There’s been a lot of talk lately about the tens of thousands of new homes being pushed onto Southend by central government – top-down, with little regard for local voices.

From the Salvation Army land in the west to Bournes Green in the east, our city is facing a tidal wave of urban sprawl. Our infrastructure is under pressure, and the green spaces that make Southend special are under threat.

We do need more homes; people are living longer, and we need working-age people to keep our society going and to start families. But those homes must be built in the right places — and at the right price.

For too long, we’ve seen overpriced executive estates dumped on greenfield land, with barely a thought for schools, GP surgeries, bus routes or water. Generic, car-focused, cut-and-paste houses that could be anywhere, and often don’t reflect Southend’s character or needs.

However, across the country over a million homes already have planning permission and haven’t been built. Another million are sitting empty. Yet developers still demand more land. They’re hoarding it, inflating their balance sheets, not building homes.

We should be building on brownfield sites near existing public transport infrastructure, creating homes that reflect our local identity. Just look at places like Cliff Town, mansion blocks, family homes, proper parks and tree-lined streets. Thoughtful, people-focused design that builds communities, not just postcodes.

Recently the Labour government announced plans to water down environmental protections further, weakening biodiversity net-gain rules that help our ecosystems. Simple steps like requiring swift boxes on new homes could be dropped. They’re even reclassifying parts of the green belt as ‘grey belt’ to make them easier to concrete over.

There is nothing “green” about building over high-quality farmland. These spaces could be rewilded or restored to produce food; something we’ll need more than ever as climate change affects harvests across Europe. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Adding to the housing crisis, council housing has been neglected since the 1980s and we’re now living with the consequences; sky high mortgages making homes more unaffordable for all but the wealthiest, forcing families to work more hours. Developers were supposed to pick up the slack with so-called ‘affordable’ housing, but time and again they try to wriggle out of their commitments, claiming they’re “unviable.” Only recently, the developer now being lined up to build at Bournes Green tried to slash its social housing commitment from 30% to 15%. I sat on that planning committee, and I was proud to vote against it. But it shows how broken the system is.

The council needs to step up. We need to build high-quality council homes ourselves, not buy up homes squeezed onto unsuitable plots, beside noisy roads or under flight paths. The private sector can’t fill this gap. We need proper national funding for a new generation of social housing.

And we must fix the spread of HMOs. Family homes are being converted into shared housing without proper planning, piling pressure on local services and removing the types of houses we are short of. Some HMOs are well-designed, but others are clearly gaming the system. Right now, anyone can convert a house into an HMO without planning permission, unless it’s for more than five people. That needs to change. We’re pushing to strike a better balance.

Roads and rail are at a tipping point; building more roads won’t solve the problems, it’ll make things much worse. We need bold thinking: better buses, safe cycle lanes, and fewer short car journeys. Let’s make it easier, cheaper and safer to get around without the need for cars. As Enrique Peñalosa said, “a developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

And we must bring jobs back to central Southend – especially green jobs. The green sector is growing three times faster than the wider economy. We’ve got the talent: in design, manufacturing and engineering. What we need now is the investment to unlock that potential and stop treating Southend as just a commuter town for London.

What we need is a joined-up plan – for homes, nature, and jobs. Only the Greens are offering that. We’re the only party putting communities and climate before developers and short-term profits.

The upcoming Local Plan is the one opportunity to have our say to try to secure and protect our valuable spaces, so I encourage each and everyone of you to get involved. This is your city. Make your voice heard.

The post Building for People and Planet appeared first on South East Essex.

The Green Party have raised serious safety concerns after several cars were seen driving through Chalkwell Park.

The road that runs from Old Leigh Road to the cricket pavilion is marked “Authorised Vehicles Only,” with signage at the gate. However, certain users appear to be driving through and parking on the grass, rather than using the designated car park. One day, 12 cars were counted at one time within the park either traveling through or parked around the cricket club and cafe.

Green campaigner Kay Mitchell said: “Unauthorised vehicles using Chalkwell Park paths are putting families and pets at risk. These are not isolated incidents and clear evidence has been shared.

“This is a serious and urgent matter. I’m working with Councillor Stuart Allen, who is contacting officers to push for a fast response. Safety for park users must come first. Vehicular access from Old Leigh Road should be limited to essential maintenance only and supervised. I hope the council responds with the urgency this deserves.”

