In accusing Southend Council of turning huge chunks of our town into a stainless steel hellhole Jackie Callow has hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head (June 17).
The City Beach project is just the latest, and, potentially, the most economically dangerous example of the misguided council policy to convert our town into some misty eyed utopian dream.
They honestly seem to believe Southend should be a swanky upmarket resort, and are determined to enforce their delusional vision upon the town, no matter the cost.
The council is forever quoting visitor numbers, yet seems incapable of understanding just why all those people come to our town.
We don’t want Prada-on- Sea, we want what Southend has always offered – good honest fun, a pint, a bag of chips and an ice cream in familiar well-loved surroundings.
Call us old-fashioned, but what is wrong with that? If the council’s vision is allowed to be fully realised then what we will be left with is dead palm trees on an empty, soulless seafront, devoid of visitors, more than a stainless steel hellhole – a pit of despair.
Patsy Link, Sheena Walker, Mark Sharp
Link House
Beechmont Gardens
Southend
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