A £50million proposed regeneration of Canvey is “under review”.

The scheme, headed by the Castle Point Regeneration Partnership, dates back to 2007, with Aquila House Holdings chosen as the preferred bidder in 2013.

The masterplan included reviving run-down shops, creating tree-lined public pathways, ensuring better links between the town centre and Canvey Lake, creating more youth facilities, and the introduction of two-way traffic and on-street parking in the town.

However, since then there has been little movement on the plans and no sign of work taking place.

A Castle Point Council spokesman said: “Aquila remain the preferred partner to develop Canvey Town Centre.

“The Castle Point Council is currently reviewing with Aquila how best to take forward plans to improve Canvey Town Centre in the light of current market conditions.”

Residents are broadly supportive of the need for regeneration of the schemes and the stalling of the plans has left many feeling frustrated.

Joe Mander, 19, of Gainsborough Avenue, Canvey, is keen to see the much-needed regeneration take place.

“I think it is something that Canvey would really benefit from,” he said.

“The town centre needs a bit of a spruce up as some of the shops do look a bit sad.

“It needs a facelift. “People usually come to the island for a specific reason - there is very little through traffic.

“Improving the town centre would really help to bring more people here.

“It is a shame that the plans haven’t happened sooner.

“However, you wouldn’t want to rush it as it is a lot of money and you want to get it right.

“Obviously, though from 2007 to now is an incredibly long time.”

He added that it was important that the rates in the shops were reasonable to allow more businesses to move in.

“If you are going to spend that money doing it up, it would be a waste of money if no one could then move in,” Mr Mander, a cameraman with ITN, added.