to external stakeholders, residents, and interested parties.

We acknowledge that this home features more individual technologies installed than would be necessary for most homes to achieve a better standard of sustainability, but we were surprised to see several conflicting systems installed within the property. We have made recommendations about some devices we consider to be costly and unnecessary which can be omitted from future schemes. In our view, the Greywater recycling system (in this domestic specification and use) is just a gimmick. 

The inclusion of an (incorrectly installed) Air Source Heat Pump and Solar Photovoltaics offers more questions. In our appraisal, ASHPs are not required for this specification of high-standard thermal retrofits that use nighttime economy energy tariffs for hot water storage and heat recovery ventilation systems. Due to the legacy hip roof, there was not much space on the south-facing pitch to install PV panels, so the contractors also installed them on the north-facing pitch, meaning those units would only perform at 70% efficiency.

Additionally, there is no accounting for Passive Solar Gain through the south-facing fenestration, meaning the (now super insulated) home will need energy-intensive active cooling throughout the increasingly warm summers and heatwaves more prevalent due to climate heating. Solar gain is easily rectified with brise-soleil or roller shutters and appropriate tree planting on and off the property. 

There appears to have been no meaningful discussion about interstitial condensation within the fabric of the building, which in time, could cause serious damp and mould problems.

We are disappointed that seemingly little consideration has been given to biodiversity and habitat retention in this project. 

We’re concerned that whilst the water attenuation devices on show in this property are good in theory, far better natural SuDS alternatives exist, like rainwater attenuation ponds, which also create much-needed habitat supporting biodiversity. We were also frustrated by the project’s focus on installing expensive rainwater attenuation troughs to mitigate the private water company’s ongoing lack of investment in suitable infrastructure, with little consideration for how the water collection could be used to benefit the community and wildlife. With this in mind, we suggested that the council review future garden schemes away from hostile drought-resistant hard landscaping to one that uses collected rainwater to support biodiverse habitats and resilient food growth. 

We questioned why petrochemical vinyl flooring was used instead of porcelain, cork, or rubber alternatives. Likewise, plasticised acrylic paint was used throughout instead of available organic alternatives. The project featured heavy use of cheap petrochemical-based carpets (that were noticeably off-gassing upstairs) instead of natural coir, hemp or woollen alternatives.

We have offered our team’s expertise to the council to inform and improve future projects, and we’re keen to suggest recommendations to make future projects cost-effective and holistically sustainable. We welcome the opportunity to study this project’s data and have offered to independently review and scrutinise the project’s performance over time to ensure ROI in future projects. 

In review, we feel this project is an excellent first step towards improving the council’s in-house knowledge on retrofitting sustainability, and we welcome the steps being taken towards bettering the civic estate and housing stock. Measures like thermal insulation are an overdue step in improving the efficiency and living conditions of the City’s housing provision.

We believe there are missed opportunities and misunderstandings within the project that could be misleading to lay people and that need addressing before further roll-out.

We feel that had the project consulted with a wider field of industry experts, ecologists, and environmentalists, this show home could have been delivered to a higher eco standard and been of national significance.

We welcome consultation and involvement on future projects of this nature. 

Co-authored by members of the South East Essex Green Party.
Our team for this article included;

• Chartered Architectural Technologist (MCIAT) / RIBA Affiliate
  Senior Lecturer Practitioner (Architecture & Planning)
• Wildlife Conservation and Ecology Specialist
• WELL Accredited Professional Interior and Spatial Designer
• ISO Environmental Compliance Auditor (EMS-14001)

The post Greens Review City Council’s ‘Eco Home’ pilot appeared first on South East Essex.

This week it has been announced that the Conservative City Council plan to CLOSE two of Southend’s libraries, and intends to reduce the service and hours at three of the remaining libraries.

Our Green Team has launched an urgent petition calling on the council to take our libraries off their chopping block. 

In his Echo article, Cllr Cox also announced huge cuts to Family Centres, with a proposal to close 4 out of 9 centres altogether. The Green Party is against these closures and will be launching a separate petition against these proposals too.

