Masterplan to help revive areas of Essex hit hardest by Covid

As communities in Essex begin to emerge blinking from the pandemic, the question seems to be very much: ‘Where do we go from here?’

But not resting on its laurels, an ambitious masterplan to help deprived areas in Essex “level up” has been unveiled by County Hall which seeks to unlock their untapped potential and help to fulfil it.

Bosses at Essex County Council have drawn up the Everyone’s Essex plan to help deliver the Government’s levelling-up agenda

In its manifesto in 2019, the Conservative Party said it would be “levelling up every part of the UK”, which would involve investing in towns, cities and rural and coastal areas.

The blueprint also seeks to give these areas more control of how investment is made, levelling up skills using apprenticeships and a £3billion National Skills Fund.

The idea is people and communities which feel they have been left behind by neglect and underfunding get a chance to catch up.

And it couldn’t be more necessary than right now.

Figures reveal there are more than 123,000 people in the county, 40,000 of whom are children, who live in areas which are in the 20 per cent most deprived in the whole of the UK.

In Jaywick, the unemployment rate is more than 50 per cent.

To help tackle these inequalities, Essex County Council has revealed its strategy, focusing on supporting good jobs, a high-quality environment, educational attainment and skills, healthy and active lifestyles and promoting strong and resilient families and communities.

Level up - areas such as Jaywick will be given lifeline support under new plans from County Hall

A £500,000 Community Challenge Fund will provide access to grants for communities in the priority areas which include Colchester and Tendring.

The fund will empower leaders and residents to develop a vision for their community and take forward projects which will help them to achieve it.

A family-friendly employers charter will aim to promote flexible, family-friendly working arrangements to enable people to be able to balance their work, family and other caring commitments.

A study in the report highlights parts of Colchester and Tendring as “concentrated pockets of deprivation” in Essex.

More specifically, the plan lists the Haven, Elm and Golf Green wards in Tendring as having among the highest community needs in Essex.

A series of housing estates in Colchester were also listed as priority places for the county council’s levelling-up work, as well as the Tendring district as a whole.

Greenstead councillor Tim Young, who has campaigned for the Colchester estate to be given more support, said it still needs help “very badly”.

General Election Hustings at Mercury Theatre, Colchester..Tim Young Lab.

He explained: “It’s mainly jobs and prospects which are low, there is a lot of unemployment.

“We’ve suffered from deprivation for many years and so when we heard Greenstead would be receiving millions from the Estate Regeneration Fund last year, it had been a long time coming.

“We’ve got to make sure it’s the right investment to get what is needed in terms of attainment and skills. The schools here have also been fighting a losing battle and need help.

“Greenstead hasn’t always had the support it needs from the Government, but Colchester Council has always known and has done its best to support the estate.

“We’ve only really scratched the surface so far and what it really needs is multi-million pounds worth of investment to ensure the same opportunities many other places get can be accessed here.”

However, despite the challenges, there is still community spirit in abundance within the estate.

Just last week residents gathered as a bench was unveiled as a memorial to ice cream man Roy Coleman, who served the estate for more than 25 years.

There is togetherness in Greenstead, one which will thrive from investment, according to Mr Young.

On the other hand, however, Jaywick councillor Dan Casey says the Government needs to “put its money where its mouth is” amid claims it will level-up the area.

He said: “With about 54 per cent of residents here unemployed, it’s a place which needs money and fast.

“If we had someone who could organise something exciting for our beautiful seafront, this would help but it’s simply not going to happen.

“I’m a positive person, but I don’t know where this leg up is going to come from. We have five new houses here, which haven’t even sold yet.

“At the end of the day, work is a big issue here and there’s generations of people getting up in the morning without a job.

“Nothing tells me we are going to be levelled up, I just don’t see that happening at this moment in time. I’m hoping the future is bright, but really I feel we’ve got another five or ten years to go.

“If ever we need to be together its now. I’m worried where we are going, we haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet.

“If the Government says it is going to level up, I would say ‘put your money where your mouth is’.”

Masterplan - Essex County Council leader Kevin Bentley

Despite its prosperous £40billion economy, Essex County Council leader Kevin Bentley said: “In the most productive societies, talent is efficiently matched to opportunity, but that doesn’t happen all the time, everywhere, automatically.

“In focusing on levelling up, our interest is to spread opportunity, not to constrain it.

“In some parts of Essex and for some parts of our population it is more difficult to do that.

“That is not right and we are determined to change it in Essex.”