The Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee of Southend-on-Sea City Council will receive reports on a range of topics at its meeting on Monday 16 December 2024. Topics reported to be discussed include the Council's plans to boost civic pride in the city, a new IT policy for Councillors, proposals for parking fees and charges in 2025/26, and the latest developments regarding the proposed Fossetts Farm development.

Fossetts Farm

The meeting report pack includes an update on the proposed Fossetts Farm development.

Since the previous report on Fossetts Farm to Cabinet in April 2024, the sale of Southend United Football Club to COSU (Custodians of Southend United) has been completed. The report states that this has necessitated a restructure of the proposed agreement between the Council and Thames Plaza Plc and its development partner Citizen Housing LLP.

The report pack includes a new set of Heads of Terms for an Agreement for Lease (AFL)¹ between the Council and Thames Plaza PLC for a revised, phased development scheme on the land at Fossetts Farm.

The new proposal would see the Council receive rental income from the development. This income stream would, according to the report, be used to fund the development and would also secure a series of payments to COSU (out of the profit) to enable their redevelopment of the current Roots Hall stadium.

The revised plans for Fossetts Farm would see approximately 805 homes built across three phases, a reduction from the 1,380 homes previously proposed. The majority of the new homes would be single family homes for rent, with an absolute minimum of 20.75% affordable housing² let at Local Housing Allowance rates.

The report states that the Council’s AFL relating to Roots Hall would be cancelled on completion of the new Fossetts Farm AFL. This would allow COSU to purchase the freehold of the Roots Hall site.

It is stated in the report that the new AFL would not affect the Council's separate statutory planning function as Local Planning Authority. The report pack also notes that the proposed development at Fossetts Farm is not expected to affect any land held in trust at either Jones Memorial Ground or Youth Commemoration Ground.

Civic Pride Action Plan

The report pack contains a new Civic Pride action plan to boost people’s emotional connection to living and working in Southend-on-Sea. The plan includes actions to promote Southend-on-Sea’s arts, culture and heritage, improve navigation around the city, and make Southend-on-Sea sparkle.

The report states that the council intends to launch an annual Southend City Day celebration, to take place on 1 March 2025. Other actions noted in the report include funding community projects and events, establishing a civic pride fund to support local projects, appointing a new head of parks, and funding a post to coordinate volunteering activities such as litter picks.

The report pack notes the intention to develop a compelling civic pride narrative to support efforts to boost pride in the city, and it recognises that

boosting pride in place requires more than cosmetic, quick-fix interventions.

Parking Fees & Charges Proposals 2025/26

The report pack contains proposals for changes to parking fees and charges to be implemented from 1 April 2025.

The report notes the intention to simplify the existing parking zones and charges, re-designating the existing zones and charges into four new zones, each with a standard tariff (A) and a low demand tariff (B).

The headline proposals are to:

• freeze Southend Pass subscription costs,
• apply inflationary increases to permits and season tickets,
• introduce a new winter tariff for Zone 1A (central seafront area),
• cap all-day parking charges at £17(B)/£20(A) on the central seafront and £10 outside of the central seafront, and
• cap evening charges at £5 per night (between 6pm - 9pm).

It is noted that University Square car park would be open later to accommodate parking needs within the City Centre, and that free parking would remain in selected off-street car parks serving shopping areas on Sundays during December.

Councillor ICT Policy

The meeting report pack includes a new Councillor ICT Policy, intended to guide Councillors in the secure and safe use of council-provided technology and data.

The report states that

Councillors, by the nature of their role, are in the public domain and therefore targets of cyber criminals.

The report pack notes the council's intention to provide Councillors with council-owned devices, including laptops, tablets and smartphones, and to provide them with a standard set of software applications selected to meet the needs of the majority of users and keep costs down.

The policy would require councillors to use their council-provided email accounts for all official communication, and to refrain from forwarding council emails to private email addresses. The policy also highlights data security and advises Councillors to avoid clicking links in suspicious emails, using public Wi-Fi networks, or public data backup services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud.