South Essex councils are working together to develop a clear view of what needs to be done to support recovery from Covid-19 and promote a prosperous and inclusive future for South Essex.South Essex is a region of more than 800,000 people, with 33,000 businesses and 350,000 workers powering an economy in excess of £12bn. Just under one-third of the UK population are within one hour’s drive away. Together South Essex is significant on a national and international scale. We want to explore how South Essex might change over the next 30 years. What South Essex could achieve if we work together. That’s why we’ve launched the YourSaySE2050 website. Over the next three months we will be posing a number of important questions and using a variety of tools to capture your thoughts. We are calling on everyone – from residents to businesses, visitors to voluntary sector organisations – to join the conversation.We encourage you to challenge our thinking. To tell us what’s important to you. To share your hopes for the future of South Essex. To help us focus our efforts and direct investment towards the things that matter most.Join the conversation today. Visit www.YourSaySE2050.co.uk

Shape the future of the South Essex region

Two public Zoom webinars have been set up to give residents an opportunity to find out more about the Basildon town centre masterplan and ask questions.The Leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan and the council’s Chief Executive Scott Logan will be on hand to field questions following a presentation of the proposals.The webinars will be held on Tuesday 7 July from 2.30 - 3.30pm and Thursday 9 July, 6pm - 7pm.The draft Basildon town centre masterplan re-imagines Basildon town centre from what it is at the moment – a shopping centre – into a home for thousands of people, an attractive destination for people region-wide seeking leisure and entertainment and a creative and dynamic place to work and do business. The six-week statutory public consultation began on June 1 and concludes on Sunday 12 July.Leader of Basildon Council Councillor Gavin Callaghan said: “Please join us for one of the webinars and help us to shape Basildon into the town you want in the future. This masterplan is like no other produced by this authority. It’s unrivalled in its ambition to totally reimagine this town. It takes into consideration the whole town centre, which we are already strategically investing in by purchasing major sites. We are putting our money where our mouth is and are happy to work with the private sector to make this town centre work for everyone.“We’ve spent a year courting opinion of the public, private sector, landlords and leisure industry and produced an incredibly exciting masterplan. This is the plan that will shape the borough so please join us.”Register for the Zoom webinar on the council&#39;s website at www.basildon.gov.uk/masterplan

Register for public webinar to hear more about the new Basildon town centre masterplan

A first draft of the Basildon Town Centre Masterplan is now published for comments and feedback. You can have your say and make comments on the draft document here: <a href="https://reimaginingbasildon.commonplace.is">reimaginingbasildon.commonplace.is</a>