Plans for a giant rollercoaster at the end of Southend Pier are back on track.

The £16m Swine ride looks set to take off after borough councillors backed plans aimed at easing the car parking crisis.

Swine developer Tony Garner had to find a suitable site to accommodate thousands of extra cars travelling to the town each year.

However, talks aimed at using the old gasworks site near the seafront and build a totally new car park later failed.

Basildon businessman Mr Garner has now offered to plough £940,000 into the Farringdon multi-storey car park, which has 1,000 spaces, and another £200,000 for hi-tech roads.

The money will be used to refurbish the car park, which is only ever 30 per cent full in an attempt to get more people to use it.

However, the controversial car park proposals failed to find favour with Labour's Kevin Lee.

He told the recent full council: "We already have enough cars parking in Southend but if you took those off the residential streets and put them in the car parks, then these cars alone would fill them to capacity."

He added that he had supported the Swine development in all other areas and said: "It's because I do think it would be a great benefit and such a big attraction that we have got to make sure we get it right."

Howard Briggs, Conservative councillor for Belfairs, was in favour of the proposed car parking arrangement.

He said: "I do believe that in due course there will be car parking on the gasworks site which will help with some of these problems.

"Farringdon car park could do with this facelift and will encourage people to hopefully use the High Street."

Sally Carr, Conservative councillor for Thorpe, said: "This developer has been trying for more than two years to get this off the ground and now someone keeps moving the goalposts."

Councillor Verina Wilson, Conservative, representing Shoebury ward, pointed out that there were no car parking restrictions made when recent planning permission was given for the Palace Hotel to be developed.

Councillor Lee's motion to not accept the developers proposals for dealing with the car parking implications was lost by 10 votes to 23.

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