Bassildon, like most large towns is run by a coterie of council workers who are waging war on car drivers. They seek to force people into public transport with parking restrictions and agressive enforcement (cash cow) fines.
They will not listen to people saying, “I got a parking ticket so won’t go back there again”. They think that people who have a car can pay, but ignore the fact that people who have a car can in fact drive to Lakeside. They also ignore the fact that car drivers are by definition wealthy enough to have disposable income.
In short, councils have driven out the goose that lays in favour of the idea of a unicorn.
You have said something which I have believed for many years. I live just outside a town (town A) which has had a Labour council for ever. There are almost no car parks and, not surprisingly, almost all of the businesses have moved out to a ‘new’ shopping mall. 15 years ago this mall was new and bursting with high-end shops. Now it is a dump with only Poundland-type shops.
Exactly 10 miles away from me is a town (town B) which has always had a Tory council. The local businesses have been supported by the council, small ‘hidden’, almost free car parks have been created in convenient spots and the town is booming. There are jobs to be had – admittedly not always high paid jobs. It is the kind of place to attract tourists or just retirees who want to sit in a coffee bar and watch the world go by.
For some reason the Labour councils can’t see that they have created the problems. In town A above, the council is always talking about poverty, giving money to the poor, taxing the rich, doing good deeds, etc. In town B the council is talking about attracting more businesses, refusing permission for out-of-town shopping malls, ideas to attract more visitors.
So we have a chicken-and-egg situation. Which came first, the poverty or the Labour council. I think I know the answer.
Labour councillors and supporters will always do everything they can to destroy businesses, particularly small businesses/kulaks. They see it as part of their mission during their time on this planet. Whether or not they can’t see that they have created the problems of open to debate.
Or take staunchly Labour Oxford City Council, car haters till the end. They build a huge shopping centre in the middle of the city but do the best they can to put off car owners with ridiculous traffic schemes and astronomical parking charges.
I’m fortunate to live in one of the market towns outside of Oxford. A thriving town centre with a huge variety of national brands and local shops – and free parking. Pre covid the town was thriving. Although some shops have since closed I’m confident that the town will soon be thronging with people again.
They do love their shopping centres which tear the heart out of a town. What about turning Basilton into a student town-they don’t care about architecture?
Richmond (Yorks) is a good case in point. Only a little town/village but operates on a parking disc scheme.
You buy a disc (once for a pound or two) from a shop and display it in your car at time you arrive. You have an hour or so free parking.
As a result it has a thriving shop community as people drop in to conduct errands, buy a few things and leave.
Interestingly it has been conservative since 1929
Search for Havering. Tory Boy leader appears to relish destroying established businesses which are decades old. Remember what Johnson said about business? £1.50 minimum charge for parking drives people to Lakeside.
Labour believes itself entitled to the votes of poor people, and therefore ensures there are as many poor people as possible. If we run out, they import more from the Third World.
Many of these latter bring with them their enriching culture and customs, such as raping underage white girls and committing postal voting fraud.
The challenges faced by town councils tend to be the same whether Tory or Labour controlled. The reaction to those challenges is however very different. In my experience Labour councillors tend to be more politically committed and with that more quickly frustrated by the limitations they face in bringing about change. In Basildon and other places where the Labour writ runs, this frustration often manifests itself in gesture politics. Thus, unable to ensure that the bins are emptied efficiently, the flower beds kept tidy and the streets clean – issues which frequently top the lists of residents’ concerns, we come across the depressing spectacle of we-must-be-seen-to-be-doing-something decisions such as replacing the names of familiar streets with those of African politicians, declaring areas under their control to be nuclear free or as has been the case in a number of Labour boroughs, passing motions that have no impact on their remit such as deploring fieldsports or the nation’s involvement in the slave trade. Tory councils have their failings – an over reliance on private enterprises ability to solve their problems being one – but their saving grace tends to be that they keep sight of the fact that they are operating on a local and not a national stage.
Notwithstanding your report, I doubt this is a matter of Labour vs Conservative local government. I think the problems are much deeper than that. What makes a town work is more about whether the people in that town have access to well paid work. It isn’t just a matter of parking spaces. If people have money from work, businesses arrive to take advantage of their spending. Long ago, this country abandoned its well paid manufacturing industry and replaced it with nothing. Germany didn’t do that. Neither did France.
