Press release: PPPS joins occupation of Cuckoo Corner

For immediate release

The Priory Park Preservation Society[1] is supporting campaigners from Parklife and SKIPP[2] in occupying Cuckoo Corner, following the Council's announcement that they are to start work on "Better Southend" Project 3 ahead of their original schedule. The project would add traffic lights to the roundabout at Cuckoo Corner and result in the felling of around 20 trees.

Elsewhere in the County, various attempts have been made to add traffic lights to roundabouts, and more often than not the lights have orange hoods put over them days after they are switched on because of the chaos they cause.

PPPS Chairman, Peter Walker, said "Southend Council can't leave well alone. A roundabout at Cuckoo Corner serves the travelling public far better than traffic lights possibly can. How can forcing all the traffic to stop for more than 50% of the time ever improve traffic flow? This scheme will waste millions of pounds of public money, cause a year's chaos and ultimately lead to failure because there are just too many cars trying to use our roads."

"I have to say that it looks as though Nigel Holdcroft and Anna Waite are trying to get revenge because they lost so much face over the Priory Crescent scheme. The current proposals demonstrate that they have broken the promises they made to Parklife in April last year."[4]

Notes to Editors

The Priory Park Preservation Society (PPPS) has, since it was formed in July 2001, been fighting Southend Council's plan to widen Priory Crescent because of the damage the scheme would do to the setting of Priory Park.

[1] http://www.ppps.org.uk/
[2] http://www.skipp-saxonking.org/
[3] http://www.southend.gov.uk/content.asp?section=453&content=12634
[4] http://ppps.org.uk/correspondence/Open_letter.pdf