Joe Morgan, Labour councillor for the Barstable Ward, is appointed as the first Leader of Basildon Council.

Timberlog Lane (B1419) between Chittock Gate and Barstable Grammar and Technical School is closed to through traffic just beyond the school entrance. The new cul-de-sac is given the name Timberlog Close. Access to the remaining northern end of Timberlog Lane, which was then renamed Craylands - is via a right turn off the existing realignment to Broadmayne, which had been lengthened to link up at a new roundabout with the A132 East Mayne.

27th April

Ford Tractor Plant in Cranes Farm Road, Basildon officially opened. The first production models to be assembled are the Ford 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 series from the all new 6x range of tractors.

18th June

Standard Telephones and Cables (S.T.C.) open a purpose built factory at Chester Hall Lane on the Industrial Estate No. 2. The governments Postmaster General The Rt. Hon. Anthony Wedgewood Benn, MP., carried out the opening duties at the new factory which was built at a cost of £2½ million. The company, which began as Western Electric in 1883, moved to Basildon from Henley Road, North Woolwich where they had occupied a factory since the turn of the century. They became S.T.C. in 1925 following a takeover by ITT. In the 1990s the 24 acre site was levelled and the Argos distribution centre now stands in its place.

9th July

The Who (pop group) perform at Mecca's Locarno Ballroom in Market Pavement. The group appears there twice more on 18th March and 2nd September 1966. The Kinks had earlier played the venue on September 4th 1964, and in 1982, Culture Club, fronted by Boy George, would appear there, by which time the venue was known as Raquels.

2nd August

The Ministry of Labour opens a new Employment Exchange at 45 Bowlers Croft among the Nursery Factory units at the No. 1 Industrial Estate, Nevendon. Prior to opening, the Labour Exchange, and until 1960 National Service, was based at 26-30 High Road, Vange. The unit had previously been a 'nursery' office used by Her Majesty's Stationery Office from 1957 to 1963 when the main H.M.S.O. building was completed at The Gore in Ghyllgrove. The move to Bowlers Croft would prove short-lived as the department would relocate again in the early 1970s to new purpose built accommodation in the Town Centre within Great Oaks House and the surrounding buildings.

5th August

The New Towns Act, 1965 receives Royal Assent. This Act is a revision of the original 1946 Act.

14th August

Kingdom Hall in Tylers Avenue, Laindon dedicated. The new hall, costing £2,500, was built and funded by voluntary contributions from local members of the Jehovah Witness congregation. Previously meetings were held in a hall in Laindon High Road.

1st September

Bluehouse County Infants' and Junior School at Leinster Road, Laindon opened. Mr. H.C. Goodwin is appointed Headmaster of the junior school and Mrs. J.L.G. Wilson is the infant schools' first Headmistress. In August 2003 the school closed and reopened from September 1st as The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery.

1st September

Chalvedon County Comprehensive school in Wickford Avenue, Pitsea opened. Chalvedon is the first Comprehensive school to open in the Basildon District. The schools initial intake was 150 pupils with plans to expand the school to 8 forms within each year by 1968 and offer both 6th and 7th form opportunites for those wishing to 'stay on'. Mr. Robert Ford is appointed the schools first Headmaster.

November

Properties on the new basildon Council housing estate at Kenneth Road and Manor Avenue, Pitsea reach completion. This estate is the first council project to be built using industrialised methods whereby the properties are manufactured off-site and transported for assembly on-site. The first completed 'ready for occupation' property was an end terrace house in Manor Avenue.

5th November

Basildon Round Table hold their first charity Firework Fiesta on a site adjacent to Laindon Link in Lee Chapel North. The display attracted around 2,000 people who saw around £50 worth of fireworks set off. The event would continue here through to the early 1970s before transferring to Markhams Chase Recreation Ground and then finally moving to Gloucester Park, where it remained until 2013 when due to building work it was held at Northlands Park, Pitsea.

24th November

Alma George Hatt, LL.B., D.P.A., is appointed as the first Town Manager of Basildon Urban District Council. His appointment, the second of its kind in local government, followed many years as Clerk of the Council (title redesignated earlier in 1965 to Chief Executive Officer) after succeeding Mr. A.D. Cheshire in 1944 but was cut short when he suffered a heart attack at work and died shortly afterwards on December 13th at a London hospital. Mr. Hatt, who was 55, is remembered in Billericay where a pedestrian pathway linking High Street with Chapel Street was named Alma Link. He was succeeded in the post in March 1967 by David Taylor.

31st December

The Basildon town centre clock unveiled. Costing £4,800, this modern and possibly unique clock stands 34ft high atop a polished tubular stainless steel column. The 6ft diameter sphere, which is also manufactured from rolled stainless steel, has four faces making it visible from all points of the compass. Its outward appearance was designed by the chief architect and planner to Basildon Development Corporation, Douglas Galloway, while the clock's internal mechanism and hands are the work of clock specialist John Vernon. It was built by a London company Convair Time and Electronics Limited of Farringdon Road, E.C.1. Unfortunately the clock has proved problematic with all four faces often out of synchronisation, and had rarely, if at all by the 2000s, told the time. It was also fitted with chimes but the mechanism may have been disabled due to technical faults as it hasn't been heard in years. In late August early September 2007 the clock was taken down as part of a refurbishment of Town Square that also saw the removal of the High Pavement escalator. It was then sent away for repair and returned to the town centre on Tuesday 30th March, 2010 at its new location in St. Martin's Square.