One of the most visually stunning parts of the Southend borough is set to benefit from a £70,000
improvement grant.
A series of works will take place, intended to improve the western side of Two Tree Island in Leigh
on Sea, for wildlife and people. Workers will be on site to improve the Nature Reserve, including a
package of wildlife surveys, new information boards, footpath improvements, scrub management works,
enhancing the lagoon for wading birds and new field trail guides.
Eager cyclists from 16-years-old upwards are being urged to enter a unique and exciting competition
called Urban Pursuit, which starts and finishes in Chalkwell Park.
The event, which runs from 10am until 3pm this Sunday (23rd May), features checkpoint challenges
taking riders from one corner of Southend to the other in a bid to solve riddles and clues.
A ground-breaking project has just stepped up its hugely successful campaign to take a new look at
learning disability.
The Southend-based ‘Ordinary Lives' project - which challenges attitudes on learning disability -
has now launched a website showcasing its achievements so far, and its continuing progress.
Do you have strong opinions about how the heart of Southend should develop, grow and prosper - but
wondered what part you could play in making your ideas a reality?
It's time to make your voice heard. The Southend-on-Sea Town Centre Partnership is meeting at the
Park Inn Palace Hotel, at the top of Pier Hill, on Thursday 22 April (3pm), and members want all
town centre and seafront traders to come along and give their views on the future of the town
centre.
A brand new radio station for south Essex launches later today (1 April). Essex Radio is an
internet based station, and three quarters of its presenters are from Southend.
The station goes on air at 8pm tonight and the station will resurrect - amongst other shows - the
famous 'Club Essex' segment on the weekends.
A landlord from Southend has been prosecuted, after leaving his tenants for ten months with no
heating, hot water or downstairs lighting.
Southend Magistrates fined Mr John Squires, of South Crescent £2,000, ordered him to pay £1,010
costs and a £15 victim surcharge, after he admitted failing to repair a defective heating and
water system in his property at Dolphins, Westcliff.
It's been revealed that Southend's iconic Cliff Lift will return to action this summer.
The carriage for the funicular will be reinstalled on Tuesday (23rd March) as the restoration works
near completion. It was closed in 2003 due to technical problems. Since that date, regulations
governing its operation have changed, requiring modifications before it could reopen.
Cyclists in Southend have been given a boost with the news that work has begun on the eastern
section of the Prittle Brook Greenway scheme between Victoria Avenue and Prittlewell Chase.
The existing footpath next to the brook is being converted into a shared use pathway for cyclists
and pedestrians.
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.
It's been announced that Southend will not be the first 'City of Culture'.
The south Essex resort had bid for the inaugural title for 2013, but the Government says
only four towns will compete in the final - they are Birmingham, Londonderry, Norwich and
Sheffield.
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge revealed the line-up after bids from 14 listed cities were
scrutinised by an independent judging panel.
'Cycle Southend' will this week outline its plans to make the borough a hotbed of pedal power.
Invited guests will be briefed on the progress of efforts to persuade more individuals, businesses
and schools in the town to make bikes their number one mode of transport.
Southend is one of 18 urban areas in England to benefit from three years of Government funding
after being designated ‘Cycling Towns'.
Southend's Together Partnership is teaming up with Britain's biggest supermarket chains to
support ‘The Big Swap' as part of Fairtrade Fortnight.
The campaign, which runs from February 22 to March 7, aims to raise awareness of how
shoppers can make a difference to the developing world by purchasing Fairtrade products.
Metal and TAP - art groups in the Southend area - are offering 28 artists / creative practitioners
the opportunity to work on presentation skills in a new five week programme. Each participating
artist will be asked to create their perfect 3 minute presentation to convey the essence of their
work or a particular idea or piece.
Construction work on Southend's £7m City Beach project has started.
Over the next six months contractors will be reconstructing the existing carriageway on Marine
Parade, carrying out resurfacing works and block-paving the new, wider pavement.
Construction works started on Monday and are expected to be completed by the end of August.
Southend has been chosen to spearhead a European-wide study aimed at making the
continent's roads safer for elderly motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
The three-year Safer Mobility for Elderly Road Users (SAMERU) project, which is costing 1.4m Euros,
is due to commence in the next few weeks.
It's a subject often stigmatised, it's incredibly difficult to talk about and both women and MEN
can become a victim. Now, a major campaign, aiming to highlight the help available for those at
risk of domestic abuse in Southend and surrounding areas, is being launched.
All this week, members of Southend Domestic Abuse Forum – which represents a range of
agencies in the borough – will be in the foyer of Southend Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue,
Southend, to give out information on domestic abuse and offer details of the services in Southend
that respond to this.
A highly original Playful Garden is Southend's innovative entry to this year's prestigious RHS
Hampton Court Flower Show.
The garden, appealing to children and adults, features an upside-down garden, an underground garden
where children can crawl through a Perspex tunnel for a worms-eye view of the colourful roots of
carrots and beetroots growing, and bamboozling bamboo to hide in.
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.
Monday 1st March 2010 will go down in local history as a very important date. 50 years after
closing its doors to tourists, Southend's Palace Hotel has reopened after a multi-million pound
redevelopment. The iconic building, overlooking the world's longest pleasure pier, represents a
major boost for the regeneration of the area.
Local band The Jons have been named the winners of Southend's Battle of the Bands.
In a musical spectacular, The Jons saw off competition from Lazarus Rose, Vacant Touch and The
Peppermint Apes to win the seven-week competition, organised by Southend Radio 105.1.
The Jons, whose music is described as an infectious blend of bouncy ska, punk and indie, wowed
the crowds at Southend's Marine Parade on Saturday night (31 October), with hundreds of fans
enjoying their energy-charged performance, and then taking part in a text vote to make them the
winners.
A brand new competition has been launched to find Southend's most attractive, charismatic, charming
and intelligent woman.
The inaugural 'Miss Southend-on-Sea' 2010 will pit around 300 girls against each other to win the
coveted crown.
The winner of the competition will go on to compete at the prestigious 'Miss England' event later
in the year - and the winner of that will represent our country at 'Miss World'.
Thanks to everyone who's been sending in photographs and videos of the snow. We've had scores of
pictures and we're keen for more, so please keep emailing them to longpier@gmail.com
and the best will appear on the site.
How did you feel when Longpier.combroke the news that Southend would be bidding to
become the first UK City of Culture in 2013? Did it spark your interest?
Well, if you were keen to find out more and get involved with the bid, then here's your chance.
The community's being invited to a special Cultural House Party at Chalkwell Hall in Chalkwell Park
on Saturday 5th December.
One of the most useful research tools for football finance writing is the "Football
Management" site run by Dr. John Beech of Coventry University. Dr. Beech took ten days off
recently, and came back to an in-tray" of HMRC-related football fun which would have blocked out
the light from his office windows.
Southend-on-Sea has sent a message of condolence to its twin town of Sopot following the air crash
which claimed the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 96 others on Saturday.
The Worshipful the Mayor of Southend, Councillor Brian Smith, has also sent a letter conveying the
town's sympathies over the tragedy to the Polish Ambassador in London.
Are you concerned about the way Southend is changing? Do you have ideas or comments about the
ongoing work at Victoria Avenue?
Well Renaissance Southend, the public regeneration partnership for the town, and Southend-on-Sea
Borough Council are holding an exhibition on the future of the area.
International arts group METAL - based in Chalkwell Park in Southend - has been awarded the
Guinness World Record for the longest line of continuous bunting.
The continuous stream of small flags, cotton and ribbon was created by more than 50 local schools
and community groups. It's the exact length of Southend on Sea's landmark pier - 2158 metres or 1.
