There are various major housing plans being built across and our towns are set to grow with some parts becoming unrecognisable - here we look at the major projects planned for the town in the coming years.
It comes as up to 4,000 extra new homes could be built across south Essex after the Government intervened to kickstart housebuilding programmes to meet demand.
Ministers will make it harder for councillors to reject plans and will order councils to make a “presumption in favour” of sustainable development
Queensway
The £575million regeneration of Queensway will see 1,760 homes built in the heart of Southend. Alongside the homes will be seven areas of public space totalling 8,300 square metres, which is just over the size of a football pitch.
There will also be 190 new trees planted to weave around the walkways between tower blocks.
Southend Council and Swan Housing are behind the ambitious, ten-year blueprint, involving the demolition Quantock, Chiltern, Malvern and Pennine tower blocks and the residential maisonettes fronting Sutton Road.
They will be replaced with modern homes with shops, cafes, offices, a nursery, recording studios, a brewery and bakery.
READ MORE >> £575m Queensway plans for Southend are approved
Plans - How the Queensway development is set to look
Fossetts Farm
The Fossetts Farm plans with Southend United’s new stadium and hundreds of new homes around it is worth a staggering £500million to the town and could create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The plan for 850 new homes for Southend Council are a game-changer for the plan and the multi-billionaire property tycoons, the Dellal family, are now linked with the huge new development.
Roots Hall – Blues’ current home - will also be redeveloped into 502 new homes for rent - also under an agreement with the council - once the football club has relocated to Fossetts Farm.
Following construction, the development would see an increase in Blues’ employees to 136 and an increase in matchday jobs from 136 to about 250.
READ MORE >>> Fossetts Farm: stadium plan could be worth £500m to Southend
Future? - the new Blues training pitch
Basildon Master Plan
The town centre is set for a major £1billion overhaul with 4,000 new homes. Plans also show the over-capacity Towngate Theatre is set for an expansion. This will include new studios, a café and bar as part of a “broadened cultural programme” which would allow it to become “cultural anchor for the town centre”.
The new proposals also show a desire to move Basildon Council offices, including Basildon Library, closer to the commercial heart of the town centre.
The masterplan also includes the £25million pound East Square development with the ten screen cinema, cafes and restaurants.
READ MORE >>> Basildon town centre: Regeneration plans published
Plans - the basildon masterplan
Ashingdon Road Rochford development
Plans have been drawn up for a huge development of 665 new homes. Detailed plans for the first phase have now been revealed, which would initially see 223 homes built at the site off Ashingdon Road.
There would also be buildings for a potential medical centre, children’s nursery or other community areas, and include parking for school drop-off near Holt Farm School.
It also includes a play space, an outdoor youth facility and allotments.
Furious campaigners say it must not go ahead and they are attempting to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to fight the huge plans.
READ MORE >>> Campaigners slam Ashingdon Road, Rochford homes plan
Designs - how the estate could look
Shoebury Garrison homes
Hundreds of homes will be built on a flood plain after plans were agreed. Garrison Developments’ application for 214 homes off Barge Pier Road in Shoebury were passed by Southend Council. The plans include 115 flats and 99 homes, with a new health centre and pharmacy and 499 parking spaces. The developer will also pay £30,000 towards improvements to the nearby Ness Road and Campfield Road junction though questions were raise over whether this would be enough to improve the busy junction. The plans also allocate £493,000 towards Shoebury High School under a section 106 agreement. Shoebury Residents’ Association has strongly opposed the development. The plans include an area designated for a new health centre but there are no plans for the NHS to build one on the site.
READ MORE >>> AGREED: 214 homes will be built on flood plain despite residents' serious fears
Green light - 214 new homes
Victoria Central flats
Developer Western Homes is converting the former HMRC office block in Victoria Avenue into a £52million 15-storey block of 217 new homes. A mix of one, two and three bedrooms flats are being created, with many offering stunning views of Southend seafront. The building itself will boast a brick and glass façade, with glass-fronted balustrades and a raised, glazed ground floor.
More than 30 per cent of homes at the new 15-storey block of flats have been sold despite them not being built yet. The first phase of the Victoria Central development in Victoria Avenue, Southend, has been placed on the market and many have sold already. Developers insist this shows the popularity of Victoria Avenue and the success of the project to transform the road from old office blocks to plush flats.
READ MORE >>> Southend Victoria Central development: Homes sold .... before they're built
Designs - the huge Victoria Central development and plush rooms of the Victoria Central flats
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