We all know that the Conservatives made the retention of weekly refuse collections a key message in several recent elections, but they’ve announced today that this is a promise they can’t afford to keep. It now looks likely that Southend’s waste collection will move to a fortnightly collection from April 2025. Another broken promise from the Conservatives.

Concerningly, the Conservatives have also suggested selling off the pier to a private operator in order to raise some quick cash. The Green Party remain firmly against the privatisation of our city’s Heritage assets.

It seems they’re coming for the arts also, with an announcement that the NetPark arts project which delivers an art therapy-based service for adults with dementia will be scrapped entirely. 

A full list of the proposed cuts which are due to be discussed by the council tonight, can be found online here:

Our branch Coordinator, James Vessey-Miller has written to the Cabinet Member Cllr Derek Jarvis, and written to the local press. In his letter, James says:

“I condemn these proposals, and I do not accept that these cuts are proportionate, considered, or fiscally appropriate.

“To illustrate just one of many excruciating hypocrisies in this matter; one of the first acts the Conservatives did in May was voluntarily waive much-needed civic income from seafront parking charges as a kickback to their donors on the seafront. Cllr Terry estimates this at £500,000,pa in lost revenue.

“The estimated savings in closing two libraries and reducing services at the others is £200k,pa. This could be financed two and a half times over by the reinstatement of the axed parking charges. Where do the Conservatives’ priorities lie; with residents, or with their donors?”

🚨 We have launched this petition to send the council a strong message that residents will not accept ANY cuts to our library services.

Please SIGN and SHARE this petition:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-southend-libraries/

The post Greens launch petition against library closures appeared first on South East Essex.

Following a vote of Green Party members, the South East Essex branch is delighted to announce the selection of our two candidates for the forthcoming General Election:

Tilly Hogrebe

for Southend West & Leigh

On being selected, Tilly said:

"I am proud to be representing my home constituency of Southend West and Leigh as the Green Party candidate in the upcoming general election.

I firmly believe in building happy and healthy communities where residents find connection and a sense of belonging. I stand for protecting our environment and creating a healthy, liveable planet for generations to come. I strive for a world where all basic needs are met for everyone, while our use of resources remains within the planetary boundaries.”

Simon Cross

for Southend East & Rochford

On being selected, Simon said:

"I'm delighted to have the opportunity to again represent Southend East & Rochford as a Green candidate in the next General Election.

In 2015 and 2017 I offered the Green Party's vision of a kinder, more equal, and more just society to the people of Southend East & Rochford, and I'm excited to be doing so again in this important General Election. " 

The South East Essex Green Party are excited to begin campaigning in both constituencies in the forthcoming General Election.

If you would like to support our General Election campaigning, please consider making a donation, or signing up as a volunteer. 

Please note this article has been edited. In earlier versions of this press release, it was announced that Eli London was selected as the Green Party's prospective candidate for Rochford & Southend East constituency.

Eli has stepped down for personal reasons and we thank them for their considerable effort and dedication to the role. Veteran campaigner Simon Cross will be our candidate for the Southend East & Rochford constituency in the 2024 General Election. 

The post Green Party announces General Election candidates. appeared first on South East Essex.

Local residents have long dispaired at the City Council’s brutal “cut before complaint” approach to tree management, which has led to the unnecessary and premature removal of thousands of our City’s natural assets, worth £millions.

With cross-party support, Richard’s motion sets in motion radical changes to the way the Council manages and preserves our Trees, and sets ambitious targets to reinstate and grow our tree canopy cover, to help tackle many local issues, like air and noise pollution, urban heat stress, flooding, and to help combat climate change.

The motion passed by the council reads:

Southend’s Urban Trees:
They say an oak tree spends 300 years growing, 300 years living and 300 years dying. There are huge environmental and social implications to how a council values tree maintenance. This motion aims to improve our tree management, especially the management of declining trees, to maximise the benefits and lifespan of trees on council-owned or council-managed land.