A local resident, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “Parks are meant to be a place to escape traffic, where children and dogs can run free without fear. But now I find myself having to gather up my children when cars appear and sometimes I’m too late, as shown in videos I’ve taken of various incidents.

“This has to stop before someone gets hurt. The cars are also damaging the paths, they weren’t built for this.”

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“Thanks to residents for raising this. It’s shocking to see how close cars are coming to children in a space meant to be safe. I’ve reported it to the parks and highways teams, who are now looking into the issue.”

Councillor Stuart Allen

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The Green Party is calling for a bollard to be installed at the park gate to prevent unauthorised access, and is urging the council to act quickly before someone is injured.

– ENDS –

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The Southend Green Party has announced that Councillor Stuart Allen will take over as Group Leader for the coming municipal year.

The leadership change is part of the Green Group’s flat hierarchy, which emphasises fairness and shared responsibility. When Councillor Allen was elected last year, the group agreed to rotate the leadership role annually among its councillors. The position exists solely for council proceedings; all Green councillors have equal weight in decision-making, and, with no party whip, are free to vote according to their conscience.

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“It’s been a pleasure to serve as our Group Leader over the past year, and I know Stuart will do an amazing job. From being a lone voice on the council to becoming a growing group with an increasing vote share—it’s an exciting time to be part of the Green Party.”

Cllr Richard Longstaff

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“I’m looking forward to stepping into the role, especially at such a pivotal moment for the Council, as we move toward a Combined Authority Mayor and local government reorganisation. We’ve got a fantastic team behind us and we’re ready to meet the challenges ahead.”

Cllr Stuart Allen

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The change in leadership took effect this month.

– ENDS –

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All are welcome to attend.
Sat 14th June, 17:30

We’re meeting at Trust Links Westcliff for our legendary vegan BBQ! Come and meet the Southend Green team, grab some great food, and enjoy!

Our volunteer chefs will be cooking up a delicious plant-based BBQ, with all the sides and delightful desserts!

This event is BYOB and Pay What You Can Afford, with all proceeds benefiting the Green Party in South East Essex.

The post Big Summer Social appeared first on South East Essex.

The Green Group had submitted an amendment to ensure that this land would never be built on, but was rejected.

Cllr Richard Longstaff, Green Group Leader said;

Nationally, the Green Party strongly opposes to building on metropolitan greenbelt land, which exists for a reason to prevent urban sprawl, protect nature and support mental and physical wellbeing through access to green spaces.

We’re also against administrative impropriety, where council is bypassed by any administration and council officers in making applications to government without full council debate. We’ve already voted against this as a council. I said very clearly last year how local government is based on democratic principles. This, again, doesn’t feel very democratic. Our residents deserve better. Bournes Green lightly serves as a valuable, ecological and community resource. Once built on its environmental and social value, cannot be recovered.

Alternatives exist. Southend, like many other urban areas, has underutilised brownfield sites, empty homes, and outdated commercial buildings that can be repurposed as repurposed or refitted as we seeing on on a yearly basis as the population grows. Prioritising urban regeneration and retrofitting high quality infill housing aligns with sustainable planning principles.

This type of proposal should be mastermind by planning and urban design professionals, not politicians and council officers. Southend is a peninsula of land the size of Manhattan. Is constrained on the north by greenbelt and at the south by history. It’s fairly unique. It is not Cambridge, Chelmsford or Colchester. It can’t expand in all directions. It needs a joined up masterplan to deal with sustainable growth.

Climate commitments in developing greenbelt land is inconsistent with local and national planning policy and environmental goals. Such development represents urban sprawl, which increases car dependency, harms biodiversity, releases stored carbon from soils and vegetation. It also risks food security for communities in the event of a food supply chain issue have we’ve seen recently, in recent years. In times of continued instability, with 55% of our food imported, we as a council, need to think very carefully about our development plans and future food security. This land is agricultural land.

Affordable housing shouldn’t be a Trojan horse. While housing needs is urgent, particularly for genuinely affordable homes, developers often use this argument to justify building executive homes on greenbelt land that represents urban sprawl and creates car dependency.

You can’t build infrastructure on a constrained city like Southend. Moving people through cities is what makes cities function. We can’t build an M11 to London. This is not the way to plan sustainable development. We believe we should be focusing on community led housing, co-operatives and council led affordable homes in existing urban areas instead. This needs a joined up approach with a more robust, forward thinking plan for growth.

