The evidence exists. Southend won’t show you.

Two councils commissioned the same consultants to assess the same Green Belt, using the same methodology. Rochford has published its assessment. Southend’s was completed on 1 April 2026, paid for with public money, and has not been published.

What Southend commissioned

The Council’s own contract notice explains why the study was needed: earlier Green Belt studies predate the revised National Planning Policy Framework of December 2024 and the updated Planning Practice Guidance of February 2025, so a further assessment was necessary, in the Council’s words, “to inform the plan making process”.

What the same consultants found next door

In July 2026 Rochford District Council published its equivalent assessment as a draft: 89 pages, prepared by LUC. It confirms, at paragraph 1.5, that the Southend study exists:

“LUC has also prepared a revised Green Belt assessment for Southend. The two studies will be undertaken using the same methodology to ensure consistency across the study areas.”LUC, Rochford Green Belt Assessment (draft), July 2026, paragraph 1.5

Its findings, on the land around Southend’s own edges:

“The assessment identifies the gap between Rochford and Southend, and parts of Southend and Great Wakering, as particularly important.”Executive summary

“Most parcels are not identified as Grey Belt land.”Executive summary

The parcels immediately between Rochford and Southend are rated as making a strong contribution to preventing urban sprawl, to stopping neighbouring towns merging, and to protecting the countryside, and are not identified as grey belt.

Ratings from Table 4.1 of the published assessment (parcels SO3 and SO4). Read the full document on Rochford District Council’s evidence base. We do not reproduce the report’s maps here because they contain licensed Ordnance Survey mapping; the document itself contains seven maps showing these ratings in full.

The timeline

The decision comes before the evidence. Eleven councillors are set to decide on 26 August. The up-to-date assessment they and the public have never seen is due the day after.