Here’s yet another example of a local council not understanding the value of green spaces in a town and seeing them merely as potential sites for development: A sign that says campaign to save green space is still alive. The space under threat is Wick Green which is close to the town centre in Wickford. It’s none other than the esteemed leader of Basildon Council, Cllr. Gavin Callaghan who has seen fit to move that the land in question gets developed! Why are we not in the least bit surprised that Callaghan would be sticking his oar in?

The site was originally going to be sold to the Marston pub group who eventually withdrew their interest. Plans have now been mooted for a care home company to build a facility on it. All urban and suburban areas need open spaces and green lungs – Wickford is no exception. They offer somewhere to pause, sit and reflect. The problem is that pausing, sitting and reflecting don’t make any money for anyone whereas flogging the land to a developer does! This is where we’re at – in a society that puts money way above the basic human need for an occasional bit of peace and calm in green surroundings.

As you can see from the Basildon Nub News article linked to above, there’s some good news in that there’s a resident led campaign to save Wick Green and other spaces under threat in the town – they are Wickford Save Open Space. In an interesting development in getting the message out, they have a YouTube page here. We wish them and any other resident groups in the area we cover fighting to save their green spaces from the ravages of the developers aided and abetted by myopic councils every success:)