3:00pm Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Max Orbach
A GOVERNMENT minister has thrown her support behind plans to transform Canvey town centre following a visit to the island.
Barbara Follett, minister for the East of England, visited the island’s regeneration shop, in the Knightswick Centre, where the redevelopment proposals are on display.
She was full of praise for the shop, run by Castle Point Council, which has allowed residents to view the town centre plans and offer their own views.
Mrs Follett said: “I wanted to visit Canvey and see for myself the plans to regenerate the area.
“It’s fantastic the council is engaging with the local community so everyone gets an input into the future of the town centre.”
More than 4,000 people have visited the shop since it opened last summer to view the redevelopment proposals.
These include continental-style plans to expand the town square to include outdoor eating, to get rid of the town’s one-way system and to expand the Knightswick Centre.
The council intends to release updated plans, taking into account the views of residents, in the next fortnight. The council has so far secured £500,000 for the scheme and hopes to start building work within two years.
Mrs Follett also heard about other redevelopment plans on the island, including plans for a £7.5million vocational training centre on the site of Castle View School and RSPB’s plans to turn Canvey Marshes into a wildlife sanctuary.
Pam Challis, leader of Castle Point Council, said: “I was delighted to welcome the minister to Canvey. It was a great opportunity to show her the tremendous work being carried out here.
“I hope the local community will begin to reap the benefits of our hard work and begin to use these outstanding facilities.”
l The visit came at the end of a difficult week for Mrs Follett. She was ordered to repay £42,458 to the public purse following the Sir Thomas Legg inquiry into MPs’ expenses. Mrs Follett, MP for Stevenage, Herts, spent more than £34,000 on security patrols around her second home.
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