Southend’s urban trees are assets of immense community value, providing tree canopy cover (TCC) which is proven to reduce ‘urban heat island effect’ that is the cause of an increasing number of fatalities across Europe due to climate heating.

Despite significant tree planting in recent years our TCC currently stands at 13% on average, and just 10% in Leigh-on-Sea. The value of mature trees cannot adequately be replaced by saplings so we must do more to retain our mature trees and to improve our current TCC to the Forestry Commission’s recommendation of 15% at the very least.

More trees will bring many benefits to our city such as an improvement in air quality, greater local sequestering of carbon to aid our Net Zero ambitions, and a positive effect on the mental health of local people.
To maintain and increase our TCC we must seek to prolong the lifespans of our mature trees alongside planting thousands of new ones through a variety of methods including tree planting-focused grant applications. This will require a progressive and pragmatic approach to tree management and a refinement of practices with a preservation-first approach.

Therefore, Southend-on-Sea City Council resolves to:

1. Establish a biodiversity and tree retention working party with observers from external organisations with knowledge and expertise in arboriculture and biodiversity. The remit of the working party will be to consider tree management and preservation, including assessing trees marked for removal, unless there is a perceived immediate risk, and to informally advise the administration on matters of tree preservation, maintenance, and biodiversity.
2. Invoke an immediate moratorium on tree felling where there is not an immediate risk to the public until there has been a review of existing practices around maintenance and retention of highways trees to develop an alternative methodology toolbox to align with best practice under the Tree Design Action Group, the Forestry Commission and the Tree Council of Great Britain.
3. Embed quality assurances procedures within a tree retention policy as part of best practice so that common scenarios can be actioned quickly and without ambiguity.
4. Continuously seek funding opportunities to bid for to plant new trees.
5. Review potential planting locations across the city and keep an up-to-date map for the use of tree officers and highways surveyors.
6. Where practicable, seek to plant replacement trees as far in advance as possible of a removal.
7. Where practicable, plant larger, more mature trees in build-outs at the end of double yellow line demarcations to alleviate pressure on our drainage system from stormwater attenuation and to preserve the integrity and longevity of our highways trees and nearby footpaths.

This is the first motion put to Southend City Council by the Green Party, and we’re delighted to report it was passed with cross-party support.

The results of the vote were as follows:

FOR:
Cllr Richard Longstaff (Proposer)
Cllr Steve Aylen (Seconder)
Cllr Martin Berry
Cllr Margaret Borton
Cllr Laurie Burton
Cllr Paul Collins
Cllr Daniel Cowan
Cllr Tricia Cowdrey
Cllr Matt Dent
Cllr Fay Evans
Cllr Stephen George
Cllr Ian Gilbert
Cllr John Harland
Cllr Lydia Hyde
Cllr Anne Jones
Cllr Gabriel Leroy
Cllr Aston Line
Cllr Robert McMullan
Cllr Carole Mulroney
Cllr Cheryl Nevin
Cllr Mandy O’Connor
Cllr Donna Richardson
Cllr Kevin Robinson
Cllr Maxine Sadza
Cllr Mike Stafford
Cllr Martin Terry
Cllr Steven Wakefield
Cllr Nick Ward

AGAINST:
Cllr Ron Woodley

NO VOTE:
Cllr Helen Boyd
Cllr Kevin Buck
Cllr Colin Campbell
Cllr Owen Cartey
Cllr James Courtenay
Cllr Tony Cox
Cllr Meg Davidson
Cllr Alan Dear
Cllr Nigel Folkard
Cllr David Garston
Cllr Stephen Habermel
Cllr Darryl Jones
Cllr James Moyies
Cllr Daniel Nelson
Cllr Jack Warren

ENDS

The post Greens’ Tree Motion Passed at SCC appeared first on South East Essex.

4th May 2023

THE GREENS are celebrating a successful Local Election this year, electing the first-ever Green Councillor to Southend City Council.

Well-known community campaigner Richard Longstaff has been elected as a Councillor for the Leigh Ward.

