Residents have their say on the future of city centre

May 25, 2022

Residents of Southend-on-Sea shared their vision for the City’s future as part of engagement to help the council form a new strategy for the city centre.

On Thursday 12 May, new community hub The Ironworks at number 90 on Southend High Street opened its doors to residents who wished to share their opinions on the subject, with an online version of the survey also available on the Your Say Southend platform.

This engagement has started the process to create a new strategy to regenerate Southend City Centre. The strategy will set a clear vision and series of actions to guide the future development and direction of Southend City Centre for years to come. It will also help to form a list of projects to attract investment into the City to improve quality of life, bring jobs, and improve the environment.

The six-hour event hosted over 85 participants from various sectors including education, local business, housing, arts and culture, transport, health and many more people dropped in throughout the day to provide their thoughts and suggestions. The sessions were led by architecture and urbanism experts 'We Made That’, who hosted a ‘question and answer’ style drop-in. Many passers-by also received leaflets with the survey website address to take part at home online in their own time.

A spokesperson from We Made That said: “There was lots of positive and helpful feedback from the sessions which we will take forward and help us shape the city centre strategy and investment plan. We hope that people found the sessions helpful and informative.”

Cllr Ian Gilbert, cabinet member for economic recovery and regeneration, added: “It was fantastic to see so many people drop by to take part in the consultation last week, and for those who were unable to make the in-person session, the consultation is still available online. I encourage as many people as possible to take part in the online survey so that we can develop a strategy that reflects the views of Southend’s residents.”

A physical exhibition of the event is currently available to view at the Forum Library, and the online version of the consultation is available on the Your Say Southend website, which will run until Friday 27 May 2022.