COMMENT by NEIL SPEIGHT, Editor Thurrock Nub News.

CAMPAIGNERS from across Thurrock and beyond are readying themselves for a protest set to take place on Wednesday, 1 March to try and persuade Thurrock councillors not to close the much-loved Thameside complex and its theatre.

The future of the complex, which houses Grays Library, Thurrock Museum and the theatre as well as public open areas, gallery space and offices, has been the centre of debate for several years.

It looked, up until the middle of last year, that a likely option would be that the complex – which the council has described as loss-making and unsustainable – would be handed over to a locally created community interest company who would run the building, initially with some cash support from the council.

That plan was scuppered on the brink of completion when a second bidder, Waltham International College, was introduced to the council and the whole process was delayed – allowing it to run slap bang into the car crash that was Thurrock Council's failed 'borrow to invest' policy'.

The catastrophic financial situation has put a dampener on virtually every bit of enterprise and community commitment in the borough.

Residents have – to put it in the vernacular – been shafted!

Shafted by the incompetence of the ruling Conservative group of councillors who refused – point blank – to even accept the possibility they were making a mistake. They damned the opposition benches and they damned the media – most particularly this writer who broke the initial story of the council's staggering borrowing and who has persistently been hounded and vilified by top Tories and senior officers. Most notably the now shamed and disgraced CEO Lyn Carpenter who twice attempted to ban me from asking questions.

On both occasions she had to eat her words and the bans were eventually lifted – though other media, most notably the talented Gareth Davies of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, had carried on the fight. When journalism gongs are given out this year, Gareth deserves a big shiny one round his neck.

Eventually, together in the media with pressure continuing from the opposition benches, we exposed the scandal that has unravelled since September last year when the cracks finally opened in the leaky roof that portfolio holder Cllr Shane Hebb had promised the council would fix – while the sun shines.

There is no sun shining over Thurrock now.

It's a damned council and a blighted borough.

The symbolic haunts of a flawed officer cohort who have returned to their leafy glades and mock Tudor mansions in Surrey and the like.

We council taxpayers are going to be forking out for decades while the directors that led the borough down Hades Lane have returned to the leafy glades and their mock Tudor mansions in Surrey and the like. Some still clutching very handsome monthly paypackets and pension top-ups.

A day of proper reckoning is still surely to come for them? We can only hope.

And some councillors, like the apologist sycophant Cllr Shane Ralph or the narcissistic Cllr Luke Spillman still believe they can walk through the valley of the shadow of catastrophe unscathed – frequently taking to social media to defend the indefensible. The portfolio holder for community has blamed everybody else but himself! Several times he has declared 'It's not my portfolio'. If the beating heart of community's art and culture isn't his portfolio then he should give back the 11 grand he gets paid for the responsibility!

Others, including council leader Cllr Mark Coxshall, largely keep their counsel - undoubtedly because they know the truth.

If I give anyone limited credit it is Cllr Coxshall.

Cllr Mark Coxshall and senior members of his cabinet. Is it now time to put the community' wishes ahead of a bid for personal salvation?

He is as culpable as the rest but he has taken some public responsibility. When his immediate job's done though, he too should fall on his sword. He is a consummate political player but he doesn't have enough chess pieces at his disposal to win this war. He may pick up the odd battle, but he and his ilk are damaged goods and they have to go in the end.

The meeting tomorrow is mainly about setting a budget that will see a 9.99 per cent tax increase for the ordinary householders of the borough.

The opposition lack numbers and unless there is a magical outbreak of courage and accountability from the back bench Tories that say one thing on the sidelines but waver obsequiously when they get on the pitch, the shameful increase will be levied.

The reality is it will make little difference. It will pump maybe a couple of million into a gaping hole where it will disappear without trace or impact.

It's a gesture.

What would be a bigger gesture would be those of our 49 elected councillors who will attend tomorrow's meeting showing true courage.

Putting their allowances on the line (the government could step in and stand them down) would be a small way of illustrating the contrition they have so far failed to show. Will we see true courage and honesty from the Tories? It's a long shot.

But if they can't bring themselves to bring down the edifice, created by their vanity, that is the whole council, is it asking too much that they at least stand up and save the Thameside?

Dozens, maybe even tens of dozens of ardent supporters of the Thameside will be on hand to air their views and to witness what they hope will be salvation for the borough's centre of culture, arts and community spirit.

Just like the thousands who have taken to the Thameside stage over the years, the spotlight is on the councillors. Each and every one of them gets a minimum of £9,200 a year to serve the borough's residents. It's time to start tap dancing and earn it with a show of courage.

The people of Thurrock need an indication from this council that they matter.

It's probably too much to hope that the ruling majority will have the guts to defy the government and say 'stuff your 9.9 per cent smoke and mirrors increase' but they could give us something.

Giving the Thameside back to the people may well only be a token gesture in many ways – and there is still no certainty that the community can make it work - but it would be one step in the right direction. Don't hold your breath, but you never know.

We who report will watch and bring the verdict to you tomorrow evening.