Part 5 of the complete Great Oaks history, covering great oaks today: what is there now?.
Great Oaks today is not one single shopping street. It is a mixture of retail, parking, public services, residential accommodation, court and health facilities, with major redevelopment taking place on former retail land.
QD remains open at Great Oaks in the large building historically linked with the 1971 Tesco and later Liberty Shopping Hall. The retailer currently lists its Basildon store at Great Oaks House.
Car Park 1 remains one of the town centre's principal parking facilities, operating across twelve levels with more than 1,200 spaces. Nearby Great Oaks surface parking also remains part of the town-centre parking system.
The Court House at Great Oaks remains an operational HM Courts & Tribunals Service location. The court complex opened in 1990.
The NHS clinic remains in use for community and children's health services. This continues a health-service presence that began with the purpose-built clinic in 1964.
Basildon Police Station remains associated with the Great Oaks address, continuing the policing role established by the permanent station in 1963.
The ambulance station remains an operational public-service use. Recent planning records refer to the existing Make Ready facility and staff-welfare accommodation.
Basildon Fire Station continues to operate immediately beside the Great Oaks civic area, with wholetime firefighters providing 24-hour cover. Its postal address is Broadmayne, but it forms part of the same cluster of emergency-service buildings around Great Oaks.
Acorn House is now principally residential, with numerous flats registered at Great Oaks. Its presence adds another layer to an area once dominated by civic offices, parking and retail.
The original service station, car dealerships, Office World/Staples retail building, Liberty Shopping Hall as an indoor arcade, employment offices and several older leisure uses have either closed, moved or been replaced. Even where buildings survive, their function has often changed completely.
Great Oaks is worth exploring because it reveals the service side of Basildon New Town. It shows how the planned centre dealt with parking, emergency services, health care, government offices, leisure and large-format retail, all within a short walk of Town Square and East Square.