Press release: Priory Crescent seven years on

For: 6th June 2008

Dear Sir,

Seven years have now elapsed since your evocative headline "Bulldozers Battle over Priory Park" led to a massive and spontaneous public outcry and the formation of the Priory Park Preservation Society. In that time, the trees in Priory Crescent still stand, Councillors have come and gone, and the traffic in Priory Crescent seems no more congested than it was in 2001, despite the dire prediction of Councillors that "the town would die" if the road were not built.

In 2001, the price of oil was $24 dollars a barrel. Today it is almost 6 times that amount and the forecasts are that it could hit $150 a barrel by July. Workplace cycle sheds are full every day as Southend's workforce votes with its pedals. Yet Southend Borough Council stands steadfast, determined that their rump of a road will still go ahead, despite having no Government money with which to build it and the probability that in a year or two there will be rather fewer motorists around to use it.

When will they finally come to admit that this scheme has no future and that the time has come to scrap it?

Yours faithfully,

Peter Walker, Chairman, Priory Park Preservation Society

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