Richard won the seat with 1042 votes, which represented 39% of the total vote. The Liberal Democrats finished second, and the Conservatives in third. The seat was previously held by Liberal Democrat Ashley Thompson, who resigned. Richard will now serve as a Green Party City Councillor until May 2027.

Richard is well-known in Leigh as the man behind the popular Once Upon a Tree and the Grand Again campaigns. He has been the Green Party’s candidate for Leigh since 2019. His election campaign focussed on his track record of hard work for Leigh and set out his positive vision for a Fairer, Greener Leigh.

Richard will now represent the residents of Leigh as the City Council’s first Green Councillor and will work hard for a  fairer, greener community in Leigh.

FULL 2023 LEIGH WARD RESULTS:

1. Richard LONGSTAFF (Green Party) – 1042 votes – ELECTED
2. Syrie COX (Liberal Democrat) – 835 votes
3. Craig WATT (Conservative) – 501 votes
4. Mick EKERS (Labour) – 236 votes
5. James MILLER (Confelicity) – 36 votes
6. Jason PILLEY (Psychedelic Movement) – 13 votes

Speaking on the evening, Richard said:

” I’m thrilled and humbled to have been chosen by the residents of Leigh to be their new City Councillor. Today we made history. My thanks to the residents for putting their trust in me. “

Coordinator of the South East Essex Green Party, James Vessey-Miller said;

” The Green Party have had an amazing set of results across the country in this year’s Local Elections, and that Green Surge has also reached Leigh. Richard has worked so immensely hard for the residents of Leigh these past few years, and ultimately the voters recognised and appreciated that dedicated hard work alongside his honest and positive campaign. This year shows that the Green Party can win seats anywhere, and I’m looking forward to working with Richard in holding the council to account and standing up for what matters. “

ENDS

The post Green Party’s Richard Longstaff elected in Leigh appeared first on South East Essex.

Hosted by local Green campaigner Richard Longstaff and Green Party volunteers, the team held a day of campaigning in Leigh speaking with residents and businesses. 

The Green Party are set to contest record numbers of seats in the forthcoming election across Essex, and expects to continue its record growth in councillor numbers, winning more seats on councils across the country. 

The Green Party has again announced a full slate of seventeen local candidates across Southend for this year’s council elections, meaning as usual, every voter will have a Green Candidate to vote for this year. 

Former leader of the Green Party, Baroness Natalie Bennett said:

It’s lovely to be here in Leigh-on-Sea. I’ve been out campaigning today with Richard Longstaff on the doorsteps getting the experience, and it’s great to see the hard work that Richard and his team have put in for the residents of Leigh. The Green Party have got ideas of the future, and we’re proud of doing things differently. There are now Greens in Council chambers up and down the country at every level, and there are 16 councils around the country where Greens are already part of the administration. Voters know that there are Greens working hard for their community and making a difference everywhere.

Cllr Nate Higgins said:

It’s really exciting to be here today to be part of this campaign. This year is one of the most important elections in the history of the Green Party. The council seat that I hold in Newham in London proves that there’s nowhere the Greens can’t win. People told me on the doorsteps today that they know Richard and they’ll be voting for him. We know from experience that having a Green in the room does make a difference, and I can’t wait to see Richard and other local Greens on Southend Council.

Local Green Party Branch Coordinator James Vessey-Miller said:

Residents have told us that they’re tired of inaction on many local issues, and many voters are now switching to the Green Party because they’ve seen our track record of hard work from our local candidates. In every area across Southend, the Green Party is a credible choice in these elections. Many areas across Essex already have elected Greens on councils, and I look forward to getting our hard-working candidates elected here too.

The post Natalie Bennett visits Leigh for Action Day appeared first on South East Essex.

Southend Council has started 2023 with a doubling-down on their efforts to remove trees across Southend.

The Green Party has been applying pressure to Southend Council following a new string of incidents of indefensible and avoidable tree removal. Several roads across Southend, particularly Leigh, have seen the council’s yellow Tree Removal Notices being stapled to perfectly-healthy trees, earmarking them for imminent destruction.

