New £2million Business Centre could be coming to Canvey

Expansion hopes - council leader Pam Challis outside Charfleets Industrial Estate Expansion hopes - council leader Pam Challis outside Charfleets Industrial Estate

BUSINESSES in Castle Point could receive a boost as Castle Point Council is looking to cash in on a £500million Government fund.

Fledging businesses in the borough could be given a helping hand as the Castle Point Regeneration Partnership is looking to create a £2.1million Business Enterprise Centre off Northwick Road, Canvey.

The new centre, which would be funded by the Government’s Growing Places Fund, would provide support to start-up and small businesses to help increase economic development in the area.

Business owners would be able to get advice and support on how to expand their organisations and be able to take advantage of shared office spaces and equipment.

Norman Smith, cabinet member for business liaison and economic development, said: “The idea is to help give start up businesses the chance to get off the ground and develop into larger enterprises.

“The centre would help those who may not need big factory-sized spaces, but could benefit largely from shared office spaces and even simple facilities such as photocopying and access to computers.”

The news comes as the council is looking to expand Charfleets Industrial Estate and create 1,700 jobs for Canvey, following the opening of the £18.5million Roscommon Way Extension in January.

The road, which runs adjacent to Charfleets, was built to create better access to the industrial estate in the hope that the site could grow.

Pam Challis, leader of Castle Point Council, said: “The scope for growth on the industrial estate is huge. We really want to encourage that and hopefully this centre will help us achieve that.

"With the creation of the new Roscommon Way extension, the regeneration of the town centre which we are working hard on and the improvements at Charfleets already carried out, our grand plan for Canvey really is mapping out.

“We are also about to carry out a survey assessing just what benefits the new Roscommon road has bought to the area so far, because ultimately we want to make sure we are on the right track to provide more jobs for the borough, and in particular for Canvey Island.”

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which is reviewing applications for the Government funding, has so far backed six provisional schemes totalling £8.7million to create a potential 2,365 jobs in Chelmsford, Harwich, Thurrock and Medway.

Now, plans for a further eight schemes, including the Canvey Enterprise Centre, are in the pipeline with the potential to create another 15,270 jobs in Canvey, Chelmsford, Thurrock, Kent and East Sussex.

The partnership, which comprises of private and public sector organisations, has been allocated around £50million from the fund to support economies in Essex, Southend, Thurrock, Kent, Medway and East Sussex.

Comments(17)

Eric Whim says...
1:15pm Tue 23 Oct 12

can they use the money to build an new road off the island to cope with all the extra business they reckon they have capacity for?

AndyBSG says...
2:03pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Do the council on Canvey not listen to any of the residents?

Canvey is full to bursting and cannot support more businesses, people, homes or anything else that leads to increased traffic.

As mentioned above, any money coming Canvey's way from the government coffers needs to be invested in the infrastructure starting first and foremost with a third road off then going towards increasing the number of primary school spaces which are at capacity.

Olivia2847 says...
2:07pm Tue 23 Oct 12

A good idea if it ever happens! There must be a reliable commercial infrastructure on Canvey, in place to support it well in advance. No use sticking Nanny Pat in front of tired old Charfleets and expect us to use our imagination is it? They can't even sort their own trash collection out let alone trying to all become the next Alan Sugar!

Whatthe* says...
2:46pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Eric Whim wrote:
can they use the money to build an new road off the island to cope with all the extra business they reckon they have capacity for?
The only option that does not depend on other Councils is duelling of Canvey way.

upset says...
3:27pm Tue 23 Oct 12

WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move.
I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.

Olivia2847 says...
3:44pm Tue 23 Oct 12

upset wrote:
WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move.
I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.
Too busy trying to sort out the problems with the rubbish collection!

John T Pharro says...
4:48pm Tue 23 Oct 12

upset wrote:
WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move.
I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.
I will help you out upset. Just exactly where is this expansion going? Is not all the area around Canvey Wick a triple SSI site.
Councillor Challis is photographed at the new brick built entrance to the industrial estate. However now the entrance to the industrial site to be used is supposed to be the one in Ross Common Way.
Would it not make sense to close this entrance to force the lorries to go down Ross Common Way rather than

