Which Southend councillors, up for election in May, want to build 10,000 unaffordable houses, not prioritised for locals, on Bournes Green green belt?

Sometimes you’ve just got to say it. There are consequences, of course, and no doubt there will be all kinds of plots, plans and schemes in retaliation, but it is high time Southend residents explicitly understand just which councillors are behind the plans to build 10,000 houses on Bournes Green green belt. I should say that I write this blog not as a member of the newly formed South East Essex Green Belters, but only with my Confelicity hat on.

Now, there are good people in the list of councillors below, and ordinarily I would never think to name them like this, however, the reality is that unless Southend residents know which councillors they must remove in order to give the best chance of retaining the green belt, they may unwittingly vote for the wrong person with forever consequences.

And it has to be said that these councillors were not reluctant in cheerleading that land into a concrete city, as they collectively demanded for it to be considered by the government’s New Town Taskforce - the ‘expert’ team designed to identify new areas in the country ripe for starting new settlements.

The application failed, but within weeks, up pops two major developments to take up the mantle on the same mass swathes of green belt by Bournes Green.

Public Consultation

I attended the ‘public consultation’ put on by Iceni, the team assigned by developer Bellways, and I can confirm:

• there were no guarantees of social and affordable housing;

• that the houses would not be prioritised for local people;

• that our infrastructure will not be able to cope (they spoke of the possibility of a new school);

• and no, there won’t be a new hospital - as said by the Labour leader, Cllr Cowan.

• I asked them why they would they not invest in brownfield sites, and inevitably, they said it was far cheaper to build on green belt and brownfield was financially unviable.

• They have also been talking to Southend Council for many, many years and it seems this small Labour window is just the time to strike some deals.

So, who are the culprit councillors?

Without further ado, here are the people who want to build on the green belt and are up for election:

• Blenheim Park Ward – Laurie Burton (Labour)

• Eastwood Park Ward – Robert McMullan (Liberal Democrats)

• Kursaal Ward – Matt Dent (Labour)

• Leigh Ward – Carole Mulroney (Liberal Democrats)

• Milton Ward – Maxine Sadza (Labour)

• Shoeburyness Ward – Nick Ward (Independent/Other)

• St Laurence Ward – Lydia Hyde (Labour)

• Thorpe Ward – Martin Terry (Independent/Other)

• Victoria Ward – Margaret Borton (Labour)

• Westborough Ward – Kevin Robinson (Labour)

You will notice in the list both Liberal Democrats and members of the so-called 'Independent Group’, and this is because they are part of the coalition that has been running the council.

In a recent social media exchange with the two Lib Dems, Cllr Mulroney stated that she supports protecting Hadleigh Farmland greenbelt for the very reasons all we Green Belters point out, but then takes a contradictory view when it comes to Bournes Green. Cllr McMullan simply denies he had anything to do with it!

I have lovingly and painstakingly provided some artwork, below, to put a name to those faces:

This coalition wanted to charge residents to park in our parks and go to the toilet. They have dimmed the street lighting and raised council tax by the maximum 5% per year, every year. They will claim it is because of adult and social care, but that only accounts for 1.99% of the increase. They whacked parking charges up across the town and found new ways to fine us. They have rarely, if ever, balanced the budget. They knocked down the historic Southchurch Park Cricket Pavilion and wanted to close Jazz UK before intervention. They have brought in fortnightly bin collections and introduced and abandoned “re-wilding”, which saw the weeds grow across the town. They have wrecked Queensway by filling in the underpass, which is going to cause business failure for Sutton Road, the high street, Southchurch Road and the seafront - all because they spent £12m of the £15m grant they were awarded for the Better Queensway project. Several developers pulled out leaving not one new flat, just a flattened road! They announced they were going to demolish Southchurch Library and “move the provision” to Southend Adult College on the premise that it is at the “end of its life” and “beyond repair”. I wrote to the council for an FOI on the Condition Report and the only aspect at the end of its life was the hot water cooler! They announced the fantasy policy of building a new hospital on Bournes Green green belt in replacement of Southend Hospital, which they want to demolish on the same grounds that it is at the “end of its”. This after the FOI I put into the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust who confirmed it wasn’t true and no one has indicated as such to any political party or politician. They have given away £450K to Boom Battle Bar who subsequently shut without notice! They earmarked £10m for the Seaway carpark developers to build a bowling alley next to a bowling alley. They acquired the Victoria Shopping centre for £10m and then spent another £4m fixing it! And it loses money.

Why have I brought all this up? Because for something so life changing as destroying the green belt, the environment, biodiversity, and air quality whilst inviting another 30,000 people into our under-resourced town, not one of these awful decisions can compare to their green belt demolition.

I will not excuse anybody on this list as they could have resigned on principle from each of their parties. They didn’t, and I believe they ought not to be trusted with the reins of power in Southend ever again.

Not to diminish their culpability, it is those who sit in the Cabinet that can bear even more of the weight because it is they who make most of the council’s key executive decisions, sets policy direction, proposes the budget, oversees major services (e.g. housing, social care, environment, regeneration), and makes executive decisions within the council’s remit.

They are:

• Cllr Martin Terry – Cabinet Member for Community Safety (Independent)Cllr Laurie Burton – Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & SEND (Labour)

• Cllr Matt Dent – Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism & Business (Labour)

• Cllr Lydia Hyde – Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment & Waste (Labour)

• Cllr Maxine Sadza – Cabinet Member for Social Care & Healthier Communities (Labour)

Cllr Mulroney used to be on the Cabinet and should be considered in the same league.

And a special shout out for Cllr Martin Terry, who is part of the ‘Independent Group’ and presents himself as such. However, how can you be independent if you’ve spent your whole time in the Labour Cabinet and toeing their party line? In reality, he is Labour, he just hasn’t paid his membership. If you vote for him in Thorpe you vote for the disappearance of the green belt - plain and simple. He won by one vote last time around so it should be a certainty he is out. But just in case you are thinking of voting independent in Thorpe, it is not him. Vote Terry and you will be voting Labour.

For good measure, the below are the rest of the Cabinet, who are not up for election this year, but want to also destroy the green belt:

• Cllr Daniel Cowan – Leader of the Council & Cabinet Member for Infrastructure & Corporate Strategy (Labour)

• Cllr Anne Jones – Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing (Labour)

• Cllr Ian Gilbert – Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Major Projects & Regulatory Services (Labour)

• Cllr Paul Collins – Cabinet Member for Finance, Assets & Investments (Liberal Democrat)

Of these, it is Cllr Cowan that is the king of the anti-greenbelt. As leader, he has the power to drive policy and drive it he has. At every turn in every meeting he is not shy about stating he wants to rip it up.

Labour are going to plummet in the polls anyway, but local administrations can buck the trend. Had Cllr Cowan, his Cabinet and his party, including Cllr Terry, tried everything to stop the destruction of the green belt, then I dare say he might have had a chance. As it is, it will be his policy that finally kills Labour in Southend (as well dragging everyone else down with him), and a new leader ought to be found as soon as the election is over.