Same in East Midlands,Council does nOT Conserve anything obsessed with building Housing in rural villages turning into Dormitory villages and less ”Green” countryside..Labour in city Council also guilty driving people into Fosse park M69 out of town centre…&pedestrianisation has killed the City centre
The parking problem has been transferred to the private sector. Park in a shopping centre car park for more than three hours and you will now get fined by the management company.
you could be describing our city council here in york,a gree/liberal mess.their main aim is to bar all cars from in and around the city centre,paving some streets,closing some car parks and enforcing high parking charges.the results are plain to see-dozens of closed down shops,plenty of tourists coming to our own little version of disneyland but precious few locals.they ve deserted the people who pay their wages and on whom they foist yearly council tax rises.i guess there are dozens like us but knowing that doesn t make the pill any easier to swallow.
And now they are starting on your right to have a gas boiler to heat your home – a boiler that ACTUALLY heats your home, rather than an air sourced heat pump which costs a fortune and doesn’t heat your home – leastways, doesn’t heat it above about 15 degrees.
Carbon rubbish.Boris Green bilge Will fail Not enough nuclear Power or oil power stations,so electric cars,aren’t Green, only last half Petrol/Diesel engines..
CHARLES STANHOPE
2 years ago
Basildon has a clone! Slough.
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn’t fit for humans now,
There isn’t grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!*
Slough! I used to fish in the ‘Slough Cut’ right next to the ICI factory with the chemical smells, but crystal clear water because it was so weeded up from neglect. What a dump Slough was/is, but I have fond memories from fishing there. When I return to my old parts of London what a dreary mess it is now. Harrows, Hays, Heathrow, all another world. The whole West London is about 1/2 non-British, why? Who wanted this? The British Census numbers are 100% LIES.
Do you recall the huge lamppost in the centre, on the Bath Rd, with two large lights on it. If green nobody had been killed in a traffic accident that week, if red they had.
That was ‘Slough Safety Town’ of the 1950’s, before the
Invasion!
Russell Hamilton
2 years ago
“A billion pounds. A 26–storey central tower. Nine other new high-rises within a few hundred metres. A 5,000-seater arena.” When we travel – to lovely places in France or Italy – it isn’t to see apartment towers or small arenas. What we do see is streets radiating out from the centre of the town , which have 5-8 story apartment blocks — not high-rise looming over the centre. Looking at that ghastly pic at the top of the article you can easily imagine some planter boxes with seats around the edges, perhaps some nice striped canvas covered spots with tables underneath selling fruit & veg etc. A food truck or two? The only structure to build would be a modest orchestra shell so that on weekends you could have live music – if not an army or navy band, maybe a local school band could do the job of enlivening the space ?? Don’t waste money and create yet more greenhouse gases by demolishing and rebuilding, what’s there can be improved and adapted.
The picture of Basildon in the article looks like 1960s vintage. However, I was in Basildon once about five years ago, and that shopping precinct looked exactly the same then. Having quickly done what I needed to do, I was glad to escape. It truly is a dump.
Andrew Lale
2 years ago
Up until 150 years ago, almost everywhere was unplanned, and developed organically to suit the people who lived there. Who thinks the modernist progressives have done a better job than ‘random’?
Until 150 years ago (and ever since), “everywhere” was developed by people who saw development as a way of making money. Nothing wrong with that as such. But let’s be clear. The developers in the main cared little or nothing for organic development, unless the development suited their pockets.
The buyers had to make their choices from what was made available by the developers.
The utopia of organic development never existed.
Mark H
2 years ago
Maybe the answer is “somewhere in the middle”.
Yes, attract professionals – especially young professionals – but design the housing to suit hybrid working-from-home.
Post-covid there were be at least a substantial minority of professionals who only go in to an office 2 or 3 days a week. So make it possible for them to work from home – e.g. flat designs that provide office space, easily rentable ad-hoc meeting rooms (conveniently located near the hospitality trade).
By encouraging a large proportion of the white-collar population to stay in the town during working hours, there are more opportunities for local businesses.
And by specifically chasing young professionals by offering quality accommodation in the town centre, that places the extra spending power where it is most beneficial.
Yes, and the council of whatever stripe should engage with people in deliberative ways not just ask them what they want, in ignorance of the economic facts, logistics and other practical considerations. Then Basildon, or anywhere, will have a fighting chance of becoming a place people are happy to be associated with.
And all the new towns, created by a bestial triumvirate of we-know-best planners, architects, and financiers.
All of whom thought they could ignore the lessons of history to build their idea of a new – and mostly hideous – future.
And they couldn’t care less, as they retreated to their handsome Georgian residences after another day’s work spent ruining another part of our fine country.