Cllr Stuart Allen added;

I speak tonight not just as a councillor, but as someone who cares deeply about the future of our communities and our environment. Let me be clear: the Green Party had no part in the decisions around Bournes Green. We were elected in 2023. We weren’t in the cabinet. We didn’t vote for this and we won’t defend it.

What we have done is consistently oppose building on green-belt land. Bournes Green is not brownfield. It’s agricultural land, a vital green buffer between Southend and Rochford. Now we face plans for up to 10,000 homes. Let’s be honest, this motion has more to do with political point-scoring than protecting the land. And residents deserve better.

This kind of development risks turning Southend into a featureless sprawl. We’ve seen it before — unaffordable homes, watered-down social housing, and estates with no shops, no schools, no services. Meanwhile, over a million homes nationwide already have planning permission but haven’t been built. Thousands are empty – including here in Southend. We don’t need to build over our last green spaces to meet Local demand.

With climate change accelerating, land like Bournes Green could help feed our city. Once it’s lost, it’s lost forever. Neither the motion nor the amendment guarantees protection for this land. Had our amendment been accepted, it would have.

But I ask this chamber: stand for green spaces. Stand for smarter, fairer development.

Let’s build a Southend worth living in – not just for now, but for the future.

— ENDS —

The post Green Councillors stand up against the proposed Bournes Green Development appeared first on South East Essex.

The Green Party in Southend has spoken out firmly against proposals to build on Bournes Green and surrounding green spaces, warning that the plans threaten both the environment and the character of local communities.

The proposals, which would see up to 10,000 homes built on land classed as ‘very good quality’, have been criticised for encouraging urban sprawl and risking the merger of Southend with neighbouring Rochford into a single, sprawling mega-city.

Green Party Councillor, Richard Longstaff said:

“We absolutely recognise the need for new housing, but it must be in the right place. Building over what should be productive agricultural land and precious green spaces is not the answer. There are over one million empty homes across the country and another million plots with planning permission already granted. We should be putting that land and those homes to use first.”

The Party is calling for housing developments to prioritise brownfield sites close to existing public transport links, and to be planned alongside vital services such as shops, cafés, doctors’ surgeries and schools – rather than simply sprawling into open countryside without adequate provisions.

Bournes Green, the Greens argue, offers far more value to the community and future generations as protected agricultural land and open space, particularly as climate change threatens food security.

“Local food production will become increasingly critical. Concreting over land like Bournes Green undermines our ability to feed ourselves in the future,” Cllr Stuart Allen added.

The Green Party is urging Southend residents to oppose the proposals and support a smarter, more sustainable approach to housing and community planning.

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Bournes Green in Southend-on-Sea is classified as Grade 2 agricultural land, indicating it is of very good quality and suitable for a wide range of crops. This classification is based on a detailed Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) survey conducted by Natural England, which assessed approximately 78.3 hectares of land at Bournes Green. The survey found that the area is predominantly in arable agricultural use, with the majority of the land under winter cereals at the time of assessment. ​

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Green Party campaigner AJ Sutherland has criticised the Southend Council’s handling of reports of damaged street infrastructure, arguing that essential repairs are being ignored despite clear signs of damage.

AJ reported a leaning bus stop sign on Marine Parade in Leigh – tilted at an 11-degree angle – as well as a road sign on Tattersall Gardens that has been twisted 80 degrees in the wrong direction. Both did ‘did not meet the necessary requirements’ under the council’s current criteria. “These signs are visibly damaged and need fixing,” AJ said. 

“Either the contractor isn’t doing its job, or the council is deliberately cutting corners to save money – all while residents face a 4.99% increase in council tax in April.”

“It’s hard to take pride in a city where basic infrastructure is falling apart,” he added.

Local councillor Stuart Allen, who represents Leigh ward, echoed these concerns. “The administration is pushing residents and councillors to report issues on mySouthend, but time-and-time again I receive messages from residents that reports are being dismissed. Pavements falling apart, signage damaged, bollards knocked over – all not meeting the said criteria.”

Building on their ‘Fix or No Fix’ social media campaign – which spotlighted ongoing issues with neglected infrastructure across the city – the Green Party is urging the administration to adopt a more proactive stance on maintenance. They’re also calling for greater accountability in ensuring that damage reported via the mySouthend system is swiftly and effectively resolved.

