Basildon Cabinet takes a Local Plan judicial review in private on 15 October and adopts a new animal charter. Plus why leisure centre visits fell 9.9%.
Basildon Council’s Cabinet will discuss a judicial review over the Local Plan on Thursday 15 October. The item will be taken in private, with the press and public asked to leave.
It is one of two council meetings in the week from Monday 12 October. The other is the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on Tuesday, which will look at the council’s draft plan for the next two years and at a year in its leisure centres. A General Purposes meeting due on Wednesday 14 October has been cancelled, the council’s meetings calendar shows.
Tuesday 13 October: Overview and Scrutiny Commission
7pm, St George’s Suite, the Basildon Centre. Agenda and papers.
The council’s new plan. Councillors will scrutinise the draft Corporate Plan for 2026 to 2028. It is the first since the new administration took over in May, and is called “Building a Better Basildon”. It has six priorities:
- restoring financial strength and stability
- creating homes and opportunities for residents
- an excellent housing repairs service
- leading regeneration across the borough
- building a safer borough with communities
- creating “the best council that works for residents”
The plan then goes to full council for approval.
A year at the leisure centres. The annual report on the leisure contracts says the three council centres had 1,836,306 visits in 2025/26. That is 9.9% fewer than the 2,037,197 the year before. All three are run by Everyone Active.
| Centre | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basildon Sporting Village | 1,495,840 | 1,292,286 | down 13.6% |
| Wickford Swim and Fitness Centre | 290,020 | 279,203 | down 3.7% |
| Eversley Leisure Centre, Pitsea | 251,337 | 264,817 | up 5.4% |
The report puts the drop at the Sporting Village down to its pool. It closed on 1 April 2025 for a new movable floor in the 50-metre pool and new changing room flooring, and reopened on 20 September 2025. The Wickford fall is “likely” down to competition from other gyms with cheaper memberships, the report says.
Other figures in the report:
- 35,694 school swimming lessons for Key Stage 2 pupils across the three centres, the most of them (14,340) at Wickford
- more than 32,000 visits to the new padel courts at the Sporting Village
- 460,753 visits to the Sporting Village from April to July 2026, up 19.6% on the same months of 2025
Even after the fall, the centres beat their contract target of 1,362,184 visits by 34.8%.
Help with home adaptations. Councillors will also see a draft Disabled Facilities Grants policy. These grants pay for adaptations, such as stairlifts and accessible washing facilities, for disabled people in private homes. The draft says:
- the legal maximum grant is still £30,000, a figure set in 2008
- the council may add a discretionary top-up of up to £40,000 where that is not enough
- work costing £15,000 or less could be paid for without a means test, if an occupational therapist has assessed it as needed
- a relocation grant of up to £10,000 could help someone move to a home that suits them better
The council’s Cabinet work programme lists the revised policy for a decision in November.
Local health services. The NHS integrated care board and the hospital trust will give a presentation on the move to digital patient communication and access.
Thursday 15 October: Cabinet
7pm, St George’s Suite, the Basildon Centre. Agenda and papers.
A new animal welfare charter. Cabinet is asked to adopt an Animal Activity Licensing Policy and Animal Charter for 2026 to 2031. It covers how the council licenses dog breeders, kennels, catteries, home boarders, pet shops and riding schools. The council’s Licensing Committee backed it on 17 September.
The consultation drew 31 responses. Dog breeding got the most detailed comment, the report says. Two changes were made to the policy itself:
- a section on sharing intelligence with the police, the RSPCA, vets and other councils to target enforcement
- a statement recognising the role of reputable animal rescue and rehoming groups, which the council does not license
Officers also recommend, without changing the policy, that the council:
- publishes a register of licensed dog breeders and their star ratings
- sets up a dog breeding guidance page
- makes it easier to report puppy farming and illegal breeding
- considers publishing yearly enforcement figures, subject to resources
Planning appeals. A report on a “planning appeal budget request and decision framework” is listed as a paper to follow. It had not been published by Saturday 10 October.
Wickford Co-op site. The draft minutes of the last Cabinet, up for approval, name Lidl as the supermarket in talks for the empty former Co-op site. Our report has the detail.
Lake Meadows parking. The meeting will also note the decision on the Lake Meadows car park in Billericay, which we covered in September.
In private: the Local Plan. The last item is listed as “Judicial Review: Local Plan”, with the paper to follow. The agenda says the public and press may be excluded because it involves exempt information. The papers do not say who is bringing the claim or what it is about, and we will not guess. If Cabinet publishes a decision, we will report it.
Coming up
Two full council meetings are listed for the evening of Monday 26 October. A councillor told the 7 October Planning Committee that a motion to withdraw the draft Local Plan goes to an extraordinary meeting that night. Neither agenda had been published by Saturday. Our Local Plan explainer has the background.
What it means for you
- You can go along. Both meetings are open to the public, apart from the private Local Plan item. Each agenda page also has a “View the webcast” link.
- If you need a home adaptation, the draft grants policy is not in force yet. Under the draft, works still need an assessment by Essex County Council’s occupational therapy service.
- If you are buying a puppy, check the breeder holds a council licence. If the register is published as officers recommend, it will show each licensed breeder’s star rating.
Have your say