Not true in the case of Harlow and Frederick Gibberd. Where his designs were followed it’s still pleasant and successful. And he lived there until his death.
Reminds me of my second favourite cartoon of all time: a couple of Romans looking up at the Coliseum and saying, “I bet the architect of this lot lives in a quiet villa in the country”.
Since you didn’t ask, my favourite (as I often used to lead walks) was of Moses, having parted the Red Sea, finding that the Israelites were reluctant to follow. Turning back to face them, he says, “What do you mean, it’s a bit muddy?”.
God preserve us from planners and architects. Between them they’ve made the most appalling mess of so many of our urban and suburban landscapes over the last 60 decades. And now they’re turning their attention to the greenfield sites throughout England (not Basildon obviously).
Of course, they know what’s good for us better than we do.
Mark Melvin
2 years ago
Enjoyed the article, not really because of the fact that it bemoans the desolation of a town I once knew as awful… I’m from Southend and even we looked down on them! It’s just that there aren’t that many articles about Essex. There should be. Its a great place. Haven’t been to Basildon for years and this article sadly does nothing to encourage me to do otherwise. But thanks for reminding us all that Basildon exists.
The underlining darkness of Depeche Mode is now explained. Looks like a town which could have produced one of Depeche’s influencers, Marilyn Manson. There seems a bleakness to these planned towns, sort of reminiscent of Russian ‘Brutalism’ new town architecture.
Coastal Essex St.Osyth is still charming Brighlingsea ,Clacton but not most towns..
Ian Standingford
2 years ago
I would have thought those town centre precincts deserve a grade 2 listing!
Mud Hopper
2 years ago
I have often thought that had the planners and architects of the post WW2 ‘New Towns’ been actually forced to live in them for, say, the first twenty years, then something totally different would have arisen.
Last edited 2 years ago by Mud Hopper
Reed Howe
2 years ago
The article includes a depressing view of Basildon Town Centre now.
What it does not include – small beer, I know – is the recent construction of a covered market behind what used to be Marks and Spencer.
It does not include a vision (admittedly not yet realised) of the proposed redevelopment of the whole of the centre to include residencies, alongside the new arena with cafes and restaurants.
It does not include the estates of “low-rise” residencies which have been constructed within the last decade or so and those which are being constructed.
Did I say the article was one-sided? It is so one-sided that it should have a preservation order placed on it before it collapses.
Reed Howe
2 years ago
Mcdonalds has not deserted Basildon. It has moved to the Eastgate centre (200 yards away) where, I suggest, it can better compete with several other fast food services in the centre.
There is another McDonalds around a mile away, plus several others within easy driving distance. I have been there twice recently and it was bustling.
Jorge Espinha
2 years ago
It’s a pity space is so vast and its distances impossible to negotiate. When I read articles like this I wish it was possible to move to a far distant world. This time with no socialist wankers and a small very small state. Do things right this time. Helas, we are trapped.
Reed Howe
2 years ago
Has this journalist been trained by the BBC?
Reed Howe
2 years ago
Let me introduce the author of this piece to the concept of the truth. Truth is the whole truth. Some of this is so far from the truth that it is almost an outright lie.
But as the saying goes, the best way to hide a large lie is among a lot of small truths.
Reed Howe
2 years ago
I came to Basildon around forty years ago. I have lived here ever since.
One of the reasons I came here (such decisions are complex) is because house prices were lower here.
Plus ca change ….
Reed Howe
2 years ago
Within a mile or so of Basildon Town Centre, there is a leisure park with several restaurants, a cinema and other entertainment venues.
For good or ill, the 5,000-seater arena is an attempt to bring some of that custom into Basildon Town Centre. It will also include cafes and restaurants, a fact missing in the article.
This shows only that 68.6% voted for Brexit. Every deduction (as here) from that fact (alone) is speculation.
But then we have the commentariat, who generally have minimal contact with the voters, who are ready to give us their interpretation of what facts such as these mean.
I was one of those who voted Brexit. How does Gavin Hayes know why I voted for Brexit. Can he read my mind?
Bassildon, like most large towns is run by a coterie of council workers who are waging war on car drivers. They seek to force people into public transport with parking restrictions and agressive enforcement (cash cow) fines.
They will not listen to people saying, “I got a parking ticket so won’t go back there again”. They think that people who have a car can pay, but ignore the fact that people who have a car can in fact drive to Lakeside. They also ignore the fact that car drivers are by definition wealthy enough to have disposable income.
