A NEW, improved and expanded community centre for Wickford has moved a huge step closer with the agreement by Basildon Council to contribute up to £300,000 to ensure the project is affordable.

The funding was announced by Phil Turner, council leader at the budget setting meeting of full council last night.

The site of the current centre, run by Wickford Community Association, is wanted by Willows shopping centre owners, London & Cambridge Properties, for new commercial units and housing.

While the development being considered by London & Cambridge proposes to replace the library on the site and would result in payment to Basildon Council for the land, this would not be enough to fund the full costs of a new community facility.

Basildon Council has been in discussion with Wickford Community Association about replacing their facility with an improved and expanded building in nearby Nevendon Road recreation ground, next to a current, smaller council-run centre.

Council officers have also been looking at how funding from the development or disposal of two disused community facilities in Wickford – Park Lodge Hall and the Priority Club – could be added to the receipt from the Wickford centre site to pay for a better replacement facility. But until now, the project was not adding up.

So Basildon Council leader Phil Turner and councillor for resources, Stuart Sullivan, proposed the idea of using one-off money from the council’s reserves to break the logjam on the project.

Mr Turner said: “This is a bit of a financial jigsaw puzzle – a bit from here, some more from there and so on – and we could potentially have been chipping away at it for a long time.

“But it is really important that we secure private investment in Wickford with more commercial facilities and housing for people in the town centre and we get improved facilities for the community. So we have bitten the bullet and made funds available to get the project over the line.

“Officers can now work up proposals that are acceptable to the community association and bring them forward for planning approval. With this decision we can expect to see a new community centre in Nevendon Road recreation ground up and running by summer 2018.”

The investment was agreed by council at its meeting on Thursday, 23 February, as part of the budget report.