Concerned residents have contacted the Green Party following the arrival of the notices, with many residents rightly questioning on what grounds the trees are being removed. Upon investigation, the council has used the blanket justification of “incompatible with highways works” for almost every planned removal; admitting by default that the trees are otherwise perfectly healthy.

The Green Party disputes the Council’s claim that the trees are unavoidably required for removal and are incompatible with footway standards. Many examples already exist across the city that demonstrate that mature street trees can be accommodated as part of an accessible standards-compliant pavement. The council is choosing to continue its terrible record of removing perfectly healthy trees and is subjecting residents to worsening air quality and dwindling wildlife as a direct result.

It is our view that these trees are being earmarked for destruction as a consequence of the council’s poor management and due to zero oversight or scrutiny of the tree removal process. We again face a situation whereby the council is stripping out our irreplaceable natural assets at a time of climate crisis due to poor oversight and an evident lack of due process, education, and imagination.

Phil Barwell, who is a senior Arboricultural Officer in London said in a statement to the Once Upon A Tree group:

“This approach to urban tree management is outdated and ill-informed. There is guidance available on alternative engineering solutions that can be implemented on the public highway prior to considering tree removal including footway buildout, Flexipave or Addaflex installation, and tree pit enlargement.

It is a political choice to support the removal of trees in respect of minor footway damage when there are suitable engineering solutions available to retain trees with the urban environment.”

Pil Barwell

Green Party candidate for Leigh, Richard Longstaff said:

“I understand that there is currently no director of highways, meaning there is a vacuum in leadership just as Leigh-on-Sea is having significant pavement works. This is leading to an unusually high number of perfectly-healthy street trees being removed for no other reason than arbitrary and unchecked highways dept. decisions. It shows negligence and a breakdown of leadership and management of the teams responsible for our Street Trees, from both executives and elected council members.

I would like an urgent meeting with senior management and executives at the council to outline how they will take immediate action and to reassure city residents that our street trees are safe and in good management with the appropriate ISO quality assurance, and external auditing of the teams that oversee the implementation of the council’s tree policy and processes.”

Richard Longstaff

The Green Party have demanded an immediate meeting with the Council to highlight the serious issues of their record of unnecessary and reckless tree removal. We urgently call on Southend-on-Sea City Council and Cllr Carole Mulroney, in her position as deputy leader, to again enact a moratorium on all tree felling until this situation is reviewed and a new director of highways appointed to oversee the teams on the ground.

ENDS

The post Council Continues Devastating Tree-Felling in Southend appeared first on South East Essex.

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The Green Party is today releasing this footage taken on 23.11.22, which shows a council worker blanket-spraying the carcinogenic herbicide Glyphosate across the promenade. This area of the seafront by the attractions is very popular with families and dog walkers, and frequently sees young children and pets playing on the sea wall and beach. Just minutes after this worker was seen spraying close to the children’s play equipment further along, one of our members had to warn families with young children to avoid the area for safety concerns. 

The local Green Party has been challenging the council over its continued and widespread use of these dangerous chemicals for years. Many residents are rightly concerned for the devastating ecological impact these substances have on our wildlife and pets, and further the documented cancer-causing health risk it poses to humans. Here we see the video evidence that the council isn’t listening. 

Our coordinator James Vessey-Miller grilled the council in a recent meeting about their continued use of these substances, and shockingly Leigh’s Cllr Mulroney responded by wrongly claiming that these carcinogenic herbicides were “completely safe”. Southend Council has claimed for years that it is pursuing a “phased reduction” of these dangerous chemicals. It insists that it only uses these chemicals when necessary, and does all it can to avoid their use when alternatives are possible. 

