CANVEY traders say the island’s town centre has been left to deteriorate for years.

About a third of the shops in the main shopping centre, Knightswick, are empty and residents are going off the island to larger retail parks to do their shopping.

However, after years of minimal investment, millions of pounds could be coming to regenerate the town centre.

The Castle Point Regeneration partnership, made up of the borough and county councils and Government agencies, is overseeing the development of a comprehensive masterplan for the area.

Ideas such as pedestrian-only areas, increased parking, even the compulsory purchase of the Knightswick centre, if the owners refuse to work with the partnership, have all been suggested.

A meeting has been held with traders to ask their opinions on what should happen in the town centre and the £600,000 the council has already been allocated by Government for immediate works.

When the masterplan is complete, the authorities will then seek private investment to carry out the work.

For traders the improvements cannot come soon enough, but they are welcomed tentatively as many feel they have been let down by empty promises for years.

Ray Howard, Tory borough and county councillor, said: “I’ve had lots of people come up to me to say that at the meeting they finally felt as if, at long last, it’s going to happen.

“I believe the owners of the Knightswick centre were told in no uncertain terms there’s a very unhappy feeling.

“This redevelopment of the town centre in being done under the Thames Gateway regeneration and the East of England Development Agency and I’ve great hopes in this, as long as we are all working together.

“I can understand traders feel as if they been neglected, but I believe there is great hope in these plans.”

Morrisons in Northwick Road, has applied for detailed planning consent for a 47,000 sq ft terrace alongside the store, which could house up to 15 shops.

Fears have been raised about this taking shops away from the town centre and damaging it further.

Traders in the High Street are eager to make their concerns known as part of the consultation into the masterplan. Sandra Durant owns GMD Hardware store in High Street, Canvey.

She said: “We get nothing here, we’re the poor relation.

“We do our own thing for the community, but sometimes, even when you try that you’re stopped.

“We put up a Santa’s grotto at Christmas, but were told we couldn’t give out leaflets advertising it in the town centre because we didn’t have permission from the council.

“I pay all this money in rates, but there’s not one thing I can think of that I get from it.”

Mrs Durant said short-term parking needs to be introduced so people can pop in and out of the shops without having to stop on double yellow lines.

She added: “The council just doesn’t seem to want to know.

“They say they want to invest, but everyone has lost heart.”

Susan Slater, owner of Shapes ‘n’ Curls hairdressers in the High Street, agrees about the need for more customer parking.

She said: “The parking is absolutely horrendous, but we also need to attract bigger shops to the town centre.

“I know I’m a small business, but I feel if we can encourage bigger shops to the town centre it will bring more people here.

“The Knightswick area is a joke. They have got to do something with the rates to attract people. Give them a deal or something because it’s half empty.

“If I wanted to go shopping for the day I wouldn’t look on the island, I’d go to Lakeside or Basildon.”

Dave Blackwell, leader of Canvey Town Council, said people want to see work being done immediately to try to spruce up the area.

He said: “Unfortunately the town centre has suffered many years of neglect and the town council is looking to tackle certain aspects such as cleaning and tidying it up.

“We’re looking at putting in planters and more decorations for Christmas and help the traders attract more people to the town.

“We all welcome the regeneration of the town centre, but it’s got to be sooner rather than later.

“They keep coming up with all these great ideas, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty you find out they’re talking about 15 years away which people can’t relate to. Something needs to be done now.”