In short, councils have driven out the goose that lays in favour of the idea of a unicorn.
You have said something which I have believed for many years. I live just outside a town (town A) which has had a Labour council for ever. There are almost no car parks and, not surprisingly, almost all of the businesses have moved out to a ‘new’ shopping mall. 15 years ago this mall was new and bursting with high-end shops. Now it is a dump with only Poundland-type shops.
Exactly 10 miles away from me is a town (town B) which has always had a Tory council. The local businesses have been supported by the council, small ‘hidden’, almost free car parks have been created in convenient spots and the town is booming. There are jobs to be had – admittedly not always high paid jobs. It is the kind of place to attract tourists or just retirees who want to sit in a coffee bar and watch the world go by.
For some reason the Labour councils can’t see that they have created the problems. In town A above, the council is always talking about poverty, giving money to the poor, taxing the rich, doing good deeds, etc. In town B the council is talking about attracting more businesses, refusing permission for out-of-town shopping malls, ideas to attract more visitors.
So we have a chicken-and-egg situation. Which came first, the poverty or the Labour council. I think I know the answer.
Labour councillors and supporters will always do everything they can to destroy businesses, particularly small businesses/kulaks. They see it as part of their mission during their time on this planet. Whether or not they can’t see that they have created the problems of open to debate.
wonderful analogy.
Or take staunchly Labour Oxford City Council, car haters till the end. They build a huge shopping centre in the middle of the city but do the best they can to put off car owners with ridiculous traffic schemes and astronomical parking charges.
I’m fortunate to live in one of the market towns outside of Oxford. A thriving town centre with a huge variety of national brands and local shops – and free parking. Pre covid the town was thriving. Although some shops have since closed I’m confident that the town will soon be thronging with people again.
They do love their shopping centres which tear the heart out of a town. What about turning Basilton into a student town-they don’t care about architecture?
Richmond (Yorks) is a good case in point. Only a little town/village but operates on a parking disc scheme.
You buy a disc (once for a pound or two) from a shop and display it in your car at time you arrive. You have an hour or so free parking.
As a result it has a thriving shop community as people drop in to conduct errands, buy a few things and leave.
Interestingly it has been conservative since 1929
yes,simple isn t it if you want it but the labour/green/liberal councils put petty environmental issues ahead of the people that pay their wages.
Don’t forget their fabulous Pensions!
Which public service employees do not put their interests over those who pay their wages, including the tax bill?
Richmond is a lovely little town. Very picturesque. I used to know it well, when, as a boy, I had summer holidays in North Yorkshire year after year.
QED.
The same kind of parking arrangements apply in Hexham in Northumberland. The town is thriving and busy.
Search for Havering. Tory Boy leader appears to relish destroying established businesses which are decades old. Remember what Johnson said about business? £1.50 minimum charge for parking drives people to Lakeside.
Labour believes itself entitled to the votes of poor people, and therefore ensures there are as many poor people as possible. If we run out, they import more from the Third World.
Many of these latter bring with them their enriching culture and customs, such as raping underage white girls and committing postal voting fraud.
The challenges faced by town councils tend to be the same whether Tory or Labour controlled. The reaction to those challenges is however very different. In my experience Labour councillors tend to be more politically committed and with that more quickly frustrated by the limitations they face in bringing about change. In Basildon and other places where the Labour writ runs, this frustration often manifests itself in gesture politics. Thus, unable to ensure that the bins are emptied efficiently, the flower beds kept tidy and the streets clean – issues which frequently top the lists of residents’ concerns, we come across the depressing spectacle of we-must-be-seen-to-be-doing-something decisions such as replacing the names of familiar streets with those of African politicians, declaring areas under their control to be nuclear free or as has been the case in a number of Labour boroughs, passing motions that have no impact on their remit such as deploring fieldsports or the nation’s involvement in the slave trade. Tory councils have their failings – an over reliance on private enterprises ability to solve their problems being one – but their saving grace tends to be that they keep sight of the fact that they are operating on a local and not a national stage.
Notwithstanding your report, I doubt this is a matter of Labour vs Conservative local government. I think the problems are much deeper than that. What makes a town work is more about whether the people in that town have access to well paid work. It isn’t just a matter of parking spaces. If people have money from work, businesses arrive to take advantage of their spending. Long ago, this country abandoned its well paid manufacturing industry and replaced it with nothing. Germany didn’t do that. Neither did France.
Same where I live. The town centre is a ghost town, and we drive to the out of town shopping centre for our needs.
