Jaywick is a seaside village in the Tendring District of Essex some 2 miles west of Clacton-on-Sea.  It was constructed in the 1930’s as a holiday resort for Londoners but over time has become one of the most deprived areas of the country. 

The land was originally a combination of fields and salt marshes and was generally impractical for agricultural use. It was purchased by the entrepreneur Frank Stedman in 1928 to provide low cost and affordable holiday homes to working-class families and became a popular holiday destination throughout the 1930s. After the Second World War, a shortage of housing meant the properties gradually became permanently inhabited.  Many of the holiday homes were never designed for long-term residence and are now in a state of disrepair.

In July 2015, the Jaywick Forum commissioned Jim Boot, Freelance Community Planner and PFR Consultant, and Margaret Wilkinson from Planning for Real® to help them develop a Vision and Action Plan for Jaywick. The process that Jim and Margaret adopted had to be very visual in order to engage residents, including those traditionally “hard to reach”. Between August and September they attended a series of events and activities around Jaywick meeting and talking with residents. To make the process eye-catching and fun, they recorded residents’ views on:

• What they liked/was working well in Jaywick using cut out ‘tops’,
• What they disliked/needed improving with a pair of ‘pants’
• And their visions or ‘dream’ bubbles for the future

Approximately 350 residents took part, and a further 50 residents expressed an interest in being kept informed and joining a two day Jaywick Future Conference later in the Autumn, eventually fixed on Friday 13^th and Saturday 14^th November.

This first stage of work resulted in the production of a document called the Jaywick People’s Profile.

At the Jaywick Future Conference (the facilitated Workshop held in November) Jim and Margaret worked with local residents and stakeholders to develop a Vision for Jaywick for the next 10-15 years (what Jaywick will feel/be like in 2025-30) and an Action Plan on how to get there. The two-day event was split into the following:

• Review the past via a timeline
• Explore the present via the people’s profile
• Visioning
• Identify common ground – choosing a favourite/favoured vision
• The priorities, projects and actions that will deliver the vision

The Vision for Jaywick is that by 2025

“Jaywick Sands will have a beautiful beach with good facilities and activities, good quality well-maintained eco-housing, secure sea defences, clean streets and pavements. Also: jobs, a supermarket, water sports and a lifeguard station.”

The plan included a number of shorter and longer term measures including:

Shorter term actions

• A small grant scheme or community chest to support community groups
• More reporting by residents of anti-social behaviour/crime to ensure adequate levels of policing
• Create Happy Club where all people will have a voice to be heard
• Promotion of ‘Jaywick Sands’ and ‘Take Pride in Jaywick Day’
• More litter picking and patrols
• Improve appearance/security of Sunspot site

Medium to longer term actions

• A supermarket in Brooklands (possibly on Sunspot site with flats as enabling development)
• Flood resilient housing – including self-build
• Landlords taking greater responsibility for the appearance and quality of their properties (possibly through enforcement measures)
• Increased beach facilities; life-guards, toilets, showers and water-sports
• Employment and self-employment opportunities
• Measures to address sale of alcohol and support for those with addiction

The final Vision and Action Plan for Jaywick report was published after an exhibition on 28^th November which brought together the Peoples’ Profile, Vision and Action Plan.

The work was commissioned, and is owned, by the Jaywick Forum on behalf of the residents of Jaywick and was funded by the Big Lottery.

What has happened since

Progress has already been made in relation to the Happy Club, re-branding the area as Jaywick Sands; security at the Sunspot site; and in improving the appearance of the sea-wall.  A new project is underway to develop a community café, and an application has been made to the Rank Foundation to support the Community Chest.

« Top of the page