Green Party Councillor Richard Longstaff has successfully driven significant enhancements to Southend City Council’s tree policy, with plans to increase the city’s tree canopy cover from 12% to at least 15%.

Discussions around the Green Party’s ambitious tree motion are finally gaining momentum, with Portfolio Holder Cllr Lydia Hyde recently announcing a comprehensive set of measures. While the motion was not debated at this month’s Full Council meeting, Cllr Longstaff’s proposals include tighter scrutiny on tree removals, planting thousands of new trees citywide, and introducing an interactive map for residents —all now under development by the administration.

“I’m encouraged by the administration’s commitment to my proposals after the inaction by the previous leadership. There’s still work to do, particularly on tree removal oversight which ideally should be brought to Place Scrutiny. Things are now moving in the right direction after years of lobbying, and I look forward to collaborating to enhance our tree canopy for future generations.

“That said, I will be the first to hold the administration to account if they fail to deliver on these pledges.

“I’m also glad to see a firm commitment from the leader to finally bring real trees to the High Street. This is a welcome step forward, especially after the Tories’ absurd proposal for fake trees at the last Full Council meeting.”

Cllr Richard Longstaff

The Green Party will remain focused in holding the administration to account, championing both social and environmental justice at every step.

– ENDS –

The post Southend City Council Commits to Tree Policy Improvements, Thanks to Green Party Efforts appeared first on South East Essex.

Cinemas have been a part of Southend’s colourful local history for almost a century.

The Rivoli, Southend’s first dedicated cinema, opened its doors during the silent movie era (it would eventually become the New Empire Theatre) and as a town, we have been in love with the movies ever since. Over the years several more cinemas popped up in Southend but one by one they failed to stay profitable and were forced to screen their last films – even the historic building on Alexandra Street that first introduced Southend to the magic of cinema was demolished in 2017. Cinemas in Southend simply couldn’t survive the increasing costs and decreasing attendance… except one. 

The Odeon at Victoria Plaza opened in 1997 and quickly established itself as one of Southend’s social and cultural landmarks. Until the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the Odeon Southend had served audiences uninterrupted 364 days a year for 22 years.

It seems surprising then that for the last eight years there have been talks of a second cinema at Seaway only a few minutes walk from Victoria Plaza. Although cinema attendance has been slowly growing since its record low in the mid-80s, the number of people attending appears to have mostly levelled out over the last 10 years. To introduce another multiplex just walking distance from Southend High Street seems nonsensical. If they were forced to compete it’s certain that neither could thrive simultaneously.

Why are developers so intent on adding another building to Southend’s cinema graveyard?

As a former employee of the Odeon in Southend, I know how important it is to so many of us.

I believe the building serves a purpose beyond just a cinema; I honestly see it as the heart of the High Street. Even if you disregard all the time spent watching films there, it’s a landmark when asking for directions, a warm place to duck into while waiting to meet friends and yes… it seems to be the High Street’s most popular loo!

In fact, due to its late opening hours, the Odeon has even been used by vulnerable people seeking help at night on rare occasions.

I include myself in the countless number of people whose first ‘no-grownups’ outing was to the Odeon. For so many parents to trust the Odeon with their children’s independence is a testament to the safe environment the staff are able to maintain. It helps that the Odeon at Southend couldn’t be better positioned for public transport, being a minute’s walk from a train station, several bus stops, and a taxi rank. 

So what reasons do developers use to justify another cinema?

Some may argue that an additional cinema in Southend would bring a wider variety of film screenings, but this argument holds little weight when the smallest amount of scrutiny is applied to it.

As an 8 screen multiplex with over 1500 seats, Odeon Southend can and does regularly screen indie films, foreign cinema, and documentaries at a time when massive Hollywood blockbusters dominate smaller cinemas. In fact, Odeon screens more than just films; live streams from theatre and opera performances in London always draw in big crowds, and once every four years you can watch England matches from the world cup live with hundreds of other fans on the big screen. In addition, Southend is lucky enough to be host to a lively local Film Festival and several smaller venues that screen even more obscure titles. Any investment by the council should surely be aimed at the local film societies and small businesses that are already contributing to our town’s community of culture.

Another claim is that the Odeon in Southend is not up to standard, and a brand new luxury cinema would draw in audiences.

