A £140,000 plan to revamp an area of Old Leigh has been approved by Southend Council.

Strand Wharf has been earmarked for development for about ten years, but the final plans have now been given the green light.

Leigh Town Council submitted plans in August, but town councillors disagreed with Southend councillors over what type of paving should be used.

After a debate at a council meeting, the two councils agreed to use Pendle limestone.

Work is now due to start in September to avoid disrupting summer events.

Leigh town councillors said they were overjoyed with the news, which will see the “messy” wharf repaved in stone showing the outlines of the former fishing cottages, seating provided for an “open air classroom”

and soft LED lighting to mimic moonlight.

Council leader Richard Herbert said: “We’re all very pleased the scheme has been approved. It has some really innovative features from people in the local artistic and architectural communities plus a lot of input from residents.

“I think it’s going to be a big improvement to the area because Old Leigh is a working fishing village which also has a residential side and a tourist side. At the moment Strand Wharf is stuck in the middle of that beautiful area and is looking a bit of a mess.”

Carole Mulroney, who is a town and borough councillor in Leigh and a member of the Leigh Heritage Society, added: “This has been an aspiration of the town council for many years, but got bogged in highways issues. I am delighted planning permission has been given.”

Town councillor Pat Holden, who has also worked on the project, said she was hoping to arrange the area’s benches to be built with trees from Belfairs Wood as this was where much of the timber for ships built in Old Leigh’s once much deeper waters came from.

There have been concerns raised with how the project has been handled, however, with former councillor Mark Bromfield commenting that the last formal consultation made by Leigh Town Council was eleven years ago – which he said had denied “a new generation” having its say.

However, Mr Herbert dismissed these concerns, saying the council had made “no secret” of its work on the project.

He added: “We’ve had an ongoing dialogue with the public on this, it’s not some that’s been a secret, and to say this has been done without consultation is wrong.”