What great news for the gridlocked residents of our borough.

Due to the financial situation the country finds itself facing, a temporary hold has been put on the development of a new football stadium, hotel, apartments and shopping centre, to be built on Fossetts Way.

At present, Southend United is way down the lower half of League One.

It relies on players loaned from other clubs and struggles to have gates of 7,000 spectators at league matches. So, the question is, why was planning permission given for a stadium with a capacity of 22,000?

In my opinion it was a clever move, to be given the go-ahead for the hotel, apartments and shopping centre being constructed in an already very gridlocked area that badly needs a new road system and parking facilities.

Eddie Edwards
Churchfields
Shoebury

...I am certainly not disappointed to see the new football ground held up.

The fields at Fossetts Farm are almost the last natural green area in or around Southend.

I have walked my dogs there for many years and it has been a joy to me to see the amazing variety of wildlife there.

Every season in those fields has its own joy, spring with the burgeoning life, summer’s heavily-laden bushes, autumn with its own glory carpeting the ground in gold, red and brown. Winter sees the fields saving their energy with steel grey skies giving a sombre magnificence to the scene.

Although I have applied for a preservation order on a glorious old oak there, the council has not seen fit to even respond. No doubt the tree is due to be felled.

How very sad for the people of Southend, who have seen the green belt around our town decimated due to so called “progress”.

Why oh why do we need to build a football stadium when we already have one? Spend the money improving that please.

More shops? The High Street is losing shops by the day.

What a shame our councillors can think only in terms of finance. A town to be proud of is one that respects its inhabitants, animal, plant and human. Clearly Southend does not.

Sue Lee
Richmond Street
Southchurch

...This delay comes as no surprise, as Ive always thought the scheme was too ambitious.

Presumably, the surety for a loan to get it built is the Roots Hall real estate value, which ultimately, when sold, pays for the new ground/facilities and perhaps solid finances for the football club future.

Finance might be easier to achieve if the scheme was less grandios (expensive) and developed in stages, the foundations and lower level steelwork could be designed for easy upward expansion in the future. Your photograph shows the main stand as 4 or 5 levels, why?

I can understand two levels (upper seating/lower facilities) for the main stand.

Go for the stadium, facilities and parking initially and let others finance the flats and shops in due course.

Mr J Cripps
Stadium Way
Rayleigh