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Footpaths in Chalkwell Park, long in a state of disrepair, have been made safe after pressure from Green Party campaigners prompted action from the council. Contractors completed the long-overdue work this week following calls from residents frustrated by the deteriorating conditions.

The push for repairs gained attention earlier this year after an article highlighting the issue prompted further contact from local residents. Several shared stories with Green councillors about being unable to use the park at all – particularly those with mobility issues, for whom the broken and uneven paths had become a serious barrier.

Kay Mitchell, a local Green campaigner, and Councillor Stuart Allen had been pressing the council for months to address the issue. “These paths had been neglected for far too long, creating real hazards for people using the park,” Kay said. “I’m pleased to see the work finally getting done.”

Cllr Allen, who represents the neighbouring Leigh ward, credited persistent pressure from the Greens for securing the repairs. “This is yet another example of Greens working hard together and delivering results – not just in Leigh, but across the wider community,” he said.

Cllr Richard Longstaff, leader of the Green Group added, “Kay’s shown real determination to get things done – not just talking, but delivering real change for the people who use Chalkwell Park and the wider community.”

The Greens continue to push for better upkeep of public spaces, urging the council to ensure parks and footpaths remain safe and well-maintained.

– ENDS –

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A dangerous junction in Leigh has been made safer after the council took action following concerns from residents about drivers traveling the wrong way on North Street.

Reports of repeated incidents prompted Green Councillor Stuart Allen to call for a survey to assess the scale of the problem. The results confirmed the issue, leading to the junction’s reprofiling and the installation of clearer signage to reduce the risk of any accidents.

“It was a serious hazard, particularly with the primary school nearby. When drivers go against the expected flow of traffic, the risk of collisions increases dramatically. I’m grateful to the residents who raised the issue and to the council staff who worked with me to get something done.”

Stuart Allen

The changes are part of a wider effort by the Green Party to make Southend’s roads safer for all.

“Everyone should feel safe on our streets,” added Cllr. Allen. “Our goal is to eliminate accidents and ensure that no one is put at risk simply because of poor road design.”

– ENDS –

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Thank you for contacting me about airport expansion and the need for urgent action on tackling the climate crisis. I would also  like to thank you for sharing the fact sheet with me. 

On climate action, I agree with you on the gravity of the situation. Last year was the hottest on record, the first to pass 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average. This should be an alarm call for all of us.

I therefore welcome that since coming to office, the Government has already introduced a world-leading agenda on climate and nature action, making rapid progress and overturning the legacy of the previous Government, which left the country, as the Climate Change Committee confirmed last July, off track to meet our climate goals.

I welcome, for example, the Government’s ambitious mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower – delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero across the economy. And I back the crucial steps it has already taken towards getting us back on course, including removing the ban on onshore wind in England, committing over £20 billion for carbon capture, approving solar projects that will be able to power millions of homes, launching Great British Energy and delivering a record-breaking renewables auction. I also support the plans it has set out for increasing the energy efficiency of rented homes to lift up to half a million households out of fuel poverty.

On Heathrow, I understand the concerns that many people have about the expansion of airports and their compatibility with our climate change targets. So I am pleased that the Government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals will need to demonstrate they can be delivered in line with our legally binding climate change commitments, as well as meeting strict air quality standards.

I am pleased that progress is already being made in transitioning to greener aviation with the introduction of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate which is now in force. In support of this, the Government will invest £63 million over the next year in the advanced fuels fund, supporting SAF producers across the UK. Ministers have been clear that the Government’s SAF commitments will support thousands of jobs while bringing down our transport emissions.

As for Southend Airport I do not believe there are any plans to expand the current flights operations.  

I believe the benefits to the South-east through the Lower Thames Crossing will be profound. This project is expected to almost double road capacity across the Thames east of London, significantly easing congestion at the Dartford Crossing and improving journey times by up to 46% between Tilbury and Medway. It will also create a more resilient road network, reducing traffic spill over onto local roads and providing a vital new route for freight, connecting South-East ports with manufacturing centres and distribution hubs. Additionally, the project is projected to add up to £40 billion to the UK economy by making journeys quicker, safer, and more reliable. I support my fellow parliamentary peers in the South East with their efforts in progressing the proposed development forward, as it will bring substantial economic and logistical benefits to our region.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue. I can assure you that I will continue to support the strong action that we need on climate change.

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