2.5 Town Centre and Central Seafront

A number of recent improvements have either been completed or are committed in the town centre. These include:

Building on your feedback and the relevant provisions of the adopted Southend Central Area Action Plan (SCAAP), whilst radically reviewing policy provisions in relation to the High Street and other opportunities, is key to providing for a future sound policy framework for the Town Centre and central seafront.

Your views on a vision, policy approach and specific land use proposals and opportunity sites are sought before a preferred detailed policy framework is developed for the next stage of public consultation on the Southend New Local Plan.

Draft Town Centre and Central Seafront Vision

It will be important to develop a specific vision for Southend Central setting out what we want the area to look like in twenty years’ time. This will provide the framework for the development of specific strategic objectives and policy approaches.

A suggested vision is set out below, building on that set out in the SCAAP:

‘The town centre and central seafront will be a destination 'City by the Sea'. Regeneration and the reinvention of the town centre’s traditional retail core with improved links to the Central Seafront has provided for a prosperous and thriving centre, resort and residential area. It will be an area that is vibrant, safe and hospitable, rich in heritage, commerce, learning and culture and an attractive, diverse place where people want to live, work and visit for both day trips, overnight and longer stays. Its iconic Pier will be the focus of a thriving tourism industry reflecting Southend’s status as one of the country’s favourite coastal destinations’.

This vision is purely a suggestion to stimulate and guide comment.

In the light of changing retail patterns and the need to move from a retail policy approach to promoting a greater mix of uses, the town centre needs to be reimagined and refocussed to ensure that it adapts and evolves to retain its role as a vibrant thriving regional centre that:

• is animated by day and by evening;
• offers a range of experiences and reasons to stay (including for families/for all ages);
• provides an environment where people want to live and visit;
• is designed to foster healthy living and addresses inequalities; and
• its characteristics are well understood, underpinned by robust evidence, and that the vision for the town centre and its unique selling points are well communicated.

One possible policy approach is to integrate the town centre based on seven main themes/ zones for different areas:

These main themes would also incorporate a mix of leisure, community, niche office space and residential uses to promote a vibrant and liveable centre. Public realm improvements to provide for integrated walking and cycling facilities and the greening of the centre would also be vital ingredients. The heritage assets of the neighbourhood would be celebrated, reinforcing local character and distinctiveness, and providing an important link to the past. New development will be imaginative and dynamic in its design, delivering higher densities reflecting its central location.

The Town Centre will be the main transport hub for the Borough with integrated rail and bus facilities providing frequent and reliable services. Car parking facilities will support a thriving centre and be safeguarded in the southern section of the neighbourhood to promote and support the tourism sector whilst Travel Plans will look to even traffic flows, particularly in the peak summer months, through the use of smart technology and by encouraging the use of public transport, especially rail.

There are a number of allocated sites identified in the SCAAP, some of which have since been completed or are committed for development with a valid planning permission. These are set out in Table 15 and illustrated in Map 9. Those SCAAP sites that have planning permission and are committed will be re-allocated as such within the New Local Plan.

Table 15: SCAAP Allocated Sites

Map 9: SCAAP Allocated Sites

It is proposed that those allocated sites that are still outstanding be carried forward into the Southend New Local Plan with the Western Esplanade sites’ proposed land use description amended to reflect the more recent decision not to proceed with a new museum development in this location. This site offers the opportunity to provide for either improved green space and recreational facilities or comprehensive development for a hotel, leisure and residential use and to facilitate the reinstatement of the Bandstand and associated facilities in this location on the roof of a new development scheme. These sites and the proposed revised land use description are set out in Table 16.

Table 16: Allocated Sites from SCAAP proposed to be taken forward into New Local Plan

Map 10 – SCAAP Allocated Sites without Planning Permission

If Southend Central is to be reimagined and refocussed to ensure that it adapts and evolves to meet future needs, a more radical visionary approach is needed to identify potential opportunities and interventions.

Such potential opportunities running from north to south of the neighbourhood are identified in Map 11 and Table 17. These opportunities are not currently adopted Council policy and are purely suggestions to stimulate and guide comment on how the town centre could be reimagined.

Too view and comment on other land use proposals, including those sites being promoted to us for re-development, employment land designations, proposed protected green spaces and access to infrastructure please refer to Part 3: Southend Neighbourhoods - Section 3.4: Southend Central. 

Map 11: Potential Additional Opportunities and Interventions

Table 17: Potential Additional Opportunities and Sites

These potential additional opportunities and sites are aspirational in their approach, aimed at continuing the regeneration of the area and securing its long-term sustainable future. Your views are sought on these potential schemes and any other thoughts you may have on alternative schemes and how the regeneration of the area could be effectively promoted and achieved.