CONTEXT 175 : MARCH 2023 41 EAST ANGLIA COAST structural damage. Unlike other plotland areas, Jaywick was not subsequently totally rebuilt and suburbanised. The ratepayers continually lobbied for flood defences to which they would contribute financially (although the same flood defences covering the neighbouring Butlins holiday camp were fully funded by the local authority), and doggedly held out for the right to keep the Brooklands and Grasslands areas as they were, but with facilities funded by the council. They continually urged for the ‘town-planned’ section of the estate to be fully adopted by the CUDC. Amid the wrangling over provision of services, Clacton’s councillors were not always unsympathetic to the Jaywick ratepayers; some councillors had good relations with the Stedman family and saw Jaywick in a more positive light. This was at a time when Jaywick still attracted large numbers of holidaymakers to the Tendring district, whose contribution to the local economy was clear. By the 1970s the Brooklands and Grasslands sections had entered the stalemate situation that still exists. An attempt by the CUDC in 1971 to compulsorily purchase remaining sections that had not become ‘suburbanised’, on the grounds that they were ‘dilapidated and insanitary’, failed completely. A Department of the Environment inspection concluded that, although the housing was substandard, the local authority had no right to force out the community. It went on to criticise the council for its failure to provide water and drainage, recommending that the area be upgraded. Since then, although some parts of Jaywick followed the pattern of plotland models such as Canvey and Laindon (and the ‘bungalow town’ models of Peacehaven and Shoreham) changing from resort to suburbia as holidaymakers have become residents or retirees, the Brooklands and Grasslands sections have stubbornly refused to conform. Largely residential now, they uniquely maintain the physical appearance of their former holiday chalet past, albeit in a dilapidated state. The local authority, now Tendring District Council, has locked down any further development that does not conform to strict guidelines, including flood protection measures and, by way of a Section 106 legal agreement, a contribution towards regeneration. The council and the residents are now unlikely to alter that which remains. If legislative control failed, why did this section of the Jaywick Sands Estate not simply eventually succumb to redevelopment or suburbanisation? First, the powerful and well-organised ratepayers association was never really intimidated by the CUDC; it generally seemed to prevail in most of the key issues, particularly with the threat of compulsory purchase. Second, areas surrounding the estate had firmly established resort status. Unlike Canvey, whose resort status had diminished, despite the appearance of two caravan sites, these areas now had numerous caravan and holiday camps, and a tourism-based local economy. It is plausible to argue that this helped keep the lobby for the preservation of Jaywick’s resort status (although fading and in decline) substantial enough to see it through. Sean O’Dell is a senior lecturer in contextual studies and social history at University Centre Colchester. His research interests include the East Anglian river navigations, the holiday resorts of the north Essex coast, and post-war working-class tourism and consumerism. The derelict former Mermaid Inn at Jaywick Sands seen before it was damaged by fire and finally demolished.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=