TROUBLED Thurrock Council could soon be cut down in size and responsibility if plans for a new giant South Essex council led by an elected mayor come to fruition.

Councils across the region are planning to join forces to create a new combined authority that will see oversee a huge shake-up of the way the area is governed.

Thurrock Council, which has found itself in the face of much internal and external criticism in recent months over its inability to manage big infrastructure projects, would be downgraded to deal with more local issues under the new plan – which is supported by its current Conservative-led administration.

Indeed, current council leader Rob Gledhill is chair of the Association of South Essex Local Authorities which has come up with the new scheme which its backers say will boost economic development by creating 100,000 jobs, more than 96,000 homes, and a raft of infrastructure improvements to public transport, education and health.

It would stretch along the whole of the north bank Thames estuary and cover, Thurrock, Basildon, Castle Point, Brentwood and Rochford.

Among its aspirations is a plan to overhaul public transport by making use of the region's proximity to the Thames. This could include a passenger river boat service that will connect Southend to Tilbury and London.

Cycle routes and footpaths would also undergo a major transformation with, the whole region becoming connected in order to reduce the need to travel by car. The aim to reduce car use also ties in with future strategies to improve the health of residents, as well as go carbon neutral by 2040.

A large portion of the new housing will also be built within new villages and towns that will each be designed with infrastructure in mind. This will include meeting the needs of the community with open green space, high speed internet, as well as schools and education facilities.

The development plan for the new authority estimates that building 96,000 homes in less than 20 years means 4,500 will have to be built each year and this will create 39,000 additional construction jobs. It will also mean up £31million extra for the councils from additional council tax income, along with business rates.

New businesses are also expected to be attracted to the region through plans to establish a 'freeport' – an area with little-to-no tax to encourage economic development.

While located within the UK, the freeport would operate outside of the usual tax rules and potentially allow businesses to avoid the usual tax requirements entirely.

The government has already laid out plans for 10 other freeports across the country once the UK leaves the EU. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they could create jobs in "left-behind areas" and Conservative MP Liz Truss has said they have the potential to create "thousands of jobs".

It is not clear where the councils hope to establish a freeport in South Essex but they are typically located at seaports and airports to allow businesses to import goods and re-export them with the usual tariffs.

The South Essex councils will individually discuss the plan over the next week with the aim of ultimately taking the ideas to central Government to request both funding and devolved powers that will allow them to create the combined authority.

Cllr Gledhill says: "This draft prospectus is another significant step forward for South Essex.

"The package we want to share with Government later this month is summarised in a draft South Essex prospectus, and includes an ambition to grow the region's contribution to the UK economy by £15 billion to help correct the decades infrastructure deficit and create 100,000 new jobs by 2050.

"We have already shared the benefits of working collaboratively with a successful bid for £4.4 million from Government to enable full fibre broadband infrastructure across South Essex helping providers to deliver some of the fastest connections in the country to residents and businesses."

He continued: "South Essex has been under invested in for decades yet still punches well above its weight when it comes to contributing to the national economy, innovation and growth. We will play a significant part in helping the UK economy to recover post COVID and that part will be further boosted by working much closer together."

If the authority is created each area will retain its local council, possibly with less councillors, and have jurisdiction over services like waste collection, highway repairs and community safety.

It is not the first time that Thurrock will have acceded planning and other major powers.

Historically the borough was governed locally through a number of smaller councils, Grays Thurrock Urban District Council, Purfleet Urban District Council, Tilbury Urban District Council, and Orsett Rural District Council. They operated local services with wider provision coming from Essex County Council and in association with a number of smaller, Thurrock parish councils.

In 1936 of the four district councils came together as Thurrock Urban District Council, an arrangement that lasted until the creation of the Thurrock District Council on 1 April 1974 under a nationwide shake-up of local government.

Essex County Council still had responsibility for major issues including education but in 1998, because it was felt Thurrock was growing fast and was not getting the direction it required from a wider-ranging authority the council received borough status, permitting the council to be known as Thurrock Borough Council. Thurrock Borough Council absorbed the powers of Essex County Council for its area, becoming a unitary authority.

However, in a forerunner to what could well be about to be repeated, the government analysed the performance of Thurrock Borough Council and felt it wasn't up to the job, particularly in regards to planning and regeneration and created the quango Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, which began its life in 2003.

It ran until 2012 – often coming into conflict with Thurrock Borough Council policies. While the Development Corporation had some successes, notably the High House Production Park and enabling London Gateway Port, it was generally felt to have failed and achieved little by way of two of its main goals – housing provision and transport instrastructure – two of the key targets of the newly planned council!

The Corporation, which had spent hundreds of millions of pounds, was scrapped in 2012 and its powers were absorbed back into Thurrock. Observers of local government may look at the latest development and see a very expensive wheel turning full circle again!

The new scheme was unveiled just hours after the call was made for senior officers of Thurrock Council to be held to account for a number of planning blunders.