The publication of the funding for the Thames Gateway for the next three years is a vindication of the efforts put in by local partners in Essex almost seven years ago to get south Essex included in the Thames Gateway.

From a clear vision published in 2001 for the longterm future of the area, local councils and others have worked together to produce a strong evidence base for all of the projects now included in the Government's delivery plan for the Gateway.

Over £200m is heading towards Thurrock, Basildon, Castle Point, Rochford and Southend.

This will fund some of the things local people have been asking for for years, including sorting out the A127 Progress Road junction in Leigh, improving access to the Charfleets Industrial Estate on Canvey, and the development of a new community hospital in Grays.

We should be very encouraged by this clear commitment to the future of south Essex.

The funding just announced is for projects which can be delivered over the next three years, but the programmes of which they form part will in time transform the area through improving the environment, our schools and colleges, health services and transport infrastructure.

This success could only have been achieved through the close collaboration of all of the local councils, together with the new delivery organisations, the Learning and Skills Council, the health service and the East of England Development Agency, and the passion and commitment of the chairman and deputy chairman of the partnership, Gary Sullivan and councillor Stephen Castle.

The future is coming alive, and I look forward to seeing Thames Gateway South Essex putting itself on the global map.

Mary Spence
Chief Executive,Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership