A SEAFRONT traders’ spokesman has criticised Southend Council for using taxpayers’ cash to develop a seafront car park.

The council bought the vacant gas works site on Eastern Esplanade for £7million, and will now spend up to £2million turning it into a car park to provide extra capacity for summertime visitors.

It will also partly compensate the loss of parking should the Seaway car park transformation into a leisure complex go-ahead as planned.

However Paul Thompson, 43, chairman of the Southend Seafront Traders’ Association, has questioned the council’s logic.

He said: “The council was never interested in buying that site but suddenly bought it because of the Seaway development so when that is being built we’ve got extra parking but why are the taxpayers footing the bill?

“The developers are going to make a significant profit out this deal so why aren’t they paying what it costs to turn that site into a car park? We do need extra parking, but the council seems to be going to extreme lengths to push the Seaway development through.

“If the developers are making so much profit why shouldn’t they pay for replacement parking while they are developing Seaway?”

Mr Thompson also questioned the need to build another car park - when one was already available at Seaway.

Council leader John Lamb hit back. He said: “We bought the gas works site for £7million and it will cost £1.5million to £2million to renovate the land and decontaminated it. I really get angry because the traders kept saying they wanted additional parking. How dare they criticise us over this? We’ve used or business acumen to deliver this properly.”

Mr Lamb added: “We couldn’t do this on Seaway because the deal on Seaway was already agreed.”

The Seaway development, a £50million leisure complex off Lucy Road, is currently behind schedule.

Developers Turnstone Estates was brought in by Southend Council to create the complex which hopes to include a cinema. There will also be a hotel, bars and restaurants.

It’s hoped the Gas Works car park will help ease the seafront parking problems, particularly in the summer months.

The 3.5 acre prime location gas works site was previously owned by Robert Leonard Estates who secured planning permission for a substantial residential, commercial and hotel development, but the work never commenced and the planning permission has expired.

The land, which has been unused for a number of years, could be used by he council for development in the future.