Again, I find this hard to understand. Personally I think our Odeon’s inviting entrance, a wide-open lobby that lets you see up to several floors, is more architecturally interesting than most cinema foyers. Personal opinion aside, Odeon have invested considerable money and time into keeping the front of house space modern and relevant, recently leading to a complete redesign of the front of house area and swapping out the box office for digital ticket booths. Behind the scenes, I know that the projectors and screens are under constant review and are regularly updated with the latest technology, meaning that even a brand new cinema could not exceed the image and sound quality that Odeon already provides. In fact, most people’s biggest criticism of our current cinema is the cost of tickets. However, with the EMPIRE Seaway cinema claiming to be ‘state of the art’, it’s hard to imagine they will provide a more affordable option than the cinemas we already have.

In fact, the only compelling argument in favour of the unpopular Seaway proposals is that the council has already committed £3million of tax-payers money into planning it, and would have to refund the government if it were to cancel the project. Although it would be a shame to waste this money, it’s just a fraction of the proposed cost, especially when you take into account what we stand to lose; our existing cinema, hundreds of car parking spaces on the seafront, and if local business owners are to be believed – dozens more shops and cafes from an already suffering High Street. 

I can, however, see why the council is tempted by this project.

They are worried that Southend High Street can’t compete with big shopping centres and cinemas elsewhere in Essex or even London. Developers have taken advantage of this fear before.

In 2008 the Victoria Plaza was given a complete refurbishment and renamed the Victoria Shopping Centre in a bid to save our High Street. This project cost £25million and, 12 years later, half the shops inside are still empty. It has all the things that the Seaway project is proposing – a variety of shops and restaurants right in the heart of Southend with a cinema next door.

I wonder if in another 12 years’ time the Seaway complex will be half empty and the council will be proposing another massive investment to ‘save the High Street’.

The Victoria Shopping Centre not only serves as a warning against the Seaway project, but I think it may also be the solution to the problem that Seaway claims it will resolve; We have the empty shops and there’s already a great cinema right there – all the council needs to do is find a way to populate the Victoria Centre with businesses.

Do that, and our beach can keep its car park and Southend can keep its cinema.

Further Reading:

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/50m-plans-southend-seas-seaway-3918523

https://www.greenandpartners.co.uk/investment/victoria-shopping-centre-southend-7630/

The post Thomas Love; on Seaway, and Southend’s Cinema History appeared first on South East Essex.

Despite staunch opposition from neighbouring residents and vocal pleas from many seafront businesses, a proposal to refuse the scheme was narrowly rejected by seven votes to nine and the majority voted in favour of the plans.

The Green Party have campaigned against these plans since 2015 when the Conservative administration leased the land at Seaway Car Park to the developers, Turnstone Southend Ltd, for just £1.00.

It is thought that a major influence behind the council’s decision is that if the scheme is rejected, the council would be forced to repay the government £3m which has already been invested in the project.

What is the Seaway Leisure Complex?

In late 2015, plans were announced for a major redevelopment on the land at Seaway car park, one of the largest car parking areas serving the main seafront attractions. The land at Seaway was controversially leased to the developer Turnstone Estates, by the then-Conservative administration for just £1.00, in a deal which would see Turnstone foot the bill for the development and future rents going to the council.

This scheme was one of the many white-elephant vanity projects peddled by the Conservative administration, and it has since garnered support from the recent Labour/Independent/Liberal alliance. 

Following the loss of initial support from Cineworld, in 2017 Empire Cinemas was announced as a new investing partner into the scheme alongside Travelodge Hotels, with later Hollywood Bowl committing to the scheme in early 2018.

(Plans for the scheme were submitted in December 2018.)

In late 2018, Turnstone Estates submitted a planning application for a development consisting;

• a six-storey, 80-bedroom Travelodge hotel,
• a 20-lane Hollywood Bowling alley,
• an 11-screen Empire Cinema with IMAX facilities,
• active attractions including an indoor golf course, a climbing wall, and a gym,
• 10 new restaurants and cafes,
• a new public realm and landscaped square surrounding St John The Baptist church,
• and a new 555 space multi-storey car park.

A two-year planning dispute followed the planning application, with many residents and major seafront businesses airing their concerns over issues from a reduction in parking provision, the duplication of existing facilities in the town, and overall visual impact on the area.

