A DISAPPOINTED Thurrock Council leader, Councillor John Kent, said he is determined to see a partnership of councils and businesses from across south Essex continue into the future.

Mr Kent was speaking after Essex County Council pulled out of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership which also partners local authorities in Southend, Basildon, Rochford and Castle Point, in which he said County Hall’s withdrawal threatened the whole organisation.

Mr Kent said: “The partnership has actually been pretty successful over the years, and just recently Thames Gateway South Essex, as one of the four federated areas of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, managed to secure about £155 million worth of funding - that is 40 per cent of all the funding allocated to the LEP by government in the first round of the Local Growth Fund.

“Of that Thurrock was able to secure about £92 million, principally for A13 widening. So it’s clearly a partnership that works and clearly a partnership that is delivering.”

He added: “I am really disappointed that Essex County Council have signalled their intent to withdraw from the partnership, which in effect means that it, as it currently exists will cease to exist at the end of this financial year”.

A recent meeting between all the authorities excluding County Hall agreed that the partnership should try to contine post April 1.

Mr Kent said: “It’s Southend and Thurrock that are leading on the work to put that together, but all representatives there were keen work, and the partnership should continue in one form or another.

“Particularly strong were the businesses from south Essex who know that if we end up in a competition which is pan–Essex with Thurrock or Castle Point having to take their chances alongside Clacton or Chelmsford, or Harlow, the chance of us getting the help and the funding we need to get the jobs and promote the growth we all want to see in south Essex would be just that much more difficult.

“Businesses recognise that, we recognise that and that’s why we intend to establish a new partnership to deliver.”