Battle lines drawn in Basildon: Part I
A bit of people power in Basildon last night.
An extraordinary council meeting called over proposals to sell off recreational land was so swamped by protestors it had to be abandoned.
The council wants to raise funds to pay for a sports village in Gloucester Park, including a prestigious 50-metre pool, which it hopes will be used in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
As more than 200-odd people crammed into the council chamber, the atmosphere very nearly turned nasty.
They had rather underestimated the size of the crowd.
When asked to leave by council chairman Mo Larkin because they were breaking health and safety rules, there were angry shouts of "no".
She then threatened to call the police to remove people.
One woman shouted: "I ask, why have a public meeting for all the areas in this small room?"
Parcels of recreational land earmarked for development include Pound Lane in Laindon and Felmores next to Northlands Park.
Finally Councillor Larkin called for a vote on an adjournment "because it has to be democratic", to howls of laughter.
So watch this space for round two ...
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
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