The Green Party refutes this claim, as we’ve seen them spraying this stuff across whole areas year-round, with no evidence of alternative weed control even being trialled at scale. We’re yet to even see any meaningful reduction on 2018 levels. We have a whole folder of evidence of the council using ride-on tractors like this to coat entire swathes of our city in these dangerous chemicals, and in our opinion, it’s often completely unnecessary. Far too often our members have witnessed council employees spraying these herbicides as a corner-cutting way of avoiding more labour-intensive manual weed control around streetlights, benches, and children’s play equipment. Shockingly, we’ve even seen the council spraying in this manner against the fences of primary schools. 

We’re publishing this video today to evidence that despite what they say in their press releases, the council’s widespread usage of these harmful chemicals is ongoing, and that they simply don’t care that they’re doing it in areas that subject our children and pets to unjustifiable risk. 

The Green Party continues to hold the council to account, and today we’re again calling on them to impose an immediate ban on the use of these dangerous Herbicides.

We call on Southend Council to do the right thing and stop the use of these chemicals.

Do you have any evidence or stories of the council using these herbicides?
Share with us in the comments below:

The post Greens Expose Council Using Glyphosate on Seafront appeared first on South East Essex.

In July this year, the South East Essex Green Party launched a petition and community campaign to save the Railway Hotel Southend from inappropriate development.

Leading members of the local Green Party submitted the paperwork officially nominating The Railway Hotel to be considered an Asset of Community Value by Southend City Council, and additionally launched a petition calling for the Council to take steps to safeguard the building. Within a few days, our petition amassed over 1700 signatures from concerned locals and gained considerable media coverage.

In an update received in October, Southend Council confirmed that thanks to this campaign this heritage building is now acknowledged as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), and is rightly protected under this listing.

Read the statements posted to the Friends of the Railway campaign page:

7 Oct 2022.

GOOD NEWS!

We have today received confirmation from Southend City Council that our application to have The Railway Hotel listed as an Asset of Community Value has been successful!

The Council has formally recognised The Railway’s huge contribution to our city as a community and cultural venue (and much much more) and has acknowledged that it is an integral part of our city’s cultural infrastructure. ACV listing now means we have another safeguard against irresponsible development, and it means that we’re one step closer to having the pub reopen for our community’s benefit.

I’d like to thank the 1600+ of you that signed our petition so far and the many of you who helped our campaign by emailing your councillors, sharing our updates, and helping us galvanise the support for a future for the pub. Without your help, it’s possible that we might have seen the pub added to the sadly growing list of great boozers we’ve lost to history.

I’d additionally like to thank the South East Essex Green Party for being the initial signatories on the ACV Nominations paperwork, and for supporting us with this campaign. Thanks also to those many councillors at SCC who also lent us your support.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Gaining an Asset of Community Value (ACV) listing means that the council officially recognises that a building has significant community value; in our case as a much-loved community and cultural pub, and it recognises in planning decisions that it should be protected under applicable legislation for this purpose only. In short, it means that the council agrees with us that the Pub should remain a Pub!

Currently, the building is owned by Heineken/Star. This ACV listing additionally means that if the brewery wants to sell the property, it is bound to notify the community of its intention to sell, and a moratorium is placed on the sale of the building, giving the community six months to arrange the finances to buy the pub at market-rate from the current owners. This would allow the community to buy the pub itself directly, and then continue to run the venue for the good of the city as a community-owned social enterprise/cooperative.

Put simply, it means that the current owners can’t just sell off the property to irresponsible developers that would just trash the place. The ACV listing gives us the safeguard that the community has a Right To Bid first. We want that option.

The Railway will now remain on this list of Assets of Community Value for five years. The current owners, Heineken/Star have the legal right to object, but we’d strongly advise they don’t waste their money. Southend has very clearly sent the message that we love The Railway, and won’t see it tarnished, degraded, or sold off.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Please continue to share your stories of how important the pub is to our community!

Just because we now have an ACV listing, we can’t become complacent. The brewery still has the ability to ruin the pub for good itself; we’ve just made it much harder for them to treat it as a disposable asset to fling off at the highest price for their shareholders’ profits.

We’re also completely aware we’d be going up against a faceless multinational’s well-paid litigation team if it ever does end up in court. We’re not particularly scared tbh, but as a community, we need to be collectively ready for that fight.

