Browsing: Local Issues

Waterwatch UK is calling on the local community, including residents and business owners, to take action by joining our community meetings and becoming part of the solution. Together, we can hold polluters accountable and push for tangible outcomes.

Over many decades the Salvation Army have been trying to obtain planning permission to build on this land with limited success. They offered up the farmland for development to Castle Point Borough Council (CPBC) once more under the latest Local Plan.

In November 2013, the manhole at the northern end of Thorpe Hall Avenue was blown off its bolts by pressure from the sewage outfall pipe. Gardens, garages, and houses were flooded with sewage. For ten years, nothing of note happened until 13 November 2023, when it blew again, resulting in chaos captured in the photos below.

In the last edition of the Oracle, concerns were raised regarding plans by UK house building company Bellway to build on the floodplain in Shoebury. Local residents have questioned how planning decisions, such as this one in Shoebury and the conversion of the old HMRC building on Victoria Avenue, get approved despite opposition.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months since July 4th. It was an immense privilege to become Southend East and Rochford’s first Labour MP that night. I know the responsibility this honour carries, and don’t take it lightly.