Same in East Midlands,Council does nOT Conserve anything obsessed with building Housing in rural villages turning into Dormitory villages and less ”Green” countryside..Labour in city Council also guilty driving people into Fosse park M69 out of town centre…&pedestrianisation has killed the City centre
The parking problem has been transferred to the private sector. Park in a shopping centre car park for more than three hours and you will now get fined by the management company.
you could be describing our city council here in york,a gree/liberal mess.their main aim is to bar all cars from in and around the city centre,paving some streets,closing some car parks and enforcing high parking charges.the results are plain to see-dozens of closed down shops,plenty of tourists coming to our own little version of disneyland but precious few locals.they ve deserted the people who pay their wages and on whom they foist yearly council tax rises.i guess there are dozens like us but knowing that doesn t make the pill any easier to swallow.
And now they are starting on your right to have a gas boiler to heat your home – a boiler that ACTUALLY heats your home, rather than an air sourced heat pump which costs a fortune and doesn’t heat your home – leastways, doesn’t heat it above about 15 degrees.
Carbon rubbish.Boris Green bilge Will fail Not enough nuclear Power or oil power stations,so electric cars,aren’t Green, only last half Petrol/Diesel engines..
Basildon has a clone! Slough.
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn’t fit for humans now,
There isn’t grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!*
(*Sir John Betjeman.)
Slough! I used to fish in the ‘Slough Cut’ right next to the ICI factory with the chemical smells, but crystal clear water because it was so weeded up from neglect. What a dump Slough was/is, but I have fond memories from fishing there. When I return to my old parts of London what a dreary mess it is now. Harrows, Hays, Heathrow, all another world. The whole West London is about 1/2 non-British, why? Who wanted this? The British Census numbers are 100% LIES.
Do you recall the huge lamppost in the centre, on the Bath Rd, with two large lights on it. If green nobody had been killed in a traffic accident that week, if red they had.
That was ‘Slough Safety Town’ of the 1950’s, before the
Invasion!
“A billion pounds. A 26–storey central tower. Nine other new high-rises within a few hundred metres. A 5,000-seater arena.”
When we travel – to lovely places in France or Italy – it isn’t to see apartment towers or small arenas. What we do see is streets radiating out from the centre of the town , which have 5-8 story apartment blocks — not high-rise looming over the centre.
Looking at that ghastly pic at the top of the article you can easily imagine some planter boxes with seats around the edges, perhaps some nice striped canvas covered spots with tables underneath selling fruit & veg etc. A food truck or two? The only structure to build would be a modest orchestra shell so that on weekends you could have live music – if not an army or navy band, maybe a local school band could do the job of enlivening the space ?? Don’t waste money and create yet more greenhouse gases by demolishing and rebuilding, what’s there can be improved and adapted.
The picture of Basildon in the article looks like 1960s vintage. However, I was in Basildon once about five years ago, and that shopping precinct looked exactly the same then. Having quickly done what I needed to do, I was glad to escape. It truly is a dump.
Up until 150 years ago, almost everywhere was unplanned, and developed organically to suit the people who lived there. Who thinks the modernist progressives have done a better job than ‘random’?
Now our Tory Council brags it uses ”Algorithms &Models” to plan ,that Went well for SARS2 ,not & our climate controlled by politicians it seems?..
Until 150 years ago (and ever since), “everywhere” was developed by people who saw development as a way of making money. Nothing wrong with that as such. But let’s be clear. The developers in the main cared little or nothing for organic development, unless the development suited their pockets.
The buyers had to make their choices from what was made available by the developers.
The utopia of organic development never existed.
Maybe the answer is “somewhere in the middle”.
Yes, attract professionals – especially young professionals – but design the housing to suit hybrid working-from-home.
Post-covid there were be at least a substantial minority of professionals who only go in to an office 2 or 3 days a week. So make it possible for them to work from home – e.g. flat designs that provide office space, easily rentable ad-hoc meeting rooms (conveniently located near the hospitality trade).
By encouraging a large proportion of the white-collar population to stay in the town during working hours, there are more opportunities for local businesses.
And by specifically chasing young professionals by offering quality accommodation in the town centre, that places the extra spending power where it is most beneficial.
Yes, and the council of whatever stripe should engage with people in deliberative ways not just ask them what they want, in ignorance of the economic facts, logistics and other practical considerations. Then Basildon, or anywhere, will have a fighting chance of becoming a place people are happy to be associated with.
Reminds me of Stevenage somehow.
