The businesses which thanks to the arrogance of Thurrock Council, will now have to close down or try to relocate

Members of the Seabrooke Estate Residents Association (SERA) in Grays are giving it one last go in trying to persuade Thurrock Council to rethink plans to expand the civic offices: Give it one last try! Call for residents to lobby council leader over civic offices plan as businesses begin to move out. The businesses in the footprint of the proposed extension of the council offices are already closing down or re-locating.

The leader of Thurrock Council, Cllr. Rob Gledhill (Con) and the MP for Thurrock, Jackie Doyle-Price (Con) have consistently refused to meet representatives from SERA to discuss concerns about the impact the proposed extension will have on the businesses in its footprint and on the wider community. Demolition and construction can be messy and disruptive processes – just ask the residents of Brooke House in Basildon town centre what they think about the demolition happening on their doorstep!

This is what SERA are asking people to do: “Please make your feelings known about the new council offices by emailing Cllr Gledhill on rgledhill@thurrock.gov.uk.” This really is a last throw of the dice but it’s better to go down fighting rather than capitulate to a council that has treated residents and local businesses with utter contempt. Thurrock Council have been given one last chance to redeem themselves by actually listening to their residents and responding to the concerns they raise.

As we’ve written more times than we care to remember, this display of arrogance from a council intent on pushing through a vanity project is symptomatic of a system of local governance that’s failing. In an ideal world, councillors and the officers that support them are supposed to be the servants of the community. The reality is that they’re behaving like petty tyrants who think they know best.

There’s a petition to sign and share as widely as possible: Scrap all plans to spend £10m on new Thurrock Council offices.