The Wickford Masterplan was first unveiled at Wickford Community Centre in December 2004. At this time there was not much detail and so there was not really anything to comment on, and according to the Council figures, 800 attended.
The first details of the Masterplan were unveiled at Christchurch Hall in April 2005 with a Questionnaire for people to complete. The Council estimated 600 attended, and the Hall was so full people could not see the display boards properly.
The main question on the questionnaire was:
Do you support the overall objective of regenerating Wickford through the Draft Masterplan? Yes or No
There were other supplementary questions but from the question above the council got a figure of 81% support and this is the figure that Council Leader Malcolm Buckley presented to a Cabinet meeting later in the Month to gain approval.
It has since transpired that many people were fooled by the 'leading' question, and our argument is that this is two questions in one, as it gave residents no option of the choice of regenerating Wickford other than using the Masterplan. We regard this as a vital point, and the councillors have not provided an answer.
The total number of housing units detailed in this plan was 490, but it kept increasing until by October 2010 it had reached an incredible 735!
A public consultation exercise was carried out in November / December 2005, and the 684 responses were discussed at the BDC 'cabinet' meeting on 16th February 2006, where a number of key decisions on the Master Plan were made:
- A 'revised' Master Plan was introduced. This had been amended in 6 ways, one of which was to more than double the number of flats in the 'Riverside Living' area in line with new planning applications from Councillor Ray Ride's Bradgate Developments (Lower Southend Road) and the mysterious Butie Limited (Runwell Road), and the new total was 598.
- Analysis of the responses '...showed a number of recurring themes, ... too much residential development was proposed, resistance to multi storey development...'
- Despite this analysis, the report concluded “The development of relatively high rise buildings would provide more of a sense of place and identity than that currently existing, and act as a focus for the whole of the town.” And
- “Whilst it may be understandable that high rise development is viewed with some misgivings, developments five to six storeys in height would be reasonable in the Town Centre”.
- The Cabinet then approved the Master Plan
So, the tall buildings were NOT a result of developers doing their own thing, against the council's wishes, as some councillors for regeneration would have us believe;
it was fundamental Basildon council policy,
and NOT what the residents wanted nor responded to!
This Revised Master Plan can be seen on the Council website. It was approved 'on the basis of its being a material consideration in the determination of planning applications relating to Wickford Town Centre' and the voting was 6 Conservative councillors FOR and Mr. N Smith, Labour AGAINST.
It illustrates how devious the Council were by changing the plan that public had voted on, and adding extra flats so that when planning permission was sought, no one could object on the grounds that 'it isn't in the plan'. And we now know that 5 and 6 story blocks were part of the Basildon Council's plan for Wickford town centre!
What happened to the Wickford Masterplan?
On 24th February 2010 Basildon Council announced they had pulled out of of negotiations with the last remaining bidder for the 'redevelopment partner'! So the plan to rebuild the swimming pool, library and community centre, build a new health centre, move the market into the High Street and transform the town centre into tree lined boulevards and public squares have been postponed indefinitely..
On 24th February 2010 Basildon Council announced they had pulled out of of negotiations with the last remaining bidder for the 'redevelopment partner'! So the plan to rebuild the swimming pool, library and community centre, build a new health centre, move the market into the High Street and transform the town centre into tree lined boulevards and public squares have been postponed indefinitely..