The former Basildon Urban District was created in 1955 by renaming the Billericay Urban District, which had been established in 1934.[1] The new name reflected the growth of Basildon, which had been designated a new town in 1949.[2]
The district was awarded borough status in 2010, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, with Mo Larkin being appointed the first mayor.[5][6]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13][14]
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Basildon. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2009 have been:[15]
The council has its headquarters at the Basildon Centre on St Martin's Square in Basildon Town Centre. The building was purpose-built for the council in 1989 at a cost of £17.5 million. It was formally opened on 14 November 1989 by Jack Cunningham, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. The building also contains the town's library.[18]
Since the last boundary changes in 2002, the council has comprised 42 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the 42 seats on the council being elected at each election. Elections to Essex County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[19]
Towns and parishes
There are nine civil parishes in the borough. The town of Basildon itself is an unparished area, as is a small area west of Wickford.[20] The parish councils for Billericay and Wickford are styled "town councils", whilst that for Great Burstead and South Green is styled a "village council". The civil parishes are:[21]
Constituencies within the Basildon district. Blue: Billericay and Basildon Red: Basildon South and Thurrock East Green: Rayleigh and Wickford
The district has three main urban areas: Basildon, Billericay and Wickford. Proposals to move Billericay and Wickford to other districts, leaving Basildon district more focused on the new town, were considered in the 1990s but rejected.[22]
The new town of Basildon grew to absorb four earlier settlements: Laindon, Basildon, Vange and Pitsea (from west to east) which have merged with other minor hamlets.
The remaining land, approximately half of the district is designated as green belt, has several sites of special scientific interest. Two are around Billericay and the remainder are to the south of Basildon New Town. There are also wildlife areas of varying sizes around most of the district, except in the East.
The source of the River Crouch is in the district. The river runs across the district, through Wickford before it leaves the district.
The district is linked well by road and rail with significant surrounding destinations, including London.
In the west of the Basildon district, the Dunton Plotlands is an area of small plots of land used as weekend cottages or smallholdings inhabited during the mid twentieth century.
Basildon District is a prosperous business location and has in recent years seen significant inward investment and jobs growth. Throughout Basildon District there are major developments planned estimated to total nearly £2 billion. These include:
The regeneration of Basildon, Wickford, Pitsea, and Laindon Town Centres
A new Sporting Village and improvements to playing pitches and sports facilities throughout the District to make Basildon the Centre for Sport in South Essex. The sporting village is expected in 2010, and is being highly sought after as an Olympic training base for one of the top teams, including the Russians. Its combined benefits, of having some of the top facilities so close to London, including one of the few Olympic (50m) size pools in the UK, will make it a true asset to whatever team(s) use it.
The creation of a health and education research centre near Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital and FE College
Investment in the Basildon Enterprise Corridor, the largest business area in the Thames Gateway outside London, home to 45,000 jobs and over 5,000 businesses, including Ford, Selex, Visteon, Case New Holland, First Data Europe, International Financial Services Limited, RBS, and Starbucks
The creation of one of the largest wetland nature reserves in Europe in the Thames Marshes by the RSPB, Land Restoration Trust, Basildon District Council and Veolia
A strategic review of the District's housing, with investment in housing estates such as Craylands, Five Links and Felmores to create first class places to live
Coordinating and promoting this programme of investment is the Basildon Renaissance Partnership which was set up in 2003 by Basildon District Council. Its partners also include the East of England Development Agency, English Partnerships, Essex County Council, and the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership with support from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The BBC noted the council had decided to sell for £1 a plot of land it bought next to the golf course for £1m in order to build a 4 star hotel. The Conservative leader described the sale as doomed to failure.[23]
Three primary routes are within the district. The A127 goes through its centre, the A13 goes through the south-east at Pitsea. Both these primary routes connect the district with Greater London and Southend-on-Sea. At Bowers Gifford at a terminus of the A13's primary status there is a junction with the beginning of primary status for the A130 with runs along a small section of the western boundary of the district. The A130 connects the district with Chelmsford. The A129 is the major road link between Billericay and Wickford, which are linked via A-Roads to the urban area of Basildon, Pitsea and Laindon by the A176 and the A132, respectively.
^LGCE. Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of: Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester Upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin. December 1995.
