page_title: Borough of Basildon
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Borough of Basildon / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Wards of the Basildon District and the UK parliamentary constituency they fall into. Blue: Basildon and Billericay. Red: Basildon South and Thurrock East. Green: Rayleigh and Wickford
context_page_description: The Borough of Basildon is a local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred on the town of Basildon. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon Urban District and the part of Thurrock Urban District that was within the Basildon New Town. The population of the district as of 2010 is about 172,000. The council made an application for borough status in February 2010 and this was given approval that year, with Cllr Mo Larkin becoming the first mayor in October. The local authority is Basildon Borough Council.
context_section_description: The district has three main population centres. The towns of Billericay and Wickford are two of the areas which both have surrounding villages. Occasional proposals have been made to move Billericay and Wickford to other districts, leaving Basildon more focused on the new town.
  The other, largest, population centre is commonly referred to as Basildon and comprises three original settlements: Laindon, Basildon and Pitsea (from west to east) which have merged with other minor settlements to form the New Town, which is a continuous urban area.
  The remaining land, approximately half of the district is designated as green belt, has several sites of special scientific interest. Two are around Billericay and the remainder are to the south of Basildon New Town. There are also wildlife areas of varying sizes around most of the district, except in the East.
  The source of the River Crouch is in the district. The river runs across the district, through Wickford before it leaves the district.
  The district is linked well by road and rail with significant surrounding destinations, including London.
  In the west of the Basildon district, the Dunton Plotlands is an area of small plots of land used as weekend cottages or smallholdings inhabited during the mid twentieth century.
caption: Constituencies within the Basildon district. 
  Blue: Billericay and Basildon 
  Red: Basildon South and Thurrock East 
  Green: Rayleigh and Wickford
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