“Save Our Cliffs”

A WESTCLIFF-based heritage group are making urgent calls for works to preserve the scenic Cliff Gardens on the seafront, before they become totally irreparable.

 The Chair of The Milton Society, Andy Atkinson, has launched a petition highlighting how the once-genteel “jewel in the crown of Southend” designed to have serpentine paths and flower beds, has been subject to slippages, landslides and broken paths for decades.

 Mr Atkinson explained: “The Cliff Gardens have been under threat for some time. Slippage may be the constant background issue, but maintenance is minimal or non-existent.

 “Vermin are very evident and rough sleeping is a problem. Littering is another issue not always best managed.”

 One of the most notable concerns are the barriers sectioning off many of the paths of the garden, making them unusable for visitors and residents to enjoy.

 He added: “Persistent, slow ground movement has caused cracking to footpaths and displacement to steps with little or no repairs by our Council.

 “In fact, the Council have taken to placing barricades across pathways, preventing access. These have become more and more apparent over recent years and almost no remedial works have taken place.”

 A Westcliff resident, who did not wish to be named, commented: “It’s so often the way.

 “Important places get left to rot whilst money is spent on rubbish like the Southend illumination festival.

 “There is little care put into the enduring of our social spaces.”

Lydia Hyde, councillor for the environment, reportedly said: “What we want to do with the gardens is reopen it fully and get it to best use, I think the slippage aspects have led to and ended up with neglect.

“We have experience dealing with this at Leigh, so we’ve reapplied lessons from that to sort the Cliff Gardens. It is important for the Milton Society, but important for the seafront to get that jewel in the crown of Southend back.”

 Mr Atkinson is now calling on the council to ‘save our cliffs’ by “recognising their importance at the centre of Southend’s seafront and protecting the gardens, and improving short term maintenance and determining a long-term management strategy.

 “This should include repairs and the removal of the barricades, allowing full public access across all of the gardens.”

Mr Atkinson concluded: “We want the public behind the campaign and then hopefully the council can act and start to get something in place.”

Visit: change.org/p/save-our-cliffs-in-southend-on-sea.

Picture: Impassable – one of the blocked paths. Pic: The Milton Society

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