Will Queensway be another Craylands?

South Essex has been here before.

Nine years before Southend Council announced its plans to regenerate the Queensway estate with some 1,000 new homes, its counterparts in Basildon had unveiled plans for a complete revamp of its Craylands estate.

Both projects are to try and ease the ills of poor and dated building design from the Sixties.

But that’s where senior councillors hope the comparison ends.

In 2014, Basildon Council admitted it did not have any cash left in the coffers for the last of four phases of its £220million Craylands revamp, and it emerged in April that a whopping 340 homes had been scrapped from the scheme, meaning “only”

970 properties will be built.

Veteran Labour councillor David Norman, who is responsible for housing at Southend Council, says the project won’t stall and no design issues will mean a rethink is needed 50 years down the line.

The Victoria councillor, first elected in the Sixties, said: “I’ve been around a hell of a long time to be concerned about what lega e leaving behind.

“That’s why we need to be very careful, because I’ve seen some disasters in my time.

“This is the biggest regeneration project in Southend since Victoria Avenue 50 years ago, and that, as well as most major projects in borough, has stood the test of time.

“Whether that is down to luck I don’t know, but plenty of neighbouring authorities have gone it alone and it hasn’t worked out well.”

However, one of the options Southend Council will consider is going it alone, as well as going into partnership with a developer.

For Craylands, Swan Housing, a not-for profit developer, teamed up with Basildon Council, but the scheme was reliant on Government funding.

A year ago, when a regeneration of Queensway was first announced, Southend Council said works could start on the estate by the end of the year.

That process has been delayed for at least 18 months, with David Ukaba, the project manager for the regeneration, claiming it is necessary to make sure the rebuilt is right.

It also includes the possibility of revamping Victoria train station to better connect it with Victoria Shopping Centre, putting a cover over the Queensway underpass, and widening roads.

A new health centre, a remodelled layout of the estate, widened roads, and cafes and a community centre all form part of the plans, aside from housing.

Just 7.5 per cent of the estate is taking up by housing, and that is something which will change with the revamp.

Mr Ukaba, who has worked on a host of major projects in London, said: “This will be very different from the Sixties where it was a rush slap up buildings.

“This will be phase two of the project.”

Sally Holland, corporate director for corporate services at the authority, added: “We want to take time to get this right.

“We need to do our homework.

It would be irresponsible of the council to not do that before going into redevelopment.”

Craylands - the story

THE Craylands project dates back to 2002.

An investigation found that the homes, built in the Sixties, were not up to standard and had design flaws.

As a result, Basildon Council was given Government funding for the project, which got approval in 2006.

A total of total of 1,310 homes were originally proposed and plans were given outline permission in 2006. Some 201 homes have been completed and occupied since 2012 as part of phases 1a and 1b, known as Beechwood Village.

The next phase, 1c to f, includes 153 affordable homes which were completed this summer and 53 homes for private sale, expected to complete in spring 2016.

This phase provides four new shops, one of which will act as a temporary community hall until a new purpose-built one is provided in a future phase.

A total of 970 new homes will now be built and 419 existing homes will be refurbished.

All of the council-owned maisonette blocks are expected to be demolished.

Future phases will provide further public buildings, which are expected to include a new health facility and children’s facility.