I travelled along the sea front this morning, Sunday, at about 10 AM, a route I always use in preference to London Road, all stop start for whole length or A127 via Priory Crescent, no need to explain why I avoid that route. I have always found that other than the really busy couple of weeks in the summer or sunny summer weekends that the seafront route East to West and back to be pleasant and generally smooth flowing.

I initially thought the new schemes for the Eastern / Western Esplanade's would improve the now quite dated areas of front. My initial impressions regarding pedestrians was positive, but having travelled that route today now much of the temporary road works have gone, leaving what is in effect the finished road layout makes me wonder what planet the planners are on?

Western Esplanade: Now reduced to single lane traffic to accommodate anew cycle way. Great, unless you wish to drive a car along the remaining single lane road. There is still parking at kerbside to the Casino and also the centre reservation id still double width parking. As half the people using that route are looking to park it means that they creep along looking for the non existent bays (when it's a nice day) and when they find them spend a couple of minutes trying to park in them. During this time all the cars behind have to just sit and wait caused a massive jam. Before you just moved to the other lane and carried on while the parkers took up one lane....madness. When the summer kicks in I think you have just got to forget about moving from East to West and back across our town.

If any of the planning committee who worked this out are reading this (which I doubt very much) you are all pillocks.

NigelT 

PS. I actually quite like the new Palm trees.   

Hahaha! yep too polite, like it.

   I don't drive, but have travelled the road many times either in a friend/family vechile or by bike.

  Your both so right, it will be a giant car park come the summer months, infact allready with the nice weather its allready slowing up.

  I still think the idea I came up with 3 years ago was a good one. though someone else has nicked half of it. I proposed back then that where the cliffs had slipped the area was dug out and shored up properly with a decent building containg various leisure facilities, with incorporated within a decent sized multi storey car park. The roof area could of been made into a nice garden area, with the rain water being used to part sustain the toilet needs of the facilities. Along the top looking out to the estuary the area could of also had a decent amount of solar panels to help with the electric usage too. It could of also been done so that the entrance and exits were top and bottom so to create a flow rather than a build up of traffic. Yes it would of cost a packet to build, but cars paying £5 a day or more would of paid for it in just a few years. The area is big enough and done sympathetically within the cliffs would of solved both problems and created a nice place to visit.

The video on longpier shows just how bad the cycleway design is, so everyone loses, the cyclist using it, the cyclists who will stick to the road, and the motorist whose speed will reduced to a crawl at best for much of the summer as a result. Southend Council at its best yet again!

I wish the planners would just admit they won't be happy until all motor vehicles are required to have someone walk in front with a red flag when moving within the town.

When I first started this post it was from the perspective of a motorist and a motorist that uses (used) the seafront as his main route out of town. With that in mind I posted my 'Pillock's' comment. Since that first post I have looked deeper into the whole scheme which includes the cycle lanes etc. and have changed my opinion regarding the planning and design of the scheme, so would like to also change my opinion of those who were responsible for its inception.

My original opinion was "If any of the planning committee who worked this out are reading this (which I doubt very much) you are all pillocks"

My opinion now is, If any of the planning committee who worked this out are reading this (which I doubt very much) you are all complete pillocks. Completely devoid of any basic common sense or grounding in the real world. A bunch of morons who are so far removed from the real Southend and its residence, so wrapped up in their own self importance that they make these ludicrous plans and decisions based on their self inflated egos and the fact that they are given a nice big slab of money that they are oh! so eager to spend regardless of the long term effect it has on the town and the people who live in it.......which obviously doesn't include people who live in Barling. When will they ever start to listen to the residence of this town? (no need to answer this one).

Sorry about that, I would have like to have used stronger language but this is after all a public forum. 

Unfortunately I really do believe that 'they' don't think they are wasting the money and don't seem to be able to make the connection that the money coming from central government is 'Our' money. They probably think there is a money orchard somewhere up Westminster way and a man gets sent out with his little (actually very large) basket and just picks some as needed. Well there is a money orchard, it's called Taxation and the man with the basket is called HM Customs & Revenue.

JW wrote on Apr 16^th, 2010 at 1:22am:


I suppose that's what will always happen when everything is run by accountants and bean-counters! With apologies to any of that ilk amongst us

I think we are all being very unfair to our beloved councillors and planners

scalyback wrote on Apr 17^th, 2010 at 2:53pm:


3..2..1..you're back in the room...