All 19 applications registered in Southend in the fortnight to 25 September: 1,422 solar panels on the Short Street Post Office roof, fire-safety recladding at Hamlet Court Mews, a roof terrace on Eastern Esplanade.

Southend-on-Sea City Council registered nine planning applications in the week beginning 21 September and ten the week before (Southend-on-Sea City Council, weekly lists, Public Access). Most are house extensions and condition details. Three are worth a closer look: a large rooftop solar array in the town centre, cladding replacement on a Westcliff block, and two linked bids for balconies and a roof terrace on the seafront at Thorpe Bay.

The ones to know about

  • 1,422 solar panels on the Post Office roof, Short Street. A prior approval application seeks to install 1,422 monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules over the pitched roof of the Post Office building on Short Street, SS2 5BY (26/01219/PA52). Prior approval is a lighter process than full permission, so the council decides only on a narrow set of issues.
  • Cladding and fire safety at Hamlet Court Mews. At 14A to 14C and 15A to 15C Hamlet Court Mews, Westcliff, the application is to replace the glazed curtain walling on two three-storey projecting bays, remove the existing combustible insulation and replace the cavity material (26/01235/FUL).
  • A roof terrace and a balcony at 187 Eastern Esplanade. Two applications for the same house on the Thorpe Bay seafront: a second-floor rear roof terrace with an external staircase and privacy screening (26/01220/FULH), and a balcony with French doors to the front dormer (26/01221/FULH).
  • A takeaway’s store room becomes a flat, Westborough Road. At 363 Westborough Road, the rear part of the ground floor would change from takeaway storage to a self-contained flat (26/01225/FUL).
  • Fossetts Farm details. Cycle parking and refuse store details are submitted under the consent for the land at Fossetts Farm, Sutton Road (26/01234/AD). We covered the 221-home contract for the site earlier this month.
  • Ocean House, Marine Parade. Materials, drainage and flood-risk details for the Ocean House scheme at 40B to 42 Marine Parade (26/01237/AD).
Bar chart of the 19 applications registered in Southend in the two weeks beginning 14 and 21 September 2026 by type: 5 householder, 4 full applications, 4 condition details, 2 amendments, and one each of prior approval, listed building consent, telecoms notification and tree works.
Chart by Southend Today
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The full list, by area

Southend and the seafront

  • Post Office, Short Street: 1,422 solar panels, prior approval (26/01219/PA52)
  • Ocean House, 40B to 42 Marine Parade: materials, drainage and flood-risk details (26/01237/AD)
  • Royal Mansions, 15 Royal Terrace: listed building consent to vary conditions on approved plans, roof materials, windows and dormers (26/01223/LBC)
  • Maini House, 90 to 92 Baxter Avenue: substitute drawings under an approved scheme (26/01222/AMDT)
  • 55 to 57 Queens Road: replace metal roller shutters on the side of number 57 with a glazed aluminium entrance door and louvred panels (26/01236/FUL)
  • Land at Fossetts Farm, Sutton Road: cycle parking and refuse store details (26/01234/AD)
  • 31 Petworth Gardens: rear, side and front extensions, a raised ridge and new dormers (26/01224/FULH)

Thorpe Bay and Shoeburyness

  • 187 Eastern Esplanade: rear roof terrace with staircase (26/01220/FULH) and front dormer balcony (26/01221/FULH)
  • 58 Thorpe Hall Avenue: substitute drawings under an approved scheme (26/01218/AMDT)
  • 5 Officers Mess, Mess Road, Shoeburyness: raised patio, replacement sheds, bin, bike and garden stores, an EV charger and an outdoor socket (26/01241/FULH)
  • East Beach open space, Shoeburyness: landscape management plan under last December’s permission (26/01230/AD)

Westcliff

  • 14A to 14C and 15A to 15C Hamlet Court Mews: replace curtain walling and combustible insulation (26/01235/FUL)
  • 363 Westborough Road: takeaway store to a flat (26/01225/FUL)
  • 6 Trinity Avenue: rear dormer and solar panels (26/01233/FULH)
  • 569 Prince Avenue: soft landscaping details (26/01228/AD)

Leigh and Eastwood

  • Belfairs Swim Centre, Fairview Gardens, Leigh: a 9m wooden telecommunications pole, notification (26/01231/ROT)
  • Land rear of 67 Dandies Drive, Eastwood: single-storey double garage (26/01248/FUL)
  • 42 Mansell Close, Eastwood: crown reduction and lifting of protected trees (26/01215/TPO)

Still waiting: the three HMO decisions

The three houses in multiple occupation that went to the Planning Committee on 16 September, at 114 York Road, 48 Argyll Road and 43 Woodgrange Drive, do not yet appear on the council’s decided lists for the weeks of 14 or 21 September. We will report the decision notices when the register carries them, as we did for Bournes Green Chase.

How to comment

Anyone can comment on a live application through its Public Access page, linked above, using the “Make a comment” tab. The council’s own guide to the process is on our planning applications page, which also explains what the reference suffixes mean: FULH is a householder application, AD is details submitted under a condition, PA52 is prior approval for solar on a commercial roof.

Sources

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council, Public Access weekly lists, validated applications for the weeks beginning 14 and 21 September 2026, read 25 September