Council Should Build Homes in Southend
From l-r: Colin Nickless, Kate Sheehan, Mike Fieldhouse.
We are a community campaign group, formed to lobby Southend Borough Council to develop the 14 acres of publicly owned land at Fossetts Farm and build up to 400 new homes for Southend’s people and families whom are most in need.
This land was formerly owned by the NHS and a brand new £100 million diagnostic and treatment medical centre for Southend had been planned to be built on the site. These plans have now been axed and the site was sold in August 2018 for just £7.8 million. With planning permission for residential homes, the true value of this land could easily exceed £40 million! We believe that this public land should be used for the good of the people of Southend and not sold off at a bargain basement price to a developer in order that they can make a handsome profit for its owners at our expense.
The Fossetts Farm Site to the north of Southend.
Southend’s Chronic Housing Crisis
With a dire shortage of good quality, affordable private rental properties in the town and a very long waiting list for council properties, Southend Borough Council could utilise this land to not only relieve housing pressures, but also bring in much needed revenue to the Council which has seen its grant from central government cut by around £8 million year on year to the tune of £40 million in total.
The campaign is backed and supported by the New Economics Foundation, a charitable organisation which has extensively researched public land sales in the UK and campaigns against land privatisation and for more social housing.
