CONSTRUCTION work has restarted at a Basildon development after highways' plans were agreed, with a council boss dubbing the move as "an important milestone".

The long-awaited works for the Laindon Centre redevelopment, off High Road, Laindon, restarted on Monday (July 22). The development, which includes 200 new homes, a Lidl supermarket and 15 other shops, has been an ongoing saga more than 20 years in the making. 

Basildon Council's Labour leader Cllr Gavin Callaghan has hit out at Essex County Council for what he calls a "delay in the signing of the agreement". He insists his authority had to "apply significant pressure" to the county council to get the plans going again.

Swan Housing, which was later taken over by Sanctuary Housing after financial difficulties, originally purchased the former Laindon Shopping Centre in May 2015 and drew up plans to transform the site with a mixture of new homes and shops.

Basildon Council has confirmed works will begin again after signing of an agreement with Essex County Council which finally allows the highway improvement to begin after months of delays.   

Works will take place on High Road, Laindon, to ensure construction traffic can access the development, and are necessary for construction to begin on the new shop fronts, Basildon Council says.

While allowing site access, the works will also renew paving, realign road junctions and provide other upgrades.  

The works are expected to take nine months to complete and traffic management will be in place throughout. 

There have been six failed attempts to redevelop the site and area over the last 25 years and Swan Housing demolished the former shopping centre, which was mostly empty, back in 2019.

An improved medical centre option will also be available, along with new public spaces for the Laindon War Memorial and Fountain and new hoarding is also being put up around the site where initial works started in December last year. 

Cllr Callaghan said: "This announcement marks an important milestone in the development of Laindon and residents have waited long enough for work to begin in earnest.  

Work has been stalled on the site for years.

"While I'm pleased to see these works have finally been confirmed, it's disappointing that Essex County Council continued to delay the signing of the agreement with Sanctuary to allow the Highways improvements and get this scheme moving. Once again, we have had to apply significant pressure on Essex County Council to get schemes like this back on track. It simply isn't acceptable for residents.  

 "This administration is committed to working with Sanctuary in Laindon and we will continue to do what's needed to see the project completed for local people." 

Dave Soothill, Sanctuary Development Director, added: "We apologise for the disruption the roadworks will cause in the short term. The change to the road layout is required to provide access to the development site and build a new, larger Lidl supermarket." 

Essex County Council was unavailable for comment.