THE latest plans for Canvey town centre are exactly the same as the old ones, unhappy residents have claimed.

Earlier this month, Castle Point Council revealed five new “story boards” were on display to the public. They detailed the latest artists’ impressions of the planned overhaul of the island’s main shopping area.

The boards are supposed to show how the town centre’s streets might look, and include designs for where new planting will take place, where cars will park and where benches will be put.

However, visitors to the authority’s Regeneration Shop, in the Knightswick Shopping Centre, claim the new proposals look no different to what had been displayed before.

John Anderson, Canvey Island Independent Party councillor for Canvey Central, said: “I asked the staff in the regeneration shop if there was anything new on display and they both shook their heads.

“I thought I’d go in there and see something different to what’s gone before.

“It’s very disappointing because I think people are fed up with the slow progress.”

Paula English, owner of Zest Women’s clothing store, agreed.

She said: “I’ve been told there’s nothing different in the new plans, so I didn’t bother to look.

“I actually thought the regeneration plans had been put on hold because of the recession.”

Castle Point Council unveiled proposals for a multimillion-pound regeneration of the town centre in March 2010.

The proposals included creating a town square in the car park of the Knightswick Shopping Centre, expanding the existing Sainsbury’s supermarket and scrapping the town centre’s one-way system.

Norman Smith, Castle Point councillor for regeneration, said: “I can assure people the new story boards are different.

“They show superficial changes, such as how the front of shops will look, taking inspiration from the island’s Dutch heritage.

“We’re are currently in detailed talks with Sainsbury’s about exactly how we are going to deliver this project.

“I wouldn’t like to give a date when people will start seeing changes because the economic climate is very uncertain at the moment.”