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Comment

Southend Central Area Action Plan (SCAAP) - Revised Proposed Submission 2016

Representation ID: 2562

Received: 30/01/2017

Respondent: Miss Tracy Abbott

Representation Summary:

Need to improve and maintain the Baxter Avenue area.

Full text:

Myself and my partner live at 111 Baxter avenue and received your letter regarding town developments. We do support the policies and plans in the document, but wish to make a few comments.
The Baxter avenue area is very dark at night and does not feel safe to walk around, there are often groups of people gathering in the car parks by the office buildings and being quite destructive at times. It is also a place where cars are often abandoned, as well as old furniture left outside homes.
As residents we purchased our house on a leasehold with a property management company called gateway. They were ineffective and charged obscene amounts for maintenance they weren't carrying out. We managed to take over the management of our building going through legal proceedings. This wasn't easy to do and if the council or property developers could avoid using them in the future I would recommend this. Where possible residents should be supported to maintain and improve their properties. We desperately want to improve the inside and outside of our property and some sort of help or loan service to do this would also improve the appearance of the area. We are only able to even begin doing this now we have escaped gateway property management, and it is a slow process due to the funds needed to make old houses safe, warm and presentable.
I definitely agree that more stable and consistent alternative education is needed in Southend. Particularly due to the high rate of exclusions in mainstream schools, meaning vulnerable children are not in full time education and are likely to turn to more dangerous pursuits. There are some existing tutoring services that could be extended and although more specialist provision is costly, it should reduce the long term costs of children being out of education and not gaining employment. I also believe more reasonable parking for visitors would encourage tourism, as well as a focus on maintaining the seafront amenities and managing high levels of litter. More programmes to encourage people to look after their local area would be great. Such as anyone who posts a certain amount of selfies improving the town gets a reward of some kind. This could also be a great opportunity to develop the skills of youngsters who aren't engaging in the classroom.
There are lots of great places to eat in Southend and a food festival with local businesses would be a great way of helping them spread the word. I think the local offer needs to be easier to access and their should be a larger social media presence to advertise all the great businesses, services and residents we have. I think a lot of the green spaces and churches we have are great and am also pleased to hear that improvements are being made to the area. If resident numbers and housing are increasing then parking, healthcare, education and other public services will need to be expanded. The hospital will also need to be able to cope with this increase in residents.

Attachments:

Comment

Southend Central Area Action Plan (SCAAP) - Revised Proposed Submission 2016

Representation ID: 2564

Received: 30/01/2017

Respondent: Miss Tracy Abbott

Representation Summary:

Area needs to be accessible and marketed effectively. Increasing housing should be matched by increases in parking.

Full text:

Myself and my partner live at 111 Baxter avenue and received your letter regarding town developments. We do support the policies and plans in the document, but wish to make a few comments.
The Baxter avenue area is very dark at night and does not feel safe to walk around, there are often groups of people gathering in the car parks by the office buildings and being quite destructive at times. It is also a place where cars are often abandoned, as well as old furniture left outside homes.
As residents we purchased our house on a leasehold with a property management company called gateway. They were ineffective and charged obscene amounts for maintenance they weren't carrying out. We managed to take over the management of our building going through legal proceedings. This wasn't easy to do and if the council or property developers could avoid using them in the future I would recommend this. Where possible residents should be supported to maintain and improve their properties. We desperately want to improve the inside and outside of our property and some sort of help or loan service to do this would also improve the appearance of the area. We are only able to even begin doing this now we have escaped gateway property management, and it is a slow process due to the funds needed to make old houses safe, warm and presentable.
I definitely agree that more stable and consistent alternative education is needed in Southend. Particularly due to the high rate of exclusions in mainstream schools, meaning vulnerable children are not in full time education and are likely to turn to more dangerous pursuits. There are some existing tutoring services that could be extended and although more specialist provision is costly, it should reduce the long term costs of children being out of education and not gaining employment. I also believe more reasonable parking for visitors would encourage tourism, as well as a focus on maintaining the seafront amenities and managing high levels of litter. More programmes to encourage people to look after their local area would be great. Such as anyone who posts a certain amount of selfies improving the town gets a reward of some kind. This could also be a great opportunity to develop the skills of youngsters who aren't engaging in the classroom.
There are lots of great places to eat in Southend and a food festival with local businesses would be a great way of helping them spread the word. I think the local offer needs to be easier to access and their should be a larger social media presence to advertise all the great businesses, services and residents we have. I think a lot of the green spaces and churches we have are great and am also pleased to hear that improvements are being made to the area. If resident numbers and housing are increasing then parking, healthcare, education and other public services will need to be expanded. The hospital will also need to be able to cope with this increase in residents.

Attachments: