LONG-awaited plan for a major new leisure complex in Southend have been submitted.

Four years ago Southend Council struck a deal with Turnstone Estates to allow the developer to build a £50million leisure centre on the Seaway car park.

It is hoped the centre will create 500 new jobs and boost the town centre’s economy by £15million-a-year.

The deal relied on planning permission being approved by Monday but the application was only submitted last week and could take months before councillors vote on whether to approve the plans.

However Southend Council confirmed it is still willing to abide by the original deal claiming it would be “unreasonable” to try and renegotiate now.

The developers will pay the council £282,000 per year as part of a long term lease, however critics claim the income from the car park currently exceeds £600,000 per year.

Further concerns have been raised over the loss of parking spaces.

The existing car park provides 660 spaces but a letter sent to councillors and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service says this will be slashed to 555.

Tim Deacon, director at Turnstone Estates, admitted there had been “a few delays” in submitting the application but they have increased the number of parking spaces from the 480 in their initial proposal.

He said: “Most visitors to Seaway Leisure will be from the local area with 70 per cent of local seafront visitors already arriving by non-car modes of transport.

“Moreover, as visitors to Seaway Leisure will also link their trips to the town centre and seafront, usually at a time when shoppers will head home, the additional demand is lower than people may think.

“It is clear the current Seaway car park is generally underused, with studies showing that on average parking demand exceeds on-site supply on just 40 days of the year when the sun shines.

“On these occasions, our surveys demonstrate that there is plenty of capacity in other nearby car parks, totalling over 2,000 spaces.”

Paul Thompson, chairman of Southend Seafront Traders’ Association, called the reduction in parking spaces “absolutely ridiculous” and a “complete disaster” for Southend which he claims needs more parking not less.