This is only the first stage of bringing the pub back into community hands. When the time comes, we need to be ready to rally our supporters to buy, and then reopen the pub. That is a LOT of work. We want to do this, and we’ll need your support.

If you haven’t already, please encourage friends and family to visit our website and sign the petition. We’re still asking Southend Council to include the Pub on its’ list of Heritage Assets, as we think the pub deserves recognition and protection for its heritage credentials too. Keep applying the pressure!

26 July 2022.

SAVE THE RAILWAY HOTEL

Please sign and share this petition to ask Southend Council to help Save The Railway Hotel, Southend.

We’re asking Southend Council to list The Railway as an “Asset of Community Value”, and to add the building to the Council’s Local List of Historic Buildings.

Please support our efforts, by adding your name to this petition now:
SIGN: https://railwayhotelsouthend.co.uk/

WHY IS THIS PETITION IMPORTANT?

Until its closure in late 2020, The Railway Hotel was one of Southend’s most prominent counter-cultural landmarks, beloved by a majority of residents from across the city. Its impact to the city, and its sad and premature loss is felt today by many – even far beyond the boundaries of the county.

The building itself bears important local architectural and historical significance to the city, on its own merits and as one of the borough’s first public houses in what is now the city centre. Its location, placed within the Banks & Barry ‘Cliff Town’ Estate (now the Milton Conservation Area), also lends further evidence to the historical significance of the building to the wider story of Southend.

Currently, the building (we feel wrongly) is neither listed on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) nor is it on the Local List of Historic Buildings. This means that there is currently no protection for this Public House in terms of conservation (architecturally or aesthetically), and as a result, there is little stopping an application of irresponsible development concluding in the loss of one of the city’s assets.

The Railway was more than a beloved local pub; it was the crucible in which an entire generation of music, art, and culture was created and thrived in Southend. Known for its stalwart support for local, national, and international musicians of all genres, The Railway was primarily a community-spirited live music venue, as much as it was a popular public house.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, its patrons, the Railway Community is a 5.5k strong eclectic diaspora of local art and music lovers that otherwise would have never shared one space. A glistening example of community cohesion, The Railway represented the very best of what Southend’s thriving cultural scene could offer, and was for decades one of the town’s (now city’s) liveliest venues. The pub gave a second home to a whole family of local artists and customers, many of which now feel bereft of a similar space in the city.

The Railway’s community engagement stretched beyond that of just a pub, as for years it proudly supported those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities through a legacy of accessible and inclusive events, and also fundraising tens of thousands for various charities through events. The pub was proudly a ‘safe space’ for LGBTIQA+ patrons and happily played home to the alternative cultural scene (by all definitions) in Southend. 
The contribution The Railway has made to our city and its story cannot be underestimated.

Sadly, despite overcoming several difficult financial periods in recent history, the Coronavirus pandemic proved too much of a financial strain on the business, and the previous operators closed to the public for the last time on 31st October 2020.

In the past 1.5 years, it had been hoped by the community that now the building has been relinquished back to the responsibility of the Brewery/PubCo, they would reopen this busy and popular city-centre pub for eager trade. This unfortunately hasn’t happened, and the building remains empty and shuttered. As it stands, the community has been given no assurances of the long-term security of this beloved institution, and we now feel the local authority should assist in bringing this venue back into the hands of the community that wishes to see it reopen.

We believe fundamentally that this building must remain a community pub.


The Railway is a cultural icon to our city, and is an asset that cannot be lost in the same ways other significant venues are. We have reason to believe that this beloved pub is at risk of being lost forever.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We’ve already asked Southend Council to list The Railway as an ACV, and to include the building on the Council’s Local List of Historic Buildings. We believe that right now, this is one of the most effective ways we have of ensuring The Railway will reopen as a community pub.

To help us save The Railway:

– Please SIGN and SHARE this petition.

– Tell everyone; help us get the word out that we need to act quick.

– Please consider writing to your Ward Councillors and ask them to support the ACV listing.

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