Southend is a town of 162,000 inhabitants. It is the second most popular seaside resort in Britain with over 5 million day visitors a year. It is the chief urban centre for a sub-regional area with a population of 350,000 providing for employment, shopping, leisure and cultural facilities.

The sub-region forms the north eastern sector of the “Thames Gateway” corridor, the UK Government’s top priority for regeneration and growth. The Government’s Sustainable Communities Plan (February 2003) identifies Thames Gateway as a growth area where the objective is to achieve regeneration and renewal, recognising that the key to achieving this is the provision of sustainable transport. Without specific pro-active measures to improve access and interchange by public transport, access to facilities for both the existing and the proposed growth in population will be disproportionately car dependant. This in turn will result in reduced levels of access for those without ready access to a car, as well as being environmentally unsustainable. Resultant levels of congestion and consequent delays, as well as increased level of accidents, will impair economic development of the sub-region, and could prejudice delivery of the whole Thames Gateway development strategy.

The Borough Council has already undertaken work on a regeneration framework for the town centre. Major issues directly affecting sustainable access already identified include:

• the current limited opportunities for public transport interchange consequent on Southend having two separate rail stations (Victoria and Central) and a separate bus station each a significant distance from each other (up to 600 metres); and
• the separation of the Victoria station from the town centre shopping area by a busy major dual-carriageway.

The Interreg IIIb project “SustAccess” is a great opportunity for these issues to be addressed with the benefit of alternative European approaches to planning, design, engaging with the public, and delivering projects.

The objectives of the Southend pilot project are:

• to integrate the strategic rail interchange at Victoria Station into the town centre as part of the wider regeneration objectives for Southend and the Thames Gateway. This will be achieved by minimising the impact of the current physical barriers utilising the experience of transnational partners in approaches adopted elsewhere to explore alternative options;
• to integrate the Victoria station into the town centre by providing facilities, services, or shops that will attract non rail-users, again utilising the experience of transnational partners in achieving this outcome;
• to achieve a practical level of public transport integration in a situation where the ideal of one integrated terminal is not possible, again utilising the experience of transnational partners in alternative approaches adopted elsewhere;
• to involve the public, including public transport users and non-users, residents and visitors, in identifying issues, options, and preferred solutions at all stages of the exercise, building on a good local record of public consultation, and sharing this experience with transnational partners for their benefit;
• to be a true transnational project by transfer of experience and methods, where partners will use the results of the other pilot projects as a tool to improve the design, delivery, and promotion of their own schemes; and
• to transfer experience to other regions and interested parties by networking, publication of results and conclusions on SustAccess web-site, and conference exercises.

Under construction

Under construction