Southend city status bid will boost profile, council says

Southend is set to bid for city status

A successful city status bid will raise Southend's profile leading to huge investment, according to its council.

Southend Borough Council decided to "throw ourselves wholeheartedly" into the bid at a meeting on Tuesday.

The Labour-run authority said making the bid would not create a financial burden.

Leader Ian Gilbert said previous successful bids had seen Brighton and Chelmsford raise "their profile and encouraged investment".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the application will highlight events like Southend Carnival, the Estuary Festival and Southend Shakedown as key reasons why the seaside town should become a city.

Mr Gilbert said the government had "gone out of its way" to make the process "simple and uncostly".

"I do think that this is an opportunity for us to actually build on work that has already been ongoing in the town in terms of putting us on the map," he added.

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Council member for environment, culture, tourism and planning, Carole Mulroney, said: "Given the government's stance on this then I think that all of us should throw ourselves wholeheartedly into this.

"Southend is a fantastic place and we don't sing about it enough and we really should be shouting from the rooftops."