Part 1 of the complete Great Oaks history, covering great oaks: origins & early development.
Construction of Great Oaks began in the mid-1950s. The earliest short section was notable for being the first, although initially incomplete, road built within the new Basildon town-centre area. The road originally ran from Southernhay, curved and then continued towards Pagel Mead, which at that time provided a link towards Towngate.
As the town centre grew, Great Oaks was repeatedly altered and extended. After St Martin's Church was completed, the road was lengthened and Pagel Mead was moved to the western side of the church. Later development, including Marks & Spencer and Church Walk House, covered parts of the earlier Pagel Mead alignment.
Great Oaks was then extended westwards with a curve towards Broadmayne. Little Oaks and Linkway were added as short connecting roads. In November 1972 Great Oaks, Pagel Mead and Towngate became one-way routes; Great Oaks remained the principal surviving one-way road after the other layouts were changed or pedestrianised.
Basildon Police Station became operational at Great Oaks on 2 December 1963. The permanent three-storey station replaced temporary facilities used during the earliest years of the New Town. In 1967 policing operations from the older Laindon and Pitsea stations were centralised at Great Oaks. The address remains associated with Basildon Police Station today.
An ambulance station was established at Great Oaks in the early 1960s, replacing the older ambulance facility at Nevendon. Planning records from the 2020s still identify an operational ambulance station and a modern Make Ready facility on the site.
Great Oaks Clinic opened on 20 March 1964 as the first permanent purpose-built health facility for the New Town. Its original services included a dental surgery and children's facilities. The clinic remains an NHS location today and is used for children's and specialist community health services.
Great Oaks became notable for concentrating important public services close to the town centre. Fire, ambulance, police and health services have all operated in or immediately around the road, giving Great Oaks a very different character from the pedestrian shopping streets nearby.