And all the new towns, created by a bestial triumvirate of we-know-best planners, architects, and financiers.
All of whom thought they could ignore the lessons of history to build their idea of a new – and mostly hideous – future.
And they couldn’t care less, as they retreated to their handsome Georgian residences after another day’s work spent ruining another part of our fine country.
Not true in the case of Harlow and Frederick Gibberd. Where his designs were followed it’s still pleasant and successful. And he lived there until his death.
Harlow New and Old Towns are chalk and cheese, and I’ll take the latter.
A parallel to Stevenage (ugh) and Stevenage Old Town (fine).
Reminds me of my second favourite cartoon of all time: a couple of Romans looking up at the Coliseum and saying, “I bet the architect of this lot lives in a quiet villa in the country”.
Since you didn’t ask, my favourite (as I often used to lead walks) was of Moses, having parted the Red Sea, finding that the Israelites were reluctant to follow. Turning back to face them, he says, “What do you mean, it’s a bit muddy?”.
Cumbernauld in Jockland must ‘take the biscuit’.
Or ‘take the cookie’ as Mel ‘Braveheart’ Gibson might put it.
A monument to Nicola braun Sturgeon/..?
God preserve us from planners and architects. Between them they’ve made the most appalling mess of so many of our urban and suburban landscapes over the last 60 decades. And now they’re turning their attention to the greenfield sites throughout England (not Basildon obviously).
Of course, they know what’s good for us better than we do.
Enjoyed the article, not really because of the fact that it bemoans the desolation of a town I once knew as awful… I’m from Southend and even we looked down on them! It’s just that there aren’t that many articles about Essex. There should be. Its a great place. Haven’t been to Basildon for years and this article sadly does nothing to encourage me to do otherwise. But thanks for reminding us all that Basildon exists.
The underlining darkness of Depeche Mode is now explained. Looks like a town which could have produced one of Depeche’s influencers, Marilyn Manson. There seems a bleakness to these planned towns, sort of reminiscent of Russian ‘Brutalism’ new town architecture.
Being reminded that Basildon exists is like discovering that there is still a thing called leprosy.
Essex is indeed a great place – I used to visit it on business many years ago, and loved it – or at least the parts not built over like Basildon.
Coastal Essex St.Osyth is still charming Brighlingsea ,Clacton but not most towns..
I would have thought those town centre precincts deserve a grade 2 listing!
I have often thought that had the planners and architects of the post WW2 ‘New Towns’ been actually forced to live in them for, say, the first twenty years, then something totally different would have arisen.
The article includes a depressing view of Basildon Town Centre now.
What it does not include – small beer, I know – is the recent construction of a covered market behind what used to be Marks and Spencer.
It does not include a vision (admittedly not yet realised) of the proposed redevelopment of the whole of the centre to include residencies, alongside the new arena with cafes and restaurants.
It does not include the estates of “low-rise” residencies which have been constructed within the last decade or so and those which are being constructed.
Did I say the article was one-sided? It is so one-sided that it should have a preservation order placed on it before it collapses.
Mcdonalds has not deserted Basildon. It has moved to the Eastgate centre (200 yards away) where, I suggest, it can better compete with several other fast food services in the centre.
There is another McDonalds around a mile away, plus several others within easy driving distance. I have been there twice recently and it was bustling.
It’s a pity space is so vast and its distances impossible to negotiate. When I read articles like this I wish it was possible to move to a far distant world. This time with no socialist wankers and a small very small state. Do things right this time. Helas, we are trapped.
Has this journalist been trained by the BBC?
Let me introduce the author of this piece to the concept of the truth. Truth is the whole truth. Some of this is so far from the truth that it is almost an outright lie.
But as the saying goes, the best way to hide a large lie is among a lot of small truths.
I came to Basildon around forty years ago. I have lived here ever since.
One of the reasons I came here (such decisions are complex) is because house prices were lower here.
Plus ca change ….
Within a mile or so of Basildon Town Centre, there is a leisure park with several restaurants, a cinema and other entertainment venues.
For good or ill, the 5,000-seater arena is an attempt to bring some of that custom into Basildon Town Centre. It will also include cafes and restaurants, a fact missing in the article.
This shows only that 68.6% voted for Brexit. Every deduction (as here) from that fact (alone) is speculation.
But then we have the commentariat, who generally have minimal contact with the voters, who are ready to give us their interpretation of what facts such as these mean.
I was one of those who voted Brexit. How does Gavin Hayes know why I voted for Brexit. Can he read my mind?