Confusion over whether Southend is to become a SMART City, as Southend Council Leader states it is not in planning or implementation despite information to the contrary
Updated: 5 days ago
It was reported in the Echo that the so-called and rarely heard of ‘Internet of Things’ would require 36ft masts to be erected all over Southend.
There are many who cite serious health concerns generated from the masts pointing to much evidence from various sources.
Given the now well publicised health issues associated with the COVID vaccinations and other health catastrophes over the decades, it would be irresponsible to dismiss concerns over the masts out of hand.
There is not a scientist in the world who knows the long term effects (say 30 years as a point of reference) of placing numerous masts in residential areas because time hasn’t got there yet. I don’t know how an experiment like this could possibly be conducted safely, but my preference would be for live tests involving human subjects better to be avoided. I have not conducted enough research, but if there already is data that proves their safety then that would be one part of the argument settled.
However, it is a little worrying when the government website states:
‘It is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area. However, the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health.’
I took the time to underline the above words to really emphasise that ‘possible’, ‘may’, ‘small’, ‘expected’ and ‘should’ does not equate to definitely!
In any case a simpler argument is their aesthetics. They look a little like something from Lord of the Rings and I dare say they wouldn’t do much to enhance value of property nor the view outside the home. Some have said just look outside and you will see lampposts, traffic lights, etc, so what’s the difference? To those I suggest you volunteer your houses - one volunteer is better than ten pressed men, or so the saying goes!
Not for me though. I simply don’t want them outside my house and if I don’t, then why should anyone else be forced to suffer? Particularly without any consultation.
I wonder how many councillors or politicians should be so civic minded and volunteer their properties for a set of lovely 36ft masts outside their homes?!

As a reasonable step, the Southend Confelicity Party voted that if these masts are to be installed, they are done so away from residential areas at the very least to reduce any potential health issue and avoid ruining the ambience of our town.
To the Rescue
Despite a number of masts already up before any resident could say otherwise, after the news broke that another 27 would he going up around Chalkwell and Westcliff, swift online protests saw Southend Labour announce no more masts would go ahead - where possible. Instead the Internet of things would work within current infrastructure.
How they accomplished this I don’t know, but if we are to accept this at face value, credit is due here for those involved.
I would only ungratefully ask why this solution was not sought in the first place? And the ‘where possible’ leaves the situation very open, meaning we could still get the 27 masts around Chalkwell, Westcliff and anywhere else.
The Echo’s publication of the masts also highlighted perhaps an even bigger issue.
The SMART City
I am no expert in what it is and the end goal, but it essentially boils down to the city putting sensors across the whole of Southend to capture residents’ data in order to run more efficiently.
I have for some time become quite wary of the capture of our personal data and the obvious dangers that poses, so I asked two questions at the Full Council meeting to find out more information.
13. Question from Mr Miller to the Leader of the Council (Cllr Cowan)
The SMART City is not something I have heard many Southend residents ask for - in fact I haven’t heard a single resident mention it. However, rumour has it that we are getting it anyway.
One of the many unknowingly wanted benefits is ensuring we will know when the bins need emptying, but this can only work with access to Southend residents’ data.
I don’t know anyone as yet who would like more of their data shared with government, so can you specify what data will be extracted, how it will be extracted, how it will be used and what advantages there will be aside from emptying our bins?
Answer from Cllr Cowan
There is no SMART City in planning or application.
The council is not proposing new technology requiring us to gather resident data.
Southend is a member of South Essex Councils who are implementing a low power radio wave network (that is not dissimilar to home WiFinetworks), known as LoRaWAN, across the city and region to facilitate the collection of data from sensors. These sensors send tiny packets of data such as alerts to warn of possible flooding, air quality alerts, traffic flows, with the intention of improving services for residents.
