Youth centre to be demolished... for yet another car park

The Focus Youth Centre, in Short Street, closed at the turn of the year in a move finalised by the previous Tory administration in charge of Southend Council.

Now, the Independent, Lib Dem, and Labour administration in charge of the authority is set to press ahead with tearing down the building after getting planning approval.

The site, which has been included in the Queensway regeneration zone, will become a temporary car park – the authority’s eighth in the town centre.

It follows the demolition of Queensway House in Essex Street, which was replaced with a car park, a move that has been branded a “waste of money”.

John Clarke, 59, of Leigh, said he spotted just four cars parked there last Saturday, and seven on Monday.

He said: “It seems like a pointless exercise to put in yet another car park into the town centre because the new one is hardly being used now.

“It was a waste of money on Essex Street and it will be a waste of money on this new one, too.

“The land could have been used for something else, but it seems anything more complex than a car park, the council can’t handle.”

Mr Clarke also said the exit of Essex Road on to Southchurch Road is dangerous, as lorries regularly block it.

There is a car park at the north of the Focus Youth Centre at the moment, and that will be extended under these new plans.

Independent councillor Martin Terry said he did not know anything about the youth centre’s demolition, but claimed groups had been looking for community facilities in the town centre.

Demolishing the building would save £150,000.

But he said: “I would say in defence of Essex Street, it has just been established, and once people get in synch with it, I’m sure it will get busier.”