At a Glance
- Southend Council holds an extraordinary meeting to reaffirm protection of the Green Belt.
- A controversial planning application for 2,000 homes was initially recommended for approval but later rejected.
- Council Leader pauses the draft Local Plan to seek wider consensus and avoid premature approval.
- Cross-party and community efforts have significantly influenced local planning decisions.
- The fight to protect the Green Belt continues as the government and Secretary of State become involved.
It’s been a fast-moving few months since I last wrote in these pages about the fight to save Southend’s Green Belt, so here is where things stand. After petitions, public meetings, a visit from the Conservative shadow Housing Minister Gareth Bacon MP, Oracle pages, local press, online ads and many arguments.
The Requisition
I called for an Extraordinary Full Council meeting to discuss the Green Belt, alongside Cllr Alex Moyies, and 25 other councillors from right across the political spectrum, Conservative, Reform, Green and a few independents. It was a real struggle, but the Council agreed to hold it, and a motion reaffirming that the Green Belt around Southend’s urban area must be maintained was debated at that meeting on Monday 24 August. The result was resounding: 31 votes in favour to 11 against, every single one of the 11 against cast by a Labour councillor. Four more Labour councillors, including Council Leader Cllr Daniel Cowan, Cllr Nadeem, Cllr O’Connor and Cllr Ferguson, did not press their electronic voting button at all, managing to abstain from even abstaining.
The Planning Committee
We had to have the extraordinary meeting because a developer had submitted its own application for up to 2,000 homes on land north of Bournes Green Chase, behind Courtlands (OK, TruGym!). That application was lodged to be heard by planning before the Council was scheduled to discuss the proposed new Local Plan, and reach a decision on whether this land should be released from the Green Belt at all. It went to Planning Committee on Wednesday 26 August regardless. Officers recommended approval. As Conservative shadow spokesperson for planning, I read the report in detail beforehand and did not think the balance struck in it was right, and I challenged their view at the meeting. The meeting was adjourned to resume on 27th after the deadline for the Oracle to go to print.
The Administration Blinks
On the afternoon of 21 August, everything changed. Council Leader Cllr Daniel Cowan issued a statement pausing the draft Local Plan before it goes out to public consultation, and confirming the Administration will instead ask Government for more time beyond the end of year deadline. In his own words: “We know that there isn’t currently a majority for the draft Plan, so we intend to use the time to listen, look again at what can reasonably be changed and try to find a way forward that can command majority support.”
Let’s be honest about what this is, and what it isn’t. Your Councillors, working with colleagues from across the political divide, and alongside the thousands of you who signed the petition, wrote to the Council, and turned up to meetings, to force the Administration to stop and think again. It is a genuine, hard won result. At the local elections in May, 75% of votes cast across the city went to parties and candidates who campaigned to protect the Green Belt. That is not a message any Administration can ignore forever, and, on this occasion, they haven’t.
But it is a pause, not a withdrawal. Cllr Cowan was careful to say the new Local Plan “cannot simply ignore national planning law or housing need.” Read that closely and Green Belt land is still on the table once the Administration thinks it has found a version with enough votes to get through. We have won a round. We have not won the fight.
Thank you to everyone who has emailed, signed, objected, and turned up, to the Save Our Green Belt campaign for coordinating so much of it, to colleagues across every party who backed the requisition, and to the Oracle for continuing to give this fight the space it needs. It is working. Please do not stop now.
What You Can Do
This is not over. Whatever the outcome of the votes above, the Administration will be back with a revised Local Plan in the coming months, and we must keep up exactly the same pressure to make sure the Green Belt is protected properly this time, not quietly reintroduced once everyone has stopped watching. Keep aware, and keep an eye on updates for the next stage of this fight.
Stop Press: Planning Committee Decision on 27 August
Huge news and last minute update. The Planning Committee met again on 27 August and voted 8 to 2 to reject the application for 2,000 homes on land north of Bournes Green Chase, against officers’ own recommendation to approve. Only two councillors, both Labour, Cllr Borton and Cllr Norman, voted the other way, backing approval. Getting there wasn’t straightforward. Persuading the Committee to adopt a Conservative led alternative motion, rather than simply nodding through officers’ recommendation, took some determined pushing on the night, but it worked.
It’s around 20 months since I started the campaign that was then picked up by many groups. This is a big win, but it isn’t the end. The decision now goes to the Secretary of State, so there is more to come before this is truly settled.
None of this happens without people turning up, again and again. Huge thanks to the resident groups who packed the room a second time, and to the Oracle for its support throughout this whole campaign. Particular thanks to James Miller, Tricia Cowdrey, Peter Lovett, Kim Hall and Emma Wynne-Morgan (Oracle) for their support on the night. And Conservative, Reform, Green and Independent Cllrs. A truly cross party resident supported campaign that delivered for Southend. Let’s keep doing that.
More fights lie ahead, on this application and on the Green Belt more widely. Keep watching this space, and thank you for staying with us.