South Essex Joint Strategic Planning
Making South Essex greater by sharing resources, lobbying government and collaborating with business and residents.
South Essex 2050 - Taking forward our place ambition
The South Essex councils of Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Rochford, Southend-On-Sea and Thurrock and Essex County Council are working together to make South Essex greater through sharing resources, lobbying government and collaborating with business and residents.
South Essex is uniquely connected to London, the UK and the world by road, rail, river, air and sea. It is a heartland of trade and the home of the entrepreneur, a place full of potential, where creativity, hard work, determination and pride are rewarded by choices in life.
The Leaders and Chief Executives of South Essex councils began a collaboration in 2017 to develop a long-term growth ambition that would underpin strategic spatial, infrastructure and economic priorities across the sub-region. The collaboration was underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2018 creating the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA).
The core purpose of ASELA is to provide place leadership for South Essex and deliver a vision for South Essex up to 2050, promoting healthy growth for our communities.
We are putting the emphasis on making the case very clearly to Government for the major infrastructure that will be absolutely essential to support our expanding and new communities across the region, whilst maximising job opportunities within a growing economy.
ASELA's work will help the councils meet the requirements of the Localism Act 2011, which places a Duty to Cooperate on local planning authorities and county councils (amongst other public sector organisations), requiring them to engage constructively, actively and on an on-going basis in the preparation of plans where this involves strategic matters.
Growth and Recovery Prospectus, July 2020
In July 2020 the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) set out its intention to engage with central Government regarding the agenda for the South Essex region, how it can deliver, new jobs and better jobs, new transport infrastructure and accelerate the delivery new homes that are essential to support a growing economy.
The following Growth and Recovery Prospectus 2020 document summarises the proposals:
Future governance arrangements
The Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) have recently initiated and commenced work to begin to consider and explore the most appropriate and effective future governance arrangements to deliver on this potential and shared ambitions.
The following preliminary review document produced by Shared Intelligence Limited for ASELA considers the various governance options:
The South Essex Joint Strategic Plan
Work on a Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) has begun to provide the overarching framework to implement the South Essex 2050 vision. The joint strategic plan will be a bold new blueprint for better infrastructure across south Essex and to boost housing and create skills jobs and training opportunities.
A Statement of Common Ground was published in June 2018 and is has been formally agreed by all partners, alongside an update to each authority's Local Development Scheme.
- South Essex Joint Strategic Plan - Statement of Common Ground - June 2018 (PDF) [917KB] (opens new window)
- Basildon Council - Local Development Scheme 2020-2022 (11th Edition) (PDF) [248KB] (opens new window)
South Essex Plan Sustainability Appraisal
The South Essex local authorities together with Essex County Council have commissioned consultants to undertake an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) for the South Essex Joint Strategic Plan. The Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) combines a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Preparation of a Scoping Report, addressing what should be in the SA/SEA forms an early stage of this process.
A draft Scoping Report of the IIA of the emerging South Essex Plan has now been prepared, and in accordance with statutory requirements, the "consultation bodies" (Environment Agency, Historic England, Natural England) have been consulted for a five week period. Consultation on the draft Scoping Report of the IIA began on Friday 3rd July 2020, and closes on Friday 7th August 2020.
The Scoping Report has been made more widely available for information purposes. If you wish to view the document, please visit:
Further information and enquiries
For further information and enquiries see contact details below...
Planning Policy Team
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