There is so much wrong and so many missed opportunities in the plan they are too numerous to list here.
The main ones are:
No provision has been made for roads to go underground or on to flyovers to remove them from pedestrians.
The concept of 'Retail Circuits' has been shown in American studies to promote 'Looking' but not 'Spending' Southend needs a retail environment where people spend not look.
People who shop carry bags, and prefer to put them in their vehicles to continue shopping or indulging in other leisure activities. Very poor provision has been made for car parking close to new retail shops.
Park and ride has been shown only to work in Historic Town where visitors are not doing any major shopping. If we use the Brighton example given by RSL we note that the shopkeepers were forced to provide free delivery of goods purchased in the High Street because people were reluctant to carry major purchases on and off public transport. On the same point a family visiting the beach would have at least one buggy and a variety of bags, to move them and a tired family on and off public transport would be a major undertaking and not a pleasant one.
The Seaway Carpark takes four hours to fill on a sunny Sunday afternoon and half an hour to empty in the evening. To move a mixed population of the young, the elderly and families at peak times will cause delays and would not be an experience that many people would want to repeat.
Herbert Grove residents believe that current plan based on the RSL proposals would ruin, rather than enhance the environment.