In an interesting cabinet reshuffle at Southend Council, the councillor responsible for
controversial transport and planning schemes across the borough in the past couple of years, has
swapped roles with her Social Care, Housing and Health colleague.
Anna Waite - who received a death threat from an unnamed source in the lead up to the local
elections - swaps portfolio responsibilities with Mark Flewitt.
Around 20 protesters have marched through part of Southend this afternoon (3 May) to demonstrate
against, what it calls, the council's "pursuit of inappropriate schemes for the town".
Several groups were represented including Stop Airport Expansion Now (SAEN), Saxon King in Priory
Park (SKIPP), Plane Stupid, Priory Park Preservation Society (PPPS), South East Essex Greenpeace
and South East Essex Friends of the Earth.
Reports suggest 11 protesters have been arrested by police after demonstrators stormed a Southend
Council chamber meeting earlier tonight (22 Apr).
The meeting - at the town's Civic Centre - was suspended for 15 minutes as police officers tried to
remove the group. Councillors were ushered out by staff.
Roads will be closed in two areas of Southend over the coming days.
Night time lane closures will take place this week to enable public utility works in advance of the
Progress Road Junction Improvement scheme.
The lane closures will come into force overnight on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th April at the
junction of The Fairway and the A127 Southend Arterial Road.
Tree felling began at Cuckoo Corner in Southend overnight. These pictures were captured at 11.30am
on Saturday (20th March). The threatened trees will all be pulled down this weekend and Priory
Crescent road will be shut to traffic. You can read the full story here.
It's been confirmed that protestors at Camp Cuckoo in Southend have left the site. The decision
came just hours after a judge at the High Court ruled the group had no legal rights to be at the
junction of Priory Crescent and Victoria Avenue.
Saxon King in Priory Park spokeswoman Patsy Link confirmed to longpier.
Did you know the tourist industry contributes £300m to the Southend economy? To mark British
Tourist Week, the borough's council will be outlining its plans for a fun-filled summer of sand,
sea and exciting events on Thursday (Mar 18).
Around 18% of the town's workforce is directly involved in tourism or tourism-related
industries, making it one of the borough's key business sectors.
Conservatives in Southend have released two new computer generated images of the proposed new
development at Cuckoo Corner, suggesting protest groups are "scaremongering" over the multi-million
pound development.
Protestors are currently camped out near the roundabout, campaigning against the removal of trees,
to make way for the development.
Here at Longpier.com, we're delighted to welcome Rachel Charman editor of Councilbust - a site for
independent reporting of politics in the Southend borough. Rachel will write a number of opinion
pieces for Longpier.com, and her knowledge of the workings of Civic Centre will be crucial in the
lead up to the local and national elections.
In what's likely to be the final chapter of the story at Cuckoo Corner, Southend Council has stated
the many of the trees which were chopped down on Saturday were diseased.
Several of the trees, which had all been removed by noon, were found to be very badly infected with
the giant polypore fungus, which - the council says - made them potentially unsafe.
A judge at the High Court has ruled that a group of protestors occupying an area of land at Cuckoo
Corner have no legal rights to be there.
Senior High Court official Master Eyre granted Southend-on-Sea Borough Council an order for
possession of the land at the junction of Priory Crescent and Victoria Avenue.
Tree felling has begun at the controversial Cuckoo Corner site in Southend.
Contractors for Southend Council moved onto the site at 4am this morning (Sat 20) and begun
preparation work. By 8am, branches of the first tree were removed.
Legal proceedings have begun against protestors, occupying an area of land at Cuckoo Corner in
Southend.
Court papers were this afternoon (Mar 15) served on the Camp Cuckoo campaigners, who have delayed
the start of works for a £5m road improvement scheme.
Lorraine Butler, Interim Head of Enterprise, Tourism and Regeneration, told longpier.
UPDATED 0945 SUNDAY:
Protesters who feared either tree felling or eviction from their site at Priory Park in Southend
say there's been no action by council contractors overnight.
Around 30 protesters from the Priory Park Preservation Society have been at the site on the edge of
Cuckoo Corner since Saturday tea-time, suggesting action was imminent.
