Throughout 2019 Basildon Council will be working alongside community groups and businesses to host a series of special activities throughout the year to celebrate this landmark 70th birthday as well as the major milestones in Basildon's history.
In May 1946 Lewis Silkin MP, then Minister of Town and Country Planning, outlined his vision for the government's New Towns Bill, which included proposals for the building of Basildon new town. He described a town where the qualities of 'friendliness, neighbourliness, comradeship and the spirit of helpfulness' could thrive. Saying also that, 'new towns will be judged by the kind of citizens they produce'; and the residents of Basildon continue to demonstrate those qualities each and every day, from resident groups championing local causes to a friendly exchange on the bus and much more.
On 4 January 1949 the designation order was signed, marking the start of transforming of Basildon and its neighbouring communities into a thriving town. In 1950, work began on the first new road, Eastmayne. This was quickly followed by the first tenants who moved in houses in Redgrave Road, Vange.
The 1960s unveiled Basildon Bus Station and the Mother and Child Fountain. Whilst the 1974 saw the 4.45am to Fenchurch Street train leave Basildon Station for the first time. The 1980s headliners included the Towngate Theatre and Wat Tyler Park open to the public.
It was in 1997 that the Festival Leisure Park gained the nickname 'Bas Vegas'. In 2010 the town became popularly referred to as 'Basilwood' following the installation of the iconic Basildon sign at the entrance to the borough on the A127.
It's always been the people of Basildon that makes the borough shine. Your memories are central to the town's story.
You can play a part in the birthday celebrations by sharing your memories and photographs of life in Basildon over the past seven decades on our social media pages or by contacting us by email.
Email us at: together@basildon.gov.uk
