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Sports village backed by councillors
9:33am Wednesday 16th April 2008
Comments (23)MULTI-million plans for an Olympic sports village in Gloucester Park have won backing from councillors.
Basildon Council has also agreed to sell Markhams Chase leisure centre to house builders and the South Essex Gymnastics Club in Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, to help fund the £35million high-tech centre which may be used as a training camp for the 2012 games.
Councillors approved three separate planning applications at the development control committee last night.
The plans will now go before the Government Office for the East of England, which could force a public inquiry into the proposals.
Your Say YourEcho
Hopper, bas says...
9:59am Wed 16 Apr 08
robbie wrote:15 minutes away by train!! What line do you travel on? I travel that way to work every day and it takes at least an hour.
What a complete joke the council is. Markhams Chase and the south Essex gc are great facilities for local people, why do we want to sell them off for housing, so that Bsildon/laindon can be flooded with the immigrant spillout of London? And For our councillors why build an olympic village when there is a real one 15mins away by train. So the demise of Gloucester park will now start. SHAME ON ALL THE COUNCILLORS THAT VOTED FOR IT. THIS WILL HAUNT BASILDON FOR YEARS
Stop moaning and move with the times.
Robbie, Laindon says...
10:04am Wed 16 Apr 08
and was you trying to be funny re the trains
Maybe I was wrong with 15mins, but check time table it is 18 to 25 mins depending on which train From laindon.
Spike, c2c land says...
10:40am Wed 16 Apr 08
Do we have a list of who voted for & against?
Gary, Basildon says...
10:53am Wed 16 Apr 08
Spike wrote:It's a Tory majority council, so I suspect there is your main culprit?
I trust in the forthcoming elections all the councilors that voted for this monstrosity will be voted out of office. Do we have a list of who voted for & against?
The Vicar, Basildon says...
11:01am Wed 16 Apr 08
It seems to me just another excuse to build more flats in Basildon. Too many councils and councillors are abusing their positions by using the olypmics as an excuse to push through pipe dreams and unwanted developments.
I think there is more to this than meets the eye.
Spike, c2c Land says...
11:15am Wed 16 Apr 08
Gary wrote:So no Liar Blair or Dim Lem councilors voted for this then?
Spike wrote: I trust in the forthcoming elections all the councilors that voted for this monstrosity will be voted out of office. Do we have a list of who voted for & against?It's a Tory majority council, so I suspect there is your main culprit?
Steve, Leigh says...
12:22pm Wed 16 Apr 08
P*ssed off, Laindon says...
1:51pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Gary, Basildon says...
2:21pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Spike wrote:No idea. But even if they didn't it would have still been passed as the Tory majority are for it.
Gary wrote:So no Liar Blair or Dim Lem councilors voted for this then?Spike wrote: I trust in the forthcoming elections all the councilors that voted for this monstrosity will be voted out of office. Do we have a list of who voted for & against?It\'s a Tory majority council, so I suspect there is your main culprit?
Sportsman, Hockley says...
2:46pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Shame Southend Coucil can't support the dream we have to build these type of facilities at Garons, especially the 50m Pool. May be Southend Swimming Club should move to Basildon as it seems all the residents are their kind of people and live in the dark ages!!
Spike, c2c land says...
3:10pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Sportsman wrote:Thats not the point, Basildon seem keen on destroying any open green space and building on it.
This facility will pay for itself very quickly so you should all wake up and feel lucky that your council is backing its sporting committments with world class facilities. Shame Southend Coucil can't support the dream we have to build these type of facilities at Garons, especially the 50m Pool. May be Southend Swimming Club should move to Basildon as it seems all the residents are their kind of people and live in the dark ages!!
Kazzie, Basildon says...
4:00pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Daisy, says...
4:11pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Yeah we got one of those in Castle Point too
Answer = VOTE THEM OUT
Happy Hammer, Essex says...
4:43pm Wed 16 Apr 08
Daisy wrote:It WAS only Tories who voted in favour of the 2 applications Vote them out!!
Conservative council = crackpot waste of money ideas Yeah we got one of those in Castle Point too Answer = VOTE THEM OUT
Vernon, Basildon says...
7:04pm Wed 16 Apr 08
It will only pay for itself if enough people go.If it is not going to be subsidised and instead run by a private organisation, it will no doubt, be too expensive for many people.Its ridiculous to try to sell this idea to the public by saying that, just maybe, one or two Olympic athletes may train there.It flies in the face of the populace view,how about putting it to a vote, ask the people who pay council tax if they want it or not!
Luke, Basildon says...
12:50am Thu 17 Apr 08
Adam, Basildon says...
9:30am Thu 17 Apr 08
P*ssed off wrote:You can see on this post alone, people that do believe this is a good idea. At the meeting itself, 3 members of the public spoke for the facility and 3 spoke against. And in terms of the voting, yes the Conservative members voted for each of the proposals, but one of the Labour cllrs abstained from the sporting village application, which suggests they were not against.
Disgraceful decision, I don't know anyone who thinks this is a good idea - so much for "local facilities for local people". I really hope they are forced to have a public enquiry.
This facility is not reliant on the Olympics, it was thought of long before London was awarded the 2012 Games. The Olymopics will come and go, but it would be stupid to let the opportunity pass us by of gaining an Olympic team. This will be a facility run for the people of Basildon, be they excellent athletes or normal gym users, swimmers etc, and will not be a David Lloyd type facility, which is only ever mentioned by those opposed to the scheme. This will be a fantastic facility for the District, something for everyone to be proud of, which will basically take up 2% of the park.
I can understand people not wanting Markhams Chase demolished, but the new facility will be very close and all clubs will be relocated. It is unfortunate that the enabling sites are needed, but at least something positive will come from helping to meet the Government housing targets. What better contribution can a housing development have than helping to create an amazing new facility with a 50 m pool etc??
Disgusted, Basildon says...
6:37pm Thu 17 Apr 08
Carol, Basildon says...
9:16pm Thu 17 Apr 08
Voyager, Basildon says...
10:35pm Thu 17 Apr 08
Adam, Basildon says...
9:31am Fri 18 Apr 08
Disgusted wrote:Its not an Olympic village! It is a Sports village - just because it is referred to as an Olympoic village by the Echo, does not mean that is what it is!
Markhams Chase Centre is used every day of the week for something or another. Why should the people who use it, lose it. We do not need the supposed Olympic Village. This facility would be too far away from where the Olympic are being held. Lets forget all about this ridiculous scheme.
As I said, this facility was thought about before the Olympics, and there is no guarantee of getting a team anyway (although it is likely as we will have a 50m sized pool), so this is not a project based on the Olympics, but complementary to it.
Voyager, Basildon says...
2:00pm Sun 27 Apr 08
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robbie, laindon says...
9:50am Wed 16 Apr 08
Markhams Chase and the south Essex gc are great facilities for local people, why do we want to sell them off for housing, so that Bsildon/laindon can be flooded with the immigrant spillout of London?
And For our councillors why build an olympic village when there is a real one 15mins away by train.
So the demise of Gloucester park will now start. SHAME ON ALL THE COUNCILLORS THAT VOTED FOR IT.
THIS WILL HAUNT BASILDON FOR YEARS