Brunning999 says...
4:53pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Excuse me Pamela Castle Point surely it includes Benfleet even Hadleigh and Thundersley not just Canvey, Canvey, Canvey all the time

upset says...
5:14pm Tue 23 Oct 12

John T Pharro wrote:
upset wrote:
WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move.
I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.
I will help you out upset. Just exactly where is this expansion going? Is not all the area around Canvey Wick a triple SSI site.
Councillor Challis is photographed at the new brick built entrance to the industrial estate. However now the entrance to the industrial site to be used is supposed to be the one in Ross Common Way.
Would it not make sense to close this entrance to force the lorries to go down Ross Common Way rather than
I told you Dave's faithful s would find a negative and John never lets us down

iknowbetter says...
5:50pm Tue 23 Oct 12

If only I had known Pam was going to be on Canvey I would have pop over to ask where the 1700 jobs are that she and Ray promised were going to happen on the back of this road to no where. I do hope they wasnt banking on this funding when they proposed this road and made the claims they made. If my ailing memory serves me right wasnt there 2 very lkargfe companies that Ray couldnt divulge the names of that were looking to locate themselves on Canvey due to this silly road. Come on Ray pull your finger out of Pams !!ahem!!

Sean4u says...
5:54pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Ooh a Business Centre near the Dutch Cottage Museum - that sounds familiar!

I see little chance of a Silicon Wick coming to Canvey - its residents are too committed to living in a trailer park for London. The sort of people who would create prosperity in that kind of development just wouldn't want to go anywhere near Canvey. If Islanders let go of their 'car park life', maybe the place has a chance. Big 'if'.

iknowbetter says...
6:00pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Sean4u wrote:
Ooh a Business Centre near the Dutch Cottage Museum - that sounds familiar! I see little chance of a Silicon Wick coming to Canvey - its residents are too committed to living in a trailer park for London. The sort of people who would create prosperity in that kind of development just wouldn't want to go anywhere near Canvey. If Islanders let go of their 'car park life', maybe the place has a chance. Big 'if'.
Says the Chav massive!!!!


YAWN!!!!!!!

Olivia2847 says...
7:16pm Tue 23 Oct 12

iknowbetter wrote:
If only I had known Pam was going to be on Canvey I would have pop over to ask where the 1700 jobs are that she and Ray promised were going to happen on the back of this road to no where. I do hope they wasnt banking on this funding when they proposed this road and made the claims they made. If my ailing memory serves me right wasnt there 2 very lkargfe companies that Ray couldnt divulge the names of that were looking to locate themselves on Canvey due to this silly road. Come on Ray pull your finger out of Pams !!ahem!!
She would pretend to be Nanny Pat and say wtf are you on abart darlin!

iknowbetter says...
7:59pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Olivia2847 wrote:
iknowbetter wrote: If only I had known Pam was going to be on Canvey I would have pop over to ask where the 1700 jobs are that she and Ray promised were going to happen on the back of this road to no where. I do hope they wasnt banking on this funding when they proposed this road and made the claims they made. If my ailing memory serves me right wasnt there 2 very lkargfe companies that Ray couldnt divulge the names of that were looking to locate themselves on Canvey due to this silly road. Come on Ray pull your finger out of Pams !!ahem!!
She would pretend to be Nanny Pat and say wtf are you on abart darlin!
Keep up Olive....said Stan!!

John T Pharro says...
8:38pm Tue 23 Oct 12

upset wrote:
John T Pharro wrote:
upset wrote:
WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move.
I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.
I will help you out upset. Just exactly where is this expansion going? Is not all the area around Canvey Wick a triple SSI site.
Councillor Challis is photographed at the new brick built entrance to the industrial estate. However now the entrance to the industrial site to be used is supposed to be the one in Ross Common Way.
Would it not make sense to close this entrance to force the lorries to go down Ross Common Way rather than
I told you Dave's faithful s would find a negative and John never lets us down
Answer the questions?

Ian P says...
7:53am Wed 24 Oct 12

John T Pharro wrote:
upset wrote: WHAT!! no negative dribble from CIIP are they all on holiday? or god forbid they think this is a good move. I'm sure Dave's faithful blind follows will let us know.
I will help you out upset. Just exactly where is this expansion going? Is not all the area around Canvey Wick a triple SSI site. Councillor Challis is photographed at the new brick built entrance to the industrial estate. However now the entrance to the industrial site to be used is supposed to be the one in Ross Common Way. Would it not make sense to close this entrance to force the lorries to go down Ross Common Way rather than
I suspect Camping & General would have something to say about this suggestion..

Ian P says...
7:56am Wed 24 Oct 12

Pam Challis, leader of Castle Point Council, said: ““We are also about to carry out a survey assessing just what benefits the new Roscommon road has bought to the area so far,". I guess first on the list is the fact that Canvey now has its own Brands Hatch.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree