The Local Sustainable Transport Fund

The Department for Transport has awarded Southend Borough Council £4.82m in the first tranche of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

The programme is designed to continue and boost the promotion and development of sustainable travel started through the Local Transport Plan and the Cycle Southend project.

Southend's programme is supported by a number of other funds and partners including:

• European Union (EU Interreg Programme)
• Developer Contributions
• Train Operator and Network Rail Investments
• Local Transport Plan funding
• Sustrans Charity
• Business support including Keymed
• Community and Voluntary support

The main objectives of the programme are to:

1. Create economic growth and revitalise the economy 
2. Reduce carbon emissions and help tackle climate change

The Programme will involve working in partnership with service providers and communities to identify the right solutions to meet the economic and environmental challenges we are all facing.

The key economic and transport issues that Southend is currently facing are:

• A congested highway network with long journey times which could discourage new businesses and investment;
• A high proportion of journeys made by car are less than 5 kilometres;
• A higher than average number of unemployed people;
• Uncertainty over future employment levels in both the private and public sector;
• Higher levels of vacant office space in the town centre;
• Some parts of the town suffering from high levels of deprivation;
• Congestion has a detrimental impact on the air quality and also discourages people from walking and cycling.