Sorry to disagree with Rayleigh sage Chris Jones, but an awful lot of Southend residents will be surprised a new museum is going to be built in the Cliff Gardens, because they have not been properly consulted.

They may also be surprised at the colossal scale of the proposed excavation and the consequent destruction of yet more of our beautiful trees.

Local people who care about Southend’s heritage will be even more surprised to read that the Beecroft Gallery and the Central Museum are listed as “disposals”

in the latest council cabinet papers and that “the capital receipts would be invested in the new facility”.

These and all the surprises Chris Jones mentions come upon us in Southend because the council consistently fails in its duty to consult the people it is there to serve.

Ric Morgan
Hobleythick Lane
Westcliff