Basildon's regeneration branded a miserable failure
James Colasanti, Echo, 1 March 2010

OPPOSITION councillors have accused the ruling Tory group of "failing miserably" in its regeneration plans for the Basildon district.
   Labour stalwart Phil Rackley has led the criticism by suggesting the council has not made progress in the district's town centres since the Tories came to power eight years ago.
   Mr Rackley, who represents St Martin's ward, said: "The specific objectives in this area relate to the town centres of Basildon, Pitsea, Laindon and Wickford.
   "It strikes me that in all areas the administration is failing miserably to make any progress.
   "In Basildon they said they were going to knock down the Basildon Centre and the Towngate Theatre as part of their 'Master Plan'.
   "But now they seem to be saying these buildings may all be retained, and the theatre may even be increased.
   "While I welcome this change of heart I do wonder what the cost implications of these changes will be."
   Mr Rackley added the only noticeable changes in Basildon town centre were the recent installation of futuristic purple lampposts and the removal of the much loved Woodsman statue, neither of which had improved the area. Ben Williams, Lib Dem councillor for Nethermayne, accused the council of short-changing Wickford residents, after announcing the £l00million regeneration plans for its town centre had been shelved.
   He said: "This is the second time the administration has over-reached itself on regeneration, raising people's hopes and then dashing them. First it was Pitsea, and now Wickford."
   Malcolm Buckley, Conservative councillor responsible for environment, admitted the change in plans for Wickford was disappointing, but claimed individual projects would still be done on a site-by-site basis.
   He added regeneration of the Laindon Centre is dictated by the private developers who owned the site, but said the council would continue to talk to the owner about improvement works.
   Mr Buckley was also "optimistic" of new developments in the Pitsea regeneration plan in the near future.
   He said: "We remain committed to regeneration across Basildon, and I would point to our huge investment in the Sporting Village, in Gloucester Park.