Basildon & district · Local news you can trust
293 high-risk fire safety fixes were overdue in Basildon council homes in June, and one tenant in two is satisfied. The first scorecard since the C4 grade.
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Basildon
Towngate Theatre Bids for £315,000 for a New Sound System
The Towngate Theatre is through to the final round for up to £315,000 of Arts Council money. Its 2008 sound system is failing; the full bid is due 23 October.
Remembrance
Remembrance Sunday in Basildon 2026: Sunday 8 November
Remembrance Sunday is 8 November 2026. Last year the borough held six services, from Billericay High Street at 10am to Laindon War Memorial at 3pm. Times.
Billericay
Billericay By-Election 22 October: Nominations Shut Friday
Ten electors forced a poll instead of a co-option. Billericay East votes on 22 October, and nomination papers must be in by 4pm on Friday 25 September.
Local Plan
Basildon Local Plan: Have Your Say by Tuesday Midnight
The Reg 19 consultation on 27,918 homes closes 11.59pm on Tuesday 22 September. Ministers ordered it, and it is the last chance before examination.
House prices
Basildon House Prices: Flats £10,307 Down Since 2023
Basildon's average hit £367,233 in July, up 0.6% while Essex fell. But flats are worth £10,307 less than in January 2023, and detached homes are down too.
Basildon
Basildon Claimant Count Up 95 in August to 4,640
Basildon's claimant count rose 95 in August to 4,640, the most of any Essex district. St Martin's ward is on 6.6 per cent, Billericay East on 1.8.
Basildon
Basildon Regeneration: Former M&S to Become Offices
The council's 22 September update sets the former M&S as public sector offices: consultants in October, consultation this winter, planning in spring 2027.
Council
Basildon and Thurrock Merger Withdrawn After Legal Advice
The government has withdrawn the March decision that would have merged Basildon with Thurrock in 2028, after updated legal advice. May 2027 elections go ahead.
Community
Herman In My Pocket: Basildon Hospital Author's Next Book
Pooligan, a second children's book written with the author's youngest granddaughter, is due in December. S.K. Grizzell works on Basildon Hospital's wards.
Community
Peaceful Place Basildon at 30: Appeal for 30 Firms
Basildon dementia charity Peaceful Place wants 30 firms to give £1,000 a year for three years. Two family carers made the second pledge. Party on 24 September.
Council
Basildon £100,000 Community Grants Open: Up to £5,000 Each
Basildon groups can apply for up to £5,000 from a new £100,000 fund. Every bid needs a ward councillor's backing, and the first panel sits in mid October.
Council
Basildon Council Reserves: £41m Could Fall to £1m by 2030
Basildon's own report says reserves would fall from £41m to £977,000 by 2029/30 if this year's £3.4m overspend and the budget gap come out of them.
Basildon was built as a new town after the war, on land between villages that were already there. Billericay and Wickford were not part of that plan and never joined it, and Laindon, Pitsea, Vange, Langdon Hills and Bowers Gifford were absorbed into it to different degrees. All of them now share one borough council and one set of decisions.
Basildon Today reports those decisions from the record: what is being built and where, what a licence permits, what the crime figures for your own area actually say, what homes are selling for. The council publishes the evidence and we go through it, with a link to the document on every fact we print.
Nothing here is guesswork. Every figure links to its source.