Political Viewpoint by Coun Carole Mulroney, Southend Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment & Planning – ‘Putting unity back into community’
by
BEHIND every dark cloud, if you look long enough you can find a silver lining, however thin that lining may be.
It’s clear that there are going to be difficult times ahead for our economy, but we will recover, and the Council’s attitude and strength will play an important part in that recovery.
What people need is hope, aspiration and trust that things will get better, so the decisions we take in the coming months will be important for our future wellbeing as a Borough, and as individuals.
The Government has shelled out a lot of money in the pandemic, but we all know deep down that this cannot continue. So we have to look to our own resources and abilities to make our economy grow for those who need work, especially the young, and those who need homes and care, and to improve our environment.
As much as we need a plan for national recovery, Southend Council will not sit back and wonder what it will entail – and that will mean all of us working together outside the pandemic, as we have within it.
I get very angry when all I hear is negativity about Southend. The constant carping and knee-jerk reaction – ‘that won’t work’ or ‘that’s stupid’ or worse still, ‘Southend is a dump it’s not worth the effort.’
Southend is worth the effort – all of it – from Leigh to Shoeburyness.
Residents and the Council have shown amazing resilience, discovering skills they never knew they had and stepping up to the plate to work together in the last few months. The lessons learned must not be lost, so we can move forward and ride the storm of recession.
So, can someone please tell the Southend Tories?
We are in the stupid situation where schemes the Tories either initiated or supported are now, according to them, not good enough and they are using every trick in the book to get them reversed.
Better Queensway, Seaway, London Road/Victoria Plaza and any new proposals they didn’t think of, are opposed. To them everything designed to get the economy going is wrong and we should not spend money on it in these straitened times.
How on earth is the economy going to recover with that attitude? Have they not heard, austerity didn’t work – their own government is going on a spending spree to ‘save’ the economy, but in Southend ‘Tory’ personifies destruction and obstruction.
In stark contrast the Joint Administration has put aside political differences, works together and discusses issues in a mature way, knowing we cannot please everyone, and does what it thinks is right after careful thought and consideration.
We will have no truck with negativity and will get on with stimulating the Borough’s economy through growth and inward investment, revitalising our high streets, housing our residents, greening our Borough and making it a safe and good place to be.
Southend’s road to recovery continued all through lockdown and we are now ploughing forward, adjusting priorities to suit the situation and making sure that People, the Economy, the Environment, Transport are top of our agenda. Moving forward as a Council – progression not regression.
We are not isolationist or insular – we will work with communities, voluntary organisations and residents and even other political parties if they are serious about it, in order to foster better relations with the business community, both locally and further afield. We are an open Borough – open to ideas, innovations and progress.
The Government has thrown seaside towns under the bus during the crisis and now needs to invest money and resources in us, because we have borne the brunt of their political dithering, which is to blame for the awful scenes we have seen on the seafront and in Old Leigh recently.
The Council will continue to work better, smarter and move Southend forward and drive our way through the Tory roadblocks.
We can show the world that Southend is the best place to be and visit on the east coast – with opportunities for all. That we can work in harmony by being caring, forward thinking, dynamic and listening.
My goal for recovery is to put our shattered lives back into focus and showcase Southend Borough, with all its diversity of people and places, as a force to be reckoned with, a place to invest in and a sound bet for the future.
Putting ‘unity’ back into ‘community’
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