At a Glance
- Southend faces increased housing demand and must balance growth with protecting the Green Belt.
- The current Local Plan proposes 14,700 new homes but may not adequately address sustainable growth.
- Comprehensive brownfield regeneration and infrastructure-led planning are crucial for Southend’s future.
- New developments must be thoughtfully integrated with transport, schools, and green spaces.
- The article advocates for a coherent city-wide strategy rather than piecemeal development.
A Constrained Coastal City
Southend needs homes. There is no serious argument against that. Most importantly, the town requires homes that local people can genuinely afford, including social and council housing. However, housing numbers cannot be sensibly considered in isolation from the town’s constrained geography, transport, and infrastructure.
Southend is already a densely developed coastal city, constrained by the Thames Estuary and Green Belt, with strategic road movements funnelled westwards towards the A127 and A13. Despite this, the town benefits from a strong railway network featuring nine stations. This should fundamentally influence how the future city is planned.
Housing Need Is Not the Same as a Housing Requirement
The Government’s standard methodology produces an assessment of Local Housing Need described as an “unconstrained assessment,” which does not represent the final housing requirement for a Local Plan. This results in a figure equating to more than 28,000 homes over 20 years for Southend.
Southend must address a harder question: how much development can the city sustainably accommodate, where it should be located, and what infrastructure is necessary to support it.
We Need to Plan a City, Not Just Allocate Sites
The council’s emerging Local Plan proposes 14,700 homes by 2045, a substantial increase on Southend’s historic delivery of approximately 6,000 homes over the same period. The Southend Greens advocate for a more sustainable total of around 11,000 homes over 20 years—approximately 550 annually. This would still represent significant growth while focusing more keenly on brownfield regeneration and genuinely affordable housing.
Growth Without Losing Green Belt
This argument is not opposed to building new homes. It is about accommodating substantial growth without developing the Green Belt, particularly the proposed new neighbourhood of approximately 5,000 homes at Bournes Green, north of Southend.
Developers are promoting major schemes in this area, which would extend the city onto valuable agricultural Green Belt land, often distant from established rail stations and requiring significant additional infrastructure. This type of outward urban sprawl breaks the principles of good urban planning and ignores the guidance provided by the National Planning Policy Framework.
Planning Growth Around Infrastructure
Southend cannot solve these challenges alone, as many residents travel across South Essex daily and developments in Rochford, Castle Point, Basildon, and Southend collectively place demands on transport and services. Hence, growth must be infrastructure-led and incorporate a regional perspective, rather than attempting to catch up after development has occurred.
Prioritising Brownfield Development
Southend urgently needs genuinely affordable, social, and council homes. Before permanently sacrificing productive Green Belt land, the local authority should exhaust opportunities for comprehensive brownfield regeneration, development around public transport, stalled sites, and urban density. Direct public investment in housing will be essential.
More than 25 years ago, architect Richard Rogers challenged Britain to accommodate growth without repeating mistakes of low-density urban sprawl. Southend now faces a similar choice and needs a robust Local Plan with constructive Government engagement and a spatial strategy providing a coherent vision—rather than a piecemeal reaction to development opportunities.
Southend cannot infinitely expand on a finite peninsula. With imagination, investment, and joined-up planning, the town can grow better and save the Green Belt in the process.
by Cllr Richard Longstaff
Councillor for Leigh Ward
cllrrichardlongstaff@southend.gov.uk