ON Thursday, YourThurrock had 17,688 page views. Many of those were for the news that Arena Essex is closing and the “BeyondLakeside” story, the plans to replace it.
For you information, much of the detail for plans in South Ockendon and beyond can be found in the link below.
It is called the Local Plan. Have a read of it.
It does make reference to plans for South Ockendon/Lakeside area.
It states
South Ockendon
South Ockendon has the potential to accommodate a strategic scale development through the comprehensive regeneration of the urban area alongside a large scale urban extension comprising an interlinked network of garden villages to the north and east of the existing urban area. Taken together the area has potential for 10,000 -12,000 new homes.
Lakeside
An urban extension on land at Arena Essex to the north of Lakeside has the potential to accommodate up to 2,500 homes and additional community, educational and/or health facilities to support residential development across the wider area including the potential development of up to 750-1,000 on land adjacent to the intu Lakeside Shopping Centre and retail parks.
Aveley
An urban extension to the south of Aveley has the potential to accommodate over 2,100 homes, the regeneration of Aveley centre, new education and community facilities, improvements to the A13 corridor and connections into an extension of the South Ockendon Country Park.
What businesses would like to see in the area
Establish a “town centre first” policy approach to the location of town centre uses with a policy to resist further out of centre retail development to support the retail led regeneration of Grays Town Centre;
• Plan positively for growth by supporting the transformation of Lakeside into a regional town centre with intu Lakeside providing the best location for new retail (comparison retailing) and leisure development in the Borough;
• Ensure existing centres including Grays and intu Lakeside can provide for future shopping needs of Thurrock. Further development outside these centres is not required and identified needs should be focused on maintaining and enhancing existing centres;
• Plan positively to maximise the economic benefits that will arise following the development of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing;
An urban extension on land at Arena Essex to the north of Lakeside has the potential to accommodate up to 2,500 homes and additional community, educational and/or health facilities to support residential development across the wider area including the potential development of up to 750-1,000 on land adjacent to the intu Lakeside Shopping Centre and retail parks.
What did I say a while back…Its all part of the build up to the London Borough of Thurrock.