The Vange Hill estate…still set to be neglected…

When we read this headline – Plans to transform Basildon after ’20 years of failure’ – we had a momentary surge of optimism that things might actually start to change for the hard pressed residents of the forgotten, neglected estates across Pitsea, Basildon and Laindon. Then we read the article itself which was basically the new leader of Basildon Council, Cllr. Gavin Callaghan (Lab) making a splash with his vision of the future of the town. Unsurprisingly, it was a disappointment. Apart from a brief remark about the housing waiting list (with no details of how that will be addressed), it was all about the town centre and encouraging ‘young professionals’ (a.k.a. yuppies) to live in the area.

Previous Tory administrations have talked about and implemented plans for the ‘regeneration’ of Basildon town centre and attracting yuppies. The re-development of East Square, the moving of the market and the re-location of the Basildon campus of South Essex College are (a part of) the legacy of what they’ve done. The only difference with Callaghan’s plans is that with the suggested re-configuration of the transport hubs, they are admittedly more ambitious in their scope.

The focus on the town centre plus a hefty dose of social engineering with the promise of yet more apartment blocks to attract yuppies will have the property developers drooling in anticipation. At this point, we’d like to remind you that Callaghan does have a very, very cosy relationship with the property developers: What a tangled web they weave. We think you can draw your own conclusions from this:)

When councils focus on the ‘regeneration’ of their town centres, there’s always an agenda of ‘place selling’ behind it. Place selling is basically the physical and social transformation of a town centre sending out a signal that the place is ‘open for business’. Open for business means it’s bonanza time for property developers and investors. We’ve written about this in relation to Grays town centre but the basic principles apply to pretty much any town: What’s behind the urge to tart up town centres?

So, while all of the focus is on transforming Basildon town centre and shoving up yet more apartment blocks for yuppies, we suspect that the peripheral estates such as Chalvedon and Vange Hill to name just two will continue to be forgotten and neglected. Callaghan, the new kid on the block, may be getting breathlessly excited about the transformation of Basildon but his message is essentially the same as previous administrations in recent years. Which is place selling, social engineering and continuing to neglect the working class estates. Maybe he needs a reminder that they exist and that they’re getting more than a bit p****d off by decades of neglect…