I live about 20 minutes from Southend and this project will never happen.
The main problem is that they have never been able to get the money, also there would have to be a lot more than a roller coaster up there to get people to travel up there. They have looked into getting a really nice restaurant up there with a top chef. adventure Island have put a proposal forward for taking over operation of the pier but nothing has got past the council.
Its a nice idea but its just not econmically viable also its pretty windy and cold up there.
To the person that said Southend is a dump, it really isn't that bad anymore the council has spent a lot of money on the town and the high street, it now has a huge university and two shopping centres. Adventure Island is a very succesful little family theme park where they build a lot of there own rides. Its no Brighton but its not that bad.