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| Southend
Local Transport Plan (LTP) |
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The vision
underlying Southend council's transport strategy is
set out as "Reduce congestion in Southend and its
hinterland to stimulate regeneration,economic improvement,
environmental enhancement and community well being in
a sustainable manner." Its
objectives are:
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- Improve
the economy of Southend and support sustainable
economic growth in appropriate locations
- Protect
and enhance the environment and quality of life
- Improve
safety for all travellers
- Promote
the integration of all forms of transport and
land use planning, leading to a better more
efficient transport system
- Promote
accessibility to everyday facilities for all,
especially those without a car
- Raise
community awareness of the effects of continuing
traffic growth.
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For more
information on the LTP, visit Council's website www.southend.gov.uk
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| Moving
Forward Together |
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Government has set out guidance for producing the next
LTP covering the period 2006-2012. |
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It
requires "sustainable improvements in economic performance,
social inclusion and better quality of life" and
states its aim is "the transformation of the way
services are delivered to the public - putting the emphasis
on customers' and users' experience."
The government wants to ensure that we can benefit from
greater mobility and access while minimising the impact
on other people and the environment.
The shared priority which the Government has agreed with
local authorities aims at: improved access to jobs and
services (particularly for those most in need), improved
public transport and reduced problems of congestion, pollution
and safety.
Key strategies are: |
- freer
flowing local roads
- more
and more reliable buses
- responsive
and accessible bus servicesproviding real choice
- promotion
of school travel plans
- creating
a culture and improving quality of local environment
so that cycling and walking are seen as attractive
alternatives to the car.
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Bus
Service cuts
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Leigh
is set to lose vital bus services.
Routes
6, 17 & 23
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Teams of staff in the Civic Centre are employed to raise
new funds for these grand civic projects. They should
have been spending the same amount of energy in raising
the comparatively small amounts of money needed to keep
a reasonable public transport service running.
Update 17/03/05
Two St Laurence ward councillors have joined the
fray. They say they are conscious of the concerns expressed
by many residents and have entered into a dialogue with
the bus operators "to look at imaginative routes
to cover the gap".
Update 17/03/05
The Southend & District branch of the National Federation
of the Blind has written to the deputy Prime Minister,
John Prescott, protesting at the withdrawal of bus subsidies
which will isolate many areas of the town. "Although
we do have a bus pas, very few of us have bus services
that actually take us where we need to travel to. For
example there is no bus service to Chalkwell, Leigh and
Westcliff stations or to the seafront from the A13....There
are very few services that run in the evenings and at
weekends" Southend Council told them that "resources
have gone into the new travel centre" What is the
point of having bus stops if there are no buses? |
Despite
all the propaganda emanating from the Civic Centre with
its slogans of "Integrated Transportation Plan",
"accessibility to everyday facilities for all",
"wider travel choice", the Council is planning
to cut the subsidies paid to bus companies thereby removing
vital cross-town bus services completely.
For those without cars a visit to Leigh Broadway from
the wider parts of Leigh will become impossible. The situation
is made worse by the fact that local Post Offices have
closed and the elderly have to get to the Broadway to
cash their pension.
The Council has devoted a considerable amount of energy
into successfully securing vast amounts of EU and government
funding for its grandiose projects like the Pier Hill
with its "viewing platform" (£5.8million),
Southend High Street (£17.1million) and London Road
improvements (£14million).Don't forget the £400,000
it's spending on an environmentally-responsive perspex
bit of wall to grace the top of Pier Hill in the name
of "Public Art".
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We
do not need "New real time information signs
and modern and attractive bus shelters ... to ensure that
users of public transport are provided with a more predictable,
informative and quality experience" (!)
We do not need to replace all the street furniture
along the London Road and the High Street.
We do not need pavements in alternating colours.
We need a reasonable bus service for the council tax
payers of Leigh!
PS... At least the
Quality
Bus Partnership has "encouraged
modal shift" along the "flagship QBP corridor"!
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All community groups and residents in Leigh should treat
the loss of bus services as a priority:
- organise
a community-wide campaign
- protest
to local Councillors
- write
to the newspapers
- draw
up a petition
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| Southend
Council Committees |
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Traffic
and Parking Working Party
minutes
and agendas (scroll
down to T&P WP)
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| A13
London Road Passenger Corridor - Phase 3 - Leigh area |
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Work on
the third and final phase of the A13 London Road improvement
scheme is about to start. This phase runs from Elmsleigh
Drive to the Borough boundary. In contrast to phases
1 & 2, there has been relatively little public consultation
of this final stage through Leigh.
Vist the Council's website for more information:
www.southend.gov.uk
For the planned work in Phase 3, click
here
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| A13
London Road Passenger Corridor - Phase 3 - Leigh Area
- summary of proposals |
- London
Road/Eastwood Road junction (West Leigh Schools) -
enlarge pedestrian islands; demolish disused public
toilets and re-landscape; widen "filter"
roads (Eastwood Rd. into London Rd. left bound and
London Road into Eastwood Rood)
- Hadleigh/Herschell
Road -straighten the pedestrian crossing north-eastern
arm
- Lime
Avenue/Harry PH - create a staggered puffin crossing
on the Lime Avenue Junction.
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| A13
London Road Passenger Corridor - Phase 3 - Leigh Area
- summary of proposals |
- Thames
Drive/Sutherland Boulevard Junction - install segregated
right turn lanes in both directions and provide increased
pedestrian island widths; create bus stops east and
west of Sutherland Boulevard; physically separate
the bus bay from the on-street parking; replace public
toilets.
- Sydney
Rd - install a puffin crossing facility
for full
details,
click
here
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Southend
Airport - Draft Master Plan
consultation |
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The London
Southend Airport Company has begun a public consultation
exercise to gauge the views of local people towards
its Draft Master Plan. This Master Plan outlines how
Southend Airport sees itself growing and changing over
the next decade.
As many areas of Leigh are directly under the airport's
flight path, Leigh residents will have concerns over
these expansion plans particularly with regards to the
frequency of flights, the size and types of aircraft
in use and their noise levels and the incidence of night
flights. The impact that the proposed expansion will
have on the environment and traffic volumes will similarly
be of concern.
The benefits which will accrue should also be taken
into account: more jobs, economic regeneration, ease
of access to European destinations, etc.
Consultation on the Master Plan is currently being carried
out with local authorities and residents associations.
So, if you do want your views known, get in touch
with Leigh Town Council or your local Residents Association
(see
contacts)
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Southend
Airport - Draft Master Plan
key points |
- 20 flights
arriving and 20 flights departing per day carrying
about 1 million passengers by 2015 (2 million by 2030).
- fares
and services to rival London City Airport
- modern
facilities with integrated transport links - new terminal
and transport interchange (plans already approved
for new railway station on the Liverpool St - Southend
line)
- helping
Southend's economic regeneration
- create
several hundred new jobs in addition to the 1200 people
currently working at the airport
- centre
for aircraft maintenance, repair & overhaul
- centre
for recreational flying
- maintain
existing operating hours and flight paths (passenger
flights permitted between 06:30 and 23:00)
- agreed
controls on operation and measures to mitigate for
any environmental impacts.
- for full
copy of the Draft Master Plan, visit www.southendairport.net
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