Marine Plaza seafront plan delayed despite developer’s promises

Bosses behind the Marine Plaza development, The Inner London Group, says work on the 282 homes, new restaurants, cafes and bars on Southend seafront will be underway by April.

Plans for the Marine Plaza development were agreed back in 2015 and buildings on the site have been demolished and hoardings are around the site.

In September, bosses promised that “diggers would be on site by Christmas”

after coming under criticism for a lack of action on the site.

Now, The Inner London Group has pointed the finger at Covid-19 for delays.

Paul Thompson owner of Pebbles One Cafe on the seafront said something needs to be done soon.

He said: “It would be nice to see something be done with the site and development.

“I think it should either be put back into use as a car park or they should build the thing.

“It’s a bit of an eyesore and brings down that part of the seafront. It’s just sitting there doing nothing and is a shame.

“At this stage it would be good to see something happening with it.”

In September senior councillor Carole Mulroney hit out at the developer and branded it a disgrace and a blight on the area.

Hoardings surround the site opposite the Kursaal, which is set to boast hundreds of homes overlooking the Golden Mile.

Larry Fentiman, from the Inner London Group, said: “There’s been a lot going on, we’ve had the Covid pandemic, and before that we had issues with the election, then before that it was Government financial problems and we had issues with ownership for different parts of the land.

“It’s hard to get materials and we are getting prices in and things ready to get on site. Next we will be getting the compounds onto the site.

“We will be on site with works underway by April and possibly before and we are are doing everything we can to speed it up.”

The developer has previously blamed financial problems and Covid for delays.

The plans include towers of eight and twelve floors to accommodate the apartments.