Fighting largely over a 100-space decrease in seafront parking provision, Adventure Island was a staunch opponent of the scheme saying: “All we ask is that Southend Borough Council values Southend tourism and recognises that this development is wrong for the town.”

With the contract nearing expiry, the developer lodged an appeal to the planning decision, and the Council have now buckled. This scheme now only requires government approval.

Green Party candidate for Leigh Ward, Thomas Love offers his thoughts:

“As a former employee of the Odeon in Southend, I know how important it is to so many of us.

I believe the building serves a purpose beyond just a cinema; I honestly see it as the heart of the High Street. Even if you disregard all the time spent watching films there, it’s a landmark when asking for directions, a warm place to duck into while waiting to meet friends and yes… it seems to be the town’s most popular loo!

In fact, due to its late opening hours, the Odeon has even been used by vulnerable people seeking help at night on rare occasions.

I include myself in the countless number of people whose first ‘no-grownups’ outing was to the Odeon. For so many parents to trust the Odeon with their children’s independence is a testament to the safe environment the staff are able to maintain. It helps that the Odeon at Southend couldn’t be better positioned for public transport, being a minutes’ walk from a train station, several bus stops and a taxi rank.

Some may argue that an additional cinema in Southend would bring a wider variety of film screenings but this argument holds little weight when the smallest amount of scrutiny is applied to it. As an 8-screen multiplex with over 1500 seats, Odeon Southend can and does regularly screen indie films, foreign cinema and documentaries when massive blockbusters dominate smaller cinemas.”

You can read Thomas’ full article here:

The Green Party View:

Our belief is that such a significant development was a landmark opportunity to improve a large part of the Town centre for better. We support the use of brownfield land such as Seaway for the sustainable development of our town, and we do not object to it being developed on. Such a site could have played host to some amazing leisure and commercial attractions that add to the existing offer of the town, rather than seeking to undermine and undercut existing ones as this current plan does. 

We cannot support this development because of the following:

Cinema:

The existing ODEON cinema at the head of the high street is already a fantastic facility for the town. Building another much-bigger cinema just a short walk from the existing one will cause untold damage to that business’ trade, and potentially (and unnecessarily) risks the jobs of the ODEON employees, and further risks the town yielding yet another large empty building with no use if the existing cinema ceases trading. 

Bowling Alley:

The town’s beloved Kursaal, an iconic listed landmark with a perilously uncertain future. For years it has hosted the town’s main Bowling alley. In early 2019, MFA closed the bowling alley in the Kursaal, with many customers and residents suggesting that the Seaway’s proposed bowling alley was a major contributing factor to the company’s decision. 

Without this bowling alley, the Kursaal now faces a situation where it is predominantly empty, sparking fresh concerns over the safety and policing of it. As recent history shows us, empty buildings in Southend have an unsettlingly-high chance of suffering devastating arson attacks. Finding a new use for the Kursaal now needs to be a top priority for the Council if we are to ensure its longevity.

Town Centre Retail:

The town’s High Street is struggling. Following the loss of some major retailers, the future for the High Street looks grey. With a shifting customer base moving to online deliveries, and with a council that seems to view the High Street only as an opportunity to build luxury housing, our town centre seriously needs rejuvenating. Both of the town centre shopping centres (The Royals, and The Victoria) are half-empty, with struggling and declining footfall. Southend High Street is failing to compete with the internet and the megamalls of Lakeside and Bluewater.

The kinds of leisure and restaurant businesses this development will attract will be good for local employment, and will hopefully encourage more people into our town centre. Our concern is that with the creation of this retail zone annexed from the High Street, the significant shift in footfall patterns might lead to further complications for our struggling shopping centres, inadvertently creating a new shopping area that rivals rather than supplements our High Street.

We are saddened by this decision, and we reject the assertions from Independent and Labour councillors that such a development will be beneficial for our town and ailing High Street.

The concerns we have with this scheme remain unaddressed, and we fear that without proper assistance and investment from our Council, the future of our High Street is uncertain.

The final decision on this development now rests with the Secretary of State.

Further Reading:

https://smartplanning.co.uk/application-for-seaway-leisure-scheme-in-southend-submitted/

https://www.yellowad.co.uk/southend-tells-government-50million-seaway-leisure-development-should-go-ahead/

The post Southend Council has approved the controversial Seaway development. appeared first on South East Essex.