Brentwood High Street revamp 'too slow'

DELAYS to the £3m redevelopment of Brentwood High Street

have been blasted – on the eve of a major policy summit.

A key campaigner has accused planners of being “slower than

a tortoise”.

And he claims that the scheme has rumbled on for so long –

more than five years – that the public has lost interest.

Save Brentwood Action Group secretary Gerry Bender said: “A

nice picture of a tortoise would sum it up. In fact a tortoise

would probably move faster.

“It is slow – incredibly slow. In Romford they have built a

new hospital, knocked the old one down and built seven blocks

of flats in less time than it has taken us to get a junction

improvement, traffic calming measures and the other High Street

improvements.”

Mr Bender aired his views as the first signs of real

progress came to fruition:

●A demolition notice has been served on the Sir Charles

Napier pub to allow for a new slip road.

●And Brentwood council is poised to establish a new steering

group to help speed up the improvements as part of a longer

vision.

At the annual meeting of Brentwood Town Centre Partnership

last week, highways officers from Essex County Council and

Brentwood council said the scheme was progressing through its

final legal stages.

They also revealed they were close to completing the final

designs which will be shown to stakeholders at a meeting at

Brentwood Town Hall on Thursday June 26.

But Mr Bender says the improvements have been so long in

coming that residents have lost all enthusiasm.

He said: “They said it is taking so long because of the

legal thing. But wouldn't you have thought the acquisition of

rights would have happened at the beginning of the process

rather than at the end?

“I think what has held it up is a complex issue. There have

been a lot of personnel changes at Brentwood council. With our

new relationship with the county council and sharing Joanna

Killian as a chief executive, you would have thought that she

would have seen this as a high priority. If we haven't got the

ear of the county council then Brentwood's chief executive and

Essex's chief executive have a communication problem!

“I think the enthusiasm of local people has waned because of

the length of time this has taken.

“If it were all completed tomorrow Brentwood would be a

significantly improved town geared up for the future.”

ECC yesterday said plans for the Charles Napier junction and

High Street improvement were at an “advanced stage”.

ECC cabinet member for highways and transportation Cllr

Norman Hume added: “The scheme is currently progressing through

its final legal stages and it is hoped all outstanding issues

will be resolved soon.

“ECC are continuing to work with the local community and all

stakeholders are being kept continually informed.

“The scheme will include pedestrian friendly features,

divert much of the current traffic away from the existing High

Street and significantly improve the street scene.”

EDITOR'S COMMENT: p26