Laindon Centre Regeneration

Laindon Bench Project

We are delighted to be supporting the Laindon Bench Project. The community art project is asking members of the community to take self-portraits on a ‘friendship bench’ touring schools and community venues across Laindon.

The portraits will be displayed in a special exhibition on the hoardings at Sanctuary’s development site later this month.

Read more about the project and our support.

Remembrance Sunday

We were delighted to once again support the Laindon community as they gathered for their annual Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial.

This year saw an excellent turnout to mark this important date, with the local MP and councillors joining around 50 residents, along with Sanctuary’s Senior Development Manager Frankie Lack and Director of Customer Care Sam Wait, who laid Sanctuary’s wreath.

After a full day of civic Remembrance events, guests were served with hot drinks and refreshments, provided by Sanctuary.

Sam Wait also joined the Royal British Legion to lay a wreath at their community event in Purfleet-on-Thames a week earlier.

Laindon highways under way

Work is now under way on the High Road to change the road layout. The change in road layout is needed to provide access to the development site and build a new, larger Lidl supermarket.

Traffic management will be in place throughout the work to ensure access is always maintained for residents and businesses.

The working hours are 7.30am to 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 4pm on Sundays. Work is expected to take around nine months to complete.

We will try to minimise disruption and apologise in advance for any inconvenience that may be caused.

This is a big step forward for the local community and represents a much anticipated milestone for the project.

Planning update

We proposed some updates to the existing planning permission to Basildon Council for some changes to the regeneration scheme.

The changes included:

• reducing the height of the apartment blocks
• changing the materials on the front of the buildings
• improving the proposed landscaping on the site

Our amendments were approved, marking another major step in the project. We can now move forward with the design of the scheme.

Highway works - overview 

Highway works are taking place on High Road in Laindon to change the road layout so that the town centre regeneration can progress. The work is expected to take nine months. 

The road works are needed to provide access to the scheme and build a new, larger Lidl supermarket. They must be completed before we can start any building work. The works will reconstruct the carriageway, renew paving, and realign road junctions, among other upgrades. 

Traffic management will be in place, and as the work progresses, sections of the road will be reduced to one lane. Although we will do everything possible to reduce any disruption, there may be some traffic delays, noise and dust. The work will not affect access to nearby homes or shops. 

What’s happening with the highway works this month? 

From the middle to the end of August, UK Power Networks will complete groundwork on the road and footpath on High Road to install new underground cables ahead of an electrical network upgrade.  

Contact us 

Please do get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. 

We have now signed a section 278 agreement (the legal agreement in place to start the road works) with Essex County Council. These works will start in August. The change to the road layout is required to provide access to the development site and build a new, larger Lidl supermarket.

Read about the Highway works accelerating at the Laindon Town Centre Regeneration

We are working with Essex County Council’s highways department to put the legal agreement in place to start the road works, which are required as part of the scheme.  

We have relocated the site CCTV to ensure that the site is secure and keep local people safe.

We have also started site clearance works, which are needed before we can proceed with the main scheme.

We are continuing to replace the site hoarding, focusing on the area around the wall memorial, having listened to feedback from local people.

New hoarding is being erected around the site, and enabling and clearance, which started in December last year, are continuing.

We have put the required utility diversions in place.

We are also undertaking extensive survey work and site assessments to update the site's plans.

We are still updating the plans for the site, so these can be submitted to Basildon Council before September 2024.  Having explored options to increase the number of flats on the scheme, we have reverted to the original number of flats and houses proposed for the scheme. We have simplified the design to make construction faster, allowing us to deliver the scheme more quickly for the community.

Following consultation events with local residents and businesses, we’re updating the plans for the site, so these can be submitted to Basildon Council in summer 2024.  

We have also started site clearance works, which are needed before we can start the main build.

We are exploring options to increase the number of houses on sites, to replace flats. This is based on feedback from local people on their housing needs.

We held a groundbreaking ceremony on December 15 at the Laindon regeneration site, attended by local MPs and councillors to mark the beginning of the project.

The elected representatives were given a tour of the site and viewed plans for the new development, providing 205 homes for social or affordable rent and ownership options.

Councillor Andrew Baggot, Leader of Basildon Council, said:

“This is very exciting news for residents of Laindon who have waited patiently for decades for this scheme to be delivered. This is a new start for residents and I look forward to being updated on progress.”

We have used your feedback to develop proposed plans for the scheme. In December, we held two drop-in public consultation events to get your feedback on these plans.

The proposed development will deliver new, affordable, and high-quality housing, along with local shops that will include a larger Lidl supermarket and units for local retailers. 

There is also an option to improve the existing medical center and provide managed parking. 

The development will also provide a suitable setting for the war memorial and the historic Laindon fountain.

View the proposed Laindon regeneration plans.

Sanctuary announced in March it was acquiring Swan Housing Association, and that we would progress the Laindon Centre regeneration. 

We held two community events so you could have your say.

Almost 500 people attended community events held at Laindon Community Centre and Paddocks Community Hall on Thursday, 27 July. Members of Sanctuary’s project team were on hand to listen to residents’ views and talk to them about Sanctuary’s initial ideas for the scheme.

Displays showed several different options for the site, all of which delivered a mixture of new housing, shops, and a new health centre/GP surgery.

Sarah Brind, Sanctuary’s Head of Development – South, said:

“It was great to meet with the community in Laindon and I’d like to thank all those people who came along to hear our ideas and share their thoughts.

“We know how important this project is to the local community and we are absolutely committed to getting the regeneration back on track and delivering results that Laindon and the wider borough of Basildon can be proud of.”

View the displays and information from the event (PDF 1.58MB).

We have now signed a section 278 agreement (the legal agreement in place to start the road works) with Essex County Council. These works will start at the end of this month. The change to the road layout is required to provide access to the development site and build a new, larger Lidl supermarket.

Read about the Highway works accelerating at Laindon Town Centre Regeneration