THE final phase of a £27million rebuild of a troubled housing estate is one step closer to getting underway.

Plans have been submitted to Basildon Council for 93 new homes at Five Links, in Laindon, which should signal the end of amajor project, spanning two decades.

A mixed-level block of 71 flats, which will be seven floors tall at its highest point, will be built on land at Burdock Drive, while a four-storey block containing 22 flats will be built at Crosse Courts.

Five Links was nicknamed Alcatraz for its fortress-like appearance and poor layout, while high levels of crime and unemployment have long plagued the estate.

The redevelopment, which began in 1996, was designed to tackle antisocial behaviour and bring the sixties estate up to date.

Mark Ellis, Ukip borough councillor for Laindon Park and county councillor for Laindon Park and Fryerns, welcomed the application for the flats, which will beamix of one and two bedrooms, but called for the original part of the estate to be spruced up as part of the work.

He said: “I’m fully supportive, I think its about time they got on with the redevelopment. The work has been going on in bits and pieces for a long time now.

“The problem with Five Links is the centre of the estate, which has kept the original houses, has just been left. It’s a really weird mix of old and new.

“I would like to see the footpaths and walkways improved, because they just look a bit of a state at the moment.

Some of the residents have been there for years, so they deserve it.”

The first phase of redevelopment, a project between Basildon Council and Swan Housing Association, was completed in 1999, with new community groups set up and the estate tidied up.

The second phase, involving demolishing 163 houses and flats and replacing them with 172 houses for rent and 67 for sale, started ten years ago and is still under way.

The properties will be two-storey, terraced homes with front and back gardens and trees will also be planted.

Flats in Handley Green and Somercotes have already been demolished and replaced.

Phil Turner, leader of Basildon Council, said: “When Five Links was built, it actually won design awards elsewhere in the country, but the scheme just didn’t work here. We had issues and problems almost from the outset.

“The end of the redevelopment has been a long time coming, but I’m really pleased with what we have achieved.

The future is looking bright for Five Links and the whole of Laindon.”

Not all been smooth running

DETERMINED residents took Basildon Council to court after the Tory authority revealed plans to rename and renumber streets on Five Links as part of the refurbishment.

The administration wrote to 533 householders in Somercotes, Mellow Purgess and Newberry Side, but received 422 letters of objection.

The renaming plans, which would have followed a floral plan chosen by local schoolchildren, were put forward by Terri Sargent, Basildon councillor responsible for communities, who believed it would help tie in old and new parts of the estate. She also believed it would make it easier to navigate for the emergency services and help it shed its negative image.

Residents were concerned that having to change their addresses on bills and official documents would cost them money and cause problems.

Frank Ferguson, Ukip councillor for Lee Chapel North, put forward £9,500 to pay for legal fees, which he won back after a judge sided with the residents during a hearing at Basildon Magistrates’ Court and ruled the scheme must be scrapped.