Basildon to get £15,000 image makeover

By ANDREW LEVY, Daily Mail

Last updated at 10:55 03 September 2005


It is the heartland of those much mocked figures Essex Girl, Essex Man, and White Van Man.

So councillors in Basildon could be forgiven for wanting to dispel its perception as a brash and vulgar place and trying to move it upmarket.

They spent £15,000 on image consultants - who suggested changing the authority's name to the posher- sounding Boerthals Hill Council.

However, while historians may be impressed - it's the old Anglo-Saxon name for the area - most other people think it's a load of old, well, Boerthals.

Not least Denise Van Outen, who was born in the predominantly working-class town. "I'm proud of Basildon and everything it's stands for," she declared. "They should keep the name as it is. It's never done me any harm."

Can you suggest a new name for Basildon? Click on the link below and tell us your thoughts.

Council tax payers say the "pointless" switch could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds more, to cover alterations to roadsigns, letterheads and council vehicles.

Officials behind a leaked report believe rebranding would help the affluent commuter towns of Billericay and Wickford, both in the council's area, to emerge from their neighbour's shadow and create a feeling of community.

But Angela Smith, Basildon's Labour MP, said it is a "barmy" idea.

"What people want is their homes repaired and potholes in the roads mended, not a new name for the place. The council could have had better advice from me for free."

Basildon resident Keith Moriaty, 60, said: "It's just another harebrained idea by the council.

"What difference is changing the name going to make? They should be spending money on cleaning up the town - that will go a long way to improving its image."

Kate Nealy, 26, said: "It's pointless, wastes money and will only remind people about this silly reputation. Hasn't the council got anything better to do?"

Unimpressed

In Wickford and Billericay, they were also unimpressed. Joyce Brown, 64, from Wickford, said: "We are quite separate from Basildon and that suits me. If they changed the name, we'd lose that separate identity."

Malcolm Buckley, leader of the council's Tories, said: "People tend to think of Basildon as a brick paradise with Ford Escorts and stiletto heels, none of which is true.

"One of our objectives is to improve the image of the area to attract business investment and jobs and all the prosperity that follows that.

"We don't know which crackpot thought this up, but it's not on the agenda."

Can you suggest a new name for Basildon? Click on the link below and tell us your thoughts.

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