For David Bourner, his young adulthood in Laindon was filled with happy times working in the shopping centre when it was newly built.
He was shocked at the demise of the area when he returned to the town in the 1980s.
David set about on discovering why Laindon went from a thriving business community with hundreds of local traders to a place lacking in retail facilities when the New Town Basildon was created in 1949.
Studying the Basildon Borough Heritage Society archives David discovered some interesting events that have shaped the area in his book The Rise and Fall of Laindon High Road.
“I moved to Laindon in 1971 when I was nine. In 1969 they built the new shopping centre and I later worked there at Keith’s newsagents, run by Keith Cullis, and my memories were that it was shiny and new and great fun,” he said.
“I moved away for ten years and came back in the 1980s where I saw there had been rapid decline, I was shocked and fascinated why it had happened.”
The retired IT programme manager used his time during lockdown to research the Laindon history records.
“There was a trading community on the High Road from the 1900s and at its heyday there would have been 120 to 150 shops including haberdasheries, garages, newsagents, all the essentials. You could have got everything you needed there. It was a self contained village with its own cinema,” explained David.
During his research David found that when the Basildon New Town was being formed draconian measures were put in place making it difficult for traders in Laindon.
“The development corporation bulldozed many shops on the High Road and in some instances only gave traders a months’ notice before they needed to leave. The uncertainty meant they couldn’t develop their business and they couldn’t sellup. Some moved to other areas and others gave up. It was ordinary folk who were affected, and it is being repeated today,” he said.
“There was a desire to make Basildon the main shopping destination but in doing so it caused the demise of Laindon High Road.”
The shopping centre that was built in 1969 also fell into disrepair.
“It struggled on for 10 years with just some betting shops and discount stores and then was finally demolished in 2019.”
David says history is repeating itself with plans for a new shopping hub, housing development and medical centre still not coming to fruition.
There have been six failed attempts to regenerate the site over the last 25 years, by a host of different developers. Swan Housing took charge of the development in 2015.
“The long-suffering people of Laindon still do not have the shopping facilities they need. A shopping hub is the beating heart of community, especially for the elderly,” said David.
“It is unforgivable to do this again.”
The Rise and Fall of Laindon High Road tracks the history of the area from 1870 to present day.
Contact Basildon Heritage for copy, priced at £10 by emailing basildonheritage@gmail.com.
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