It fills me with horror to read (Dec 6) Basildon is to get “off-the-peg” buildings that have been used elsewhere.

The bus station in Chelmsford might function well for its needs, but to thrust something similar on us would make Basildon indistinguishable from any other regenerated town.

We don’t want sameness in any shape or form.

Basildon is in danger of being over master-planned and very infrastructure focused.

We should be looking at place-shaping in a more ad hoc and pragmatic way. We invest lots of money into public places, yet often the approaches that work the best are those that are considered to be operating at the margins.

The proposal of a walkway through Market Square joining the rail station with Gloucester Park gives the town a much needed thoroughfare, which can be made attractive with new shops, high class eateries, and be the main gateway to the proposed Basildon Crescent on the south side of the park.

But this area needs to be kept at a two-storey level, otherwise the town centre is in danger of becoming another “Shanghai”.

Vin Harrop
Rosslyn Road
Billericay