Borough of Basildon

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]

Urban districts were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. A new non-metropolitan district called Basildon was created covering the whole of the former Basildon Urban District plus the small part of the neighbouring Thurrock Urban District which fell within the designated area for Basildon New Town.[3][4]

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]

Basildon Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor	Luke Mackenzie, Conservative since 26 May 2022[7][8]
Leader	Andrew Baggott, Conservative since 27 May 2021[9]
Chief Executive	Scott Logan since June 2018[10]
Structure
Seats	42 councillors
Political groups	Administration (26)   Conservative (26) Opposition (16)   Labour (10)   Independent (5)   Wickford Independents (1)
Length of term	Third of council elected three years out of four
Elections
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	2024
Meeting place
The Basildon Centre, St Martin's Square, Basildon, SS14 1DL
Website
www.basildon.gov.uk

Billericay, one of the towns of the borough

Wickford, one of the towns of the borough

Ramsden Bellhouse, one of the villages in the borough

Basildon Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[11]

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]

Basildon population pyramid

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]

The district is connected to London and Southend via two train operators: c2c and Abellio Greater Anglia. The route operated by c2c is the London, Tilbury and Southend line. Three principal stations of the railway line are in the district: Basildon railway station, Laindon railway station and Pitsea railway station

The former Great Eastern service (now Abellio Greater Anglia) operates on the Shenfield to Southend Line. Trains stop at Billericay and Wickford railway station. At Wickford, the Crouch Valley Line diverges from the Shenfield to Southend line.

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.

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Basildon.[24]

• Basildon District Home Page
• Basildon Renaissance Partnership
• Basildon Heritage
• Basildon Borough History