SUDDENLY Thames Gateway is in business, and wants us to know it is.
A £600,000 grant for the revamp of Warrior Square, Southend, has been backed by a personal visit from Government minister Yvette Cooper, the Gateway's boss of bosses, to reinforce the message.
The Warrior Square scheme is an integral part of the overall plan to regenerate Southend.
Until yesterday, it looked fine on paper, but sceptics wondered whether that was where it was likely to stay - a promise rather than a result.
Now, with funding in place for the first stage of Renaissance Southend's town-plan, the remainder of the ambitious scheme immediately looks far more viable.
The minister stressed the Warrior Square scheme is a prelude to a range of other fully-funded projects, all aimed at beautifying the environment and opening up green spaces.
Clearly, this is welcome, but we need to retain a level of suspicion. Could this be a sop to soften us up for mass development of greenfield land?
Still, Southend will be a better place as a result of Yvette Cooper's announcement, and it is good to see the Thames Gateway becoming, at long last, a force for action.
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