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Come and see plans for transformation of Victoria Avenue in Southend

4:33pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in


PLANS proposing the transformation of empty office blocks into new homes and shops are to be unveiled on Thursday.

Victoria Avenue in Southend, which at one time offered employment to about 15,00 people, could soon undergo a massive transformation.

Renaissance Southend working with Southend Council will unveil outline proposals and ideas showing how the entire area could be transformed into a mix of housing, shops and new offices.

They say the designs will blend in sympathetically with nearby buildings creating jobs and new town centre homes.

The plans are being exhibited to residents and businesses until the end of the month to get their views and input to help decide the future of the area.

The concepts will be unveiled at a public consultation exhibition to be held at the Victoria Shopping Centre in the High Street from Thursday until March 30.

Residents and traders will be given the opportunity to have their say and put forward their own ideas which will be used to develop a draft plan for the area.

The exhibition will be open from 10am – 4pm on Thursday and Friday, from Monday to Saturday and on the following Monday and Tuesday. The exhibition will be open from 10am – 7pm on Wednesday, March 31.

Comments(13)

Peter Pantsless says...
10:04am Wed 17 Mar 10

Surely the council should concentrate on getting business to fill the shops that are empty down the high street?
.
Are they unaware of the half empty malls at each end of the high st?
.
What we really need is business other than retail to be lured back to Southend.
Victoria Avenue needs to revived as Southend's Central Business district, the office blocks can be redeveloped and it is a fantadstic location regarding main routes and just outside of the town centre.
.
Do the right thing for once SBC!
(Hint: loose Renaissance & Waite, as their influence has pretty much killed our once thriving borough)

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Virtuallintu says...
1:03pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Sadly predictable that the first comment on this story is negative.

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DannyK86 says...
2:08pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Peter Pantsless wrote:
Surely the council should concentrate on getting business to fill the shops that are empty down the high street? . Are they unaware of the half empty malls at each end of the high st? . What we really need is business other than retail to be lured back to Southend. Victoria Avenue needs to revived as Southend's Central Business district, the office blocks can be redeveloped and it is a fantadstic location regarding main routes and just outside of the town centre. . Do the right thing for once SBC! (Hint: loose Renaissance & Waite, as their influence has pretty much killed our once thriving borough)
The malls are owned and marketed by private companies - it's their responsibility to fill units.

There have been plans for the empty blocks on Victoria Avenue before for housing, but the problem was that developers weren't prepared to provide enough affordable housing I remember. Still, at least there should be enough parking attached to those blocks.

The problem with them for business is that they're very outdated in terms of what modern businesses look for, both in terms of connectivity and energy efficiency. Companies would rather something new and low-rise, like the RBS call centre by Tesco.

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essexboi1989 says...
2:42pm Wed 17 Mar 10

maybe they should make them all flats, that way it mite stop the need to build them everywhere else!

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leighman says...
4:20pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Re: Using the office blocks for housing, please refer to the page on the Laindon wire strippers. Wouldn't be long before Southend suffered the same fate. And what class of people would fill these palatial abodes? Now see story of man and his credit card in Hamlet Court Road! And voila!! INSTANT GHETTO!!

How about spicing up the 'Air show 'with a couple of live naphalm runs down Vic Ave.

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Carrie.C says...
5:06pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Virtuallinto: In reply to your comment, negative we may be but is it any wonder? Cllr Anna Waite = the Council = Renaissance Southend so can you blame us for being slightly sceptical when it comes to the outcome of so-called public consultations? Cllr Waite and her Tory cabinet is getting way too powerful in this town and she is inflicting her ideas and plans on us all over the place, despite that the fact that they are NOT what we want! She is turning this town into a concrete and steel hell-hole and I for one would rather keep our beautiful mature trees than the hideous Legoland and Warrior Square cafe structures she is so determined to inflict on us! Yes, I will take part in the consultation but I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference to the outcome - we are just being fooled by Cllr Waite that we have a say in what goes on in this town!

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j-w says...
5:07pm Wed 17 Mar 10

one of the blocks had already been converted to housing a few years ago, I don't think its a ghetto yet,
http://www.dezrez.co
m/DRApp/Search.ASP?W
CI=Particular&WCE=00
732352

If the council were to reconsider the affordable housing aspect then this area could have been nicely regenerated, mixing social housing with private housing just does not work.

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Carrie.C says...
5:08pm Wed 17 Mar 10

And another thing - have you noticed that the viewing times are all during normal working hours when a great chunk of the town are at work and won't be able to make it?!!

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G-VJET says...
8:12pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Carrie.C wrote:
Virtuallinto: In reply to your comment, negative we may be but is it any wonder? Cllr Anna Waite = the Council = Renaissance Southend so can you blame us for being slightly sceptical when it comes to the outcome of so-called public consultations? Cllr Waite and her Tory cabinet is getting way too powerful in this town and she is inflicting her ideas and plans on us all over the place, despite that the fact that they are NOT what we want! She is turning this town into a concrete and steel hell-hole and I for one would rather keep our beautiful mature trees than the hideous Legoland and Warrior Square cafe structures she is so determined to inflict on us! Yes, I will take part in the consultation but I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference to the outcome - we are just being fooled by Cllr Waite that we have a say in what goes on in this town!
Here here ! couldn't have put it better myself .Can i just add those awfull "Highway Improvements " she has inflicted on us .

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siddymint says...
7:12am Thu 18 Mar 10

don't forget Waite and southend rennassince or how ever you spill it are the same , look at who the members are

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EvolutionPaintball says...
5:32pm Thu 18 Mar 10

I am mixed minds here, I own Evolution Paintball and we wanted the use of one of the offices blocks that stands empty for near on 8yrs. The owners said NO as they have other ideas for the buildings, the council say yes it would be great as do councillors & mp's now they say re-developement of the entire area just how do they plan to do that when 2 x buildings are owned by an off-shore company that has no interest in using them until it suits them

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liseinga says...
5:33pm Thu 18 Mar 10

I went into the Victoria Centre this afternoon to see what they had to say about this scheme, but could see no sign of it. I also asked some people working in the Centre and they did not know. Where is it?

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Virtuallintu says...
11:36pm Thu 18 Mar 10

Carrie.C wrote:
Virtuallinto: In reply to your comment, negative we may be but is it any wonder? Cllr Anna Waite = the Council = Renaissance Southend so can you blame us for being slightly sceptical when it comes to the outcome of so-called public consultations? Cllr Waite and her Tory cabinet is getting way too powerful in this town and she is inflicting her ideas and plans on us all over the place, despite that the fact that they are NOT what we want! She is turning this town into a concrete and steel hell-hole and I for one would rather keep our beautiful mature trees than the hideous Legoland and Warrior Square cafe structures she is so determined to inflict on us! Yes, I will take part in the consultation but I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference to the outcome - we are just being fooled by Cllr Waite that we have a say in what goes on in this town!
But the negative comments are made before anyone knows what the plans are, Carrie.C It's always the same when a new idea or plan or suggestion is floated ..... Can we not, as a society, look on the bright side once in a while. You know, look to improve an idea rather than automatically trash it.
I want a green and pleasant environment to live in too. For the record, I don't agree with the airport expansion but I had my chance to comment and was overruled by the majority. Which is fair enough in a democracy....

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