Away from the bullshit of the artwashing we’ve seen in the town centre, it’s bleeding obvious to anyone living in Basildon or visiting the town centre that much of it has been allowed to crumble as a precursor to letting the developers come in to level it and then stamp their bland, corporate vision on the town.

Many thanks to Our Town! – Basildon Against Artwashing And Gentrification for permission to reproduce their Facebook post below and use their photos of Basildon crumbling away in our graphic above:)

These are shots from just one small area of Basildon town centre, last week.

They can organise people to come in and paint murals? When they can’t tackle shit like this?

Is it just me or is it a total insult they any of those in control think this is acceptable for us to live/shop/eat in.. yes some of this is directly over your head, when you sit outside the cafes eating.. in this sort of squalor?

Why is it acceptable? It isn’t. It is a total piss-taking disgrace!

Have a walk down Billericay high street and see if you can see anything like this.

Why would we be painting murals and yet we can’t fix this? Any more proof needed that the process of artwashing into a process of gentrification has begun.

While I was taking the photos TWO people walked past me and commented on the disrepair and filth. Some of it is actually dangerous – a risk of injury and other health risks.