Any reference to sensors in bins relates to public street bins for example, not residential bins, and the data would alert our waste contractor if a bin needs emptying sooner than scheduled, helping our city to stay clean, assuming that this technology is utilitised for this purpose, which it currently is not. I can assure you that the LoRaWAN network is unable to manage large packets of data such as resident data, videos, or audio and that the Council are not putting sensors in residents’ bins.
Question 14. Question from Mr Miller to the Leader of the Council (Cllr Cowan)
Question
How much money in total will the implementation of the SMART City, from start to finish, cost the Southend taxpayer and what avenues are there to stop it if residents do not want it?
Answer from Cllr Cowan
There is no ‘smart city’ in planning or in implementation.

Let’s break this down…
With my two questions up it seemed my fears had been allayed - there was no SMART City for Southend.
Yet the Echo article specifically says: ‘Southend Council is signed up to the national Smart City scheme.’
Christine Sexton, journalist of the report, is normally so accurate, astute and on the money when it comes to bringing us news of what our council have been up to, so what could have possibly gone wrong this time?
I decided to spend quite an arduous four seconds typing into Google ‘SMART City Southend’ - just to check the Leader of Southend Council, Southend Labour and possibly even Mayor of Essex one day, would not lie in an official, on the record, public meeting.
To my surprise Southend had indeed signed up to become a SMART City only a few years ago, albeit not on his watch, and so it seems the Echo can be exonerated!
Whether it was a lie or he was mis-informed by council officers, sure enough at the top of the search was the council document outlining recommendations from the Chief Executive [of Southend Council] to Cabinet to proceed with the planning and implementation of Southend becoming a SMART City.
I would urge you to read the report (see link below) and discover for yourself the broad outline of the SMART City - no one’s hiding here.
Report to cabinet from 2018:
Briefly, the report explains exactly what a SMART City is and why it would be good for Southend, and uses the exact term the ‘Internet of Things’.
An excerpt of the report from the Chief Executive to the Cabinet is as follows:
‘The Council’s ‘Digital Strategy 2017/20’ including the foundation for its SMART Cities journey was approved by Cabinet in 2017.
‘The document itself contains both routine business as usual tasks as well as longer term strategic actions but, crucially, laid down the intention to create the foundations for the development of Southend as a SMART City.’
Perhaps things have changed, but the same language is being used now, the only out I can give Cllr Cowan is if they have dropped the term SMART City.
Yet it doesn’t look like it.
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), who in their Corporate Peer Challenge of Southend Council report are quoted as saying ‘The council’s SMART strategy for Digital and Technology (2021-2024) presents the overall strategic direction for digitalisation and use of technology with the aim of supporting Southend’s journey to becoming a Smart City.’ (https://www.local.gov.uk/lga-corporate-peer-challenge-southend-sea-city-council)
Either way, to pronounce Cllr Cowan as a liar was not my intended purpose nor am I doing so - I had already assumed Southend was intended to be a SMART City just based on the integrity of the excellent and longstanding Echo journalist - it just so happens that as it stands, it appears that way. On this I look forward to giving him the opportunity to clarify his answers.
My major point is that a SMART City is not something I would put my name to, primarily because the success of the scheme relies on putting sensors everywhere ‘to collect data from citizens, devices, buildings and cameras’, for what we really don’t really know.
All we have at the moment are a few very broad and loose explanations as to the benefits, such as those Cllr Cowan highlighted in his answers such as flood defence, air quality, traffic management and emptying bins.
Flooding
We already receive flooding alerts, weather reports and worst case enjoy the luxury of the transparency of our windows! When it rains we know there is a risk. When it rains really hard, the risk is increased. I know I am making this sound simple, but I ask in innocence and ignorance, what more do we need to know?
I do also wonder how installing sensors to warn us of flood alerts is consistent with the council approving housing developments on flood plains such as Bellway in Shoebury.
Air Quality
We already receive plenty of information when hayfever is about - a runny nose and itchy eyes are probably as smart an indicator as any!
