Basildon Council cancels meetings and closes activity centres

Basildon Council has announced further amendments to services and activities as it continues to prioritise its work to support those most vulnerable in the community and most at risk from the impact of coronavirus.

Council Leader Councillor Gavin Callaghan said:

“I want to reassure people that Basildon Council is prioritising support for vulnerable individuals and businesses.

“We are making decisions each day to balance the needs to maintain essential services and support those most in need, while following public health guidance to protect the public and staff against infection from coronavirus.

“Inevitably though, given the scale of the public health challenge we are facing, we are being forced to change or close some services for a period.

“We are working hard to be ready to swiftly deliver the support for individuals and businesses announced by the government and are standing by for further guidance to allow us to act on this.

“Council staff are identifying those most in need and maintaining regular contact with them and we are making sure we are paying all our suppliers immediately on invoice so that we do not add to their cash flow problems.

“Clearly government advice is emerging daily and we will continue to keep people informed as the situation develops.”

Service update:

Waste and recycling services are continuing as normal.

Emergency repairs and maintenance for council tenants together with external works that do not require access to individual homes will continue as normal. Non-urgent planned works to homes will stop from the end of this week.

The customer service centre at the Basildon Centre will be closed temporarily on Saturday mornings. It remains open from 9am to 5pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 10am to 5pm Wednesday.

The following community facilities will be affected from Friday 20 March:

• Council-run activity centres (George Hurd, The Place and Laindon Day Centre) will close
• Council-run community centres will close to bookings, but will remain open for pre-schools while schools remain open
• The Place, Pitsea will close to customers. Services for vulnerable people operating from the Place, such as the food bank, will continue
• Facilities at Wat Tyler Country Park will close but the park will remain open
• Bowls centre in Gloucester Park will close.

Council meetings will be cancelled from next week (starting from Monday 23 March). The council will be making arrangements to ensure that urgent decisions are taken by a cross-party group of councillors and more detail on this will be issued in due course.

The council will continue to follow government guidance and make any necessary amendments to the services it delivers and how they are delivered as appropriate. To keep in touch sign up for email updates at www.basildon.gov.uk/keepintouch.