We already know that driving a car during rush hour is likely to reduce air quality. My concern is what this Labour council will do once it can play the numbers game. Ban driving at certain times? Put a tax on certain roads at certain times? Are we going hear justifications for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods? Or even the dreaded ULEZ?
Traffic Management
Regarding traffic management, the Map app on all our phones provides adequate information on any build up of traffic, and most residents already know when traffic is at its busiest: before and after work!
Emptying Bins
There was a certain condescension with Cllr Cowan’s answer when he says ‘we’re not going to be putting sensors in residents’ bins’, but to be fair my question had a tinge of underhanded sarcasm, so touché!
I must say that alerting the waste companies of full bins seems a might heavy handed and expensive especially since they will definitely not respond.
As it is, Southend Labour’s policy to introduce the reduction of bin collections to fortnightly was apparently because we couldn’t afford it, which means either the waste companies will empty our bins once alerted for free or they ain’t coming!
All these reasons do not really make any sense.
Presuming there were good reasons, it would have been acceptable for the public to have been informed what those were a while ago, otherwise you get people like me writing off what may be perfectly safe and useful technology, and pointing towards issues such as the serious invasion of our privacy.

Government Monitoring
The SMART City will take the invasion of our privacy just another step further until every aspect of our lives are digitalised and monitored.
Right now, the dubious reasons for this technology do not necessarily impede on our individual personal data, more on a broad collective level of our activities. However, once the sensors are in anything is possible.
The question is do you want your data collected from everything you do? Do you want your data collected by people who you do not necessarily trust? Do you trust what the politicians are going to do with your data?
The people who say, ‘well they monitor us anyway, so what does it matter?’ I say that is what has gotten us into the mess we are in now.
Just look at the violations of our privacy:
We cannot walk almost anywhere in public without our images being captured on CCTV.
To get through airports you have to give up your fingerprints or image just to get through the gate.
Every website you have ever visited is now on record.
Every social media post is saved.
Every TV channel you watch is known.
Turn your heating on, they know how warm you like your house.
Read a book digitally and they know what you’re reading.
Electric cars know everywhere you ever go.
Google earth can literally zoom into exactly where you are at any given time.
Phones are listening to everything you are saying wherever you are saying it.
Banks already know what you spend, but when digital currency comes in every penny you ever spend will be known.
Southend have brought in Facial Recognition Technology for the police to log every face it sees. At the moment only those who commit ‘high crime’ will be saved but how long before litter picking puts your face on this database?
All this is a wild abuse of power and of personal freedom. We have been boiling frogs for decades, but the majority of us are actively willing for this to continue. My favourite is when I hear people say ‘if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear’. Scary stuff!
The thin end of the wedge was the decision taken to allow personal data to be used as an organisation wished. Laws surrounding data protection have since followed, but this should have been the case in the first place and regulation is nowhere near good enough as it stands. Terms & Conditions are very rarely read, but often if you choose not to sign them, access to their services will not be possible.
Personal data should be sacrosanct, but has become a commodity to be traded.
What does it all mean?
Masts should never have gone up without the permission of residents.
Residents should have been informed of all the scientific data that proves they are safe long term.
Southend residents should have been consulted about becoming a SMART City, if according to Cllr Cowan, we aren’t already.
For me, the benefits do not appear worth it all and I would invest the money in something useful; perhaps a doctors surgery or an expansion of our hospital, thinking inside the box.
The sensors dotted across the city to make this technology work I have deep reservations about, and I certainly am not willing to have yet another avenue of monitoring forced upon us.
Even if it was free I wouldn’t do it based on Cllr Cowan’s answers, and yet we still don’t know the cost because apparently it is not happening! If it costs the council £75K to re-do some signs in Belfairs park I shudder to guess how many £millions this will end up as.
This represents a fundamental change in how our city is run and yet again there has been next to no public consultation. The only reason I knew was because of the Echo article, which according to our Leader is wrong.
I remain confused as to whether Southend is to become a SMART City or not and look forward to hearing the truth once it has finally been established.
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