11th March

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announce the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or otherwise known as Covid-19 global pandemic. The Government of the United Kingdom took action and legislated for a national 'lockdown' to begin with immediate effect on the evening of Monday 23rd March (legally effective from 1:00 p.m. on 26th March 2020). Some senior schools including certain year groups had already sent their students home the previous week in anticipation of such an event. All children's parks and play areas including those with just a single item were closed with council signboards attached to the apparatus forbidding their use.

23rd May

Councillor David Burton-Sampson has his term as Mayor extended to a second year uncontested due to the cancellation of the local elections planned for May as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cllr. Derrick Fellowes, now serving as an Independent, remains as Deputy Mayor.

26th May

Councillor David Dadds JP is elected the Mayor of Basildon. The Conservative councillor, who has held the Billericay East seat since 2002, succeeds Labour Mayor, David Burton-Sampson who was elected as First Citizen in 2020. Councillor Luke Mackenzie (Conservative, representing Pitsea South-East Ward) was elected as Deputy Mayor. This is Cllr. David Dadds second term in office having previously been appointed as 3rd Mayor between May 2018 to May 2019.

31st July

The Woodsman statue is unveiled at its new home at Westley Heights Country Park, Langdon Hills. It was carved from an oak tree lost during the great storm of 1987 by local artist Dave Chapple and previously stood in St. Martin's Square, Basildon.

21st October

South Essex College Campus in Market Square, Basildon Town Centre officially opened. Construction on the new college (Centre for Digital Technologies) began in 2019 following the closure of the original Basildon College at Nether Mayne. Its location had previously been the site of the original Basildon market since 1958. The Mayor of Basildon, Councillor David Dadds, officially cut the ribbon to mark the ocassion.

The South Essex Islamic Community Centre opens in the former Barge public house at High Road, Vange. The former pub, and one of just two surviving pre-new town buildings in the whole of High Road, Vange, closed for business in 2015 and had stood empty until Monday, 23rd September 2019, when the South Essex Islamic Trust purchased it at auction for £450,000. The auction, held at The Berkeley, Knightsbridge, London on behalf of auctioneers Savills, had given the landmark building, which was not listed and believed to date in part from at least 1840, a low guide price of £200,000, but with VAT and Stamp Duty added brought the final figure to £552,000. As a condition of sale the Trust were obligated to pay a securing deposit of £45,000. Planning permission was later secured in September 2021 which resulted in a drastic transformation of the property when all outbuildings and side bar extensions, most of which formed part of the main structure, were demolished as part of the conversion.

26th May

Councillor Luke Mackenzie is elected Mayor of Basildon. The Conservative councillor, who has held the Pitsea South-East seat since 2018 succeeds David Dadds who took over the post in 2021. Yetunde Adeshile (Conservative, representing Vange Ward) was elected as Deputy Mayor. Cllr. Mackenzie, who was born in Basildon, becomes the 6th Mayor to represent the Borough. He first held a seat on the council in 2008 when he won the Vange Ward seat with a majority of 82 over his Labour rival Santa Bennett and was also Deputy Mayor to the outgoing David Dadds.

23rd July

Langdon Natural Discovery Park at Third Avenue in Dunton officially opened.

25th September

The Moon on the Square public house in Market Square, Basildon closed down. The public house, at Nos. 1-15 and operated by the J.D. Weatherspoon chain, first opened in January 1996 in four former shop units. The closure was brought about by a successful planning application by developers to regenerate the western end of the town centre with a mixture of high rise flats and retail units which will necessitate all the remaining shop units in Market Square, parts of Market Pavement, No. 1-3 Fodderwick and Nos. 2-76 Town Square to be demolished.

9th November

The new front entrance to Basildon University Hospital is officially opened. The Mayor of Basildon, Cllr. Luke Mackenzie along with the Deputy Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr. Sue Little performed the ribbon cutting ceremony. It replaces the original entrance area that dates back to the opening of the hospital in 1973. A Costa Coffee and M & S Food shop along with an onsite Post Office within W.H. Smith's are just some of the new attractions in the two-storey building that was built at a cost of £7.6 million.

8th February

Swan Housing Association becomes a subsidiary of Sanctuary Housing. The acquisition by Sanctuary, one of the biggest housing associations in the United Kingdom with over 115,000 properties, was informally agreed by both boards on 25th November 2022. It brings to an end a period of uncertainty for Swan, who have two regeneration projects in Basildon on hold as a result of their financial issues that include the Laindon Place development replacement for Laindon Shopping Centre where work was halted in 2021 to await new planning applications to resolve amongst other things the realignment of the south carriageway of High Road.

13th March

Essex County Council introduce a trial booking appointment scheme at all its recycling centres which includes two within the Basildon Borough, these being at Pitsea and Barleylands. Among the objectives of the new system is to improve the customer experience by improving waiting times and general congestion from vehicles in the surrounding areas. If successful the trial will become permanent though there are concerns from the public that flytipping could increase as a result of the change. A trial involving selected centres had already been in place prior to todays start date.

25th May

Conservative Councillor Luke Mackenzie is re-elected Mayor of Basildon. Councillor Yetunde Adeshile (Conservative, representing Vange Ward) was re-elected as Deputy Mayor. In February 2024 the Mayor stood down due to ill health and his deputy Yetunde Adeshile took over his responsibilities for the remainder of his term in office. He died shortly after on 14/03/2024, aged 37.

9th November

German discount supermarket chain Lidl open their fourth store within the town on the newly completed St. Hilary's Retail Park off Crompton Close, Pipps Hill. They join a number of other businesses who have located there including bakery chain Greggs, who opened on 2nd September. The development replaced the empty Gilbarco Veeder-Root premises, who had relocated to Burnt Mills Road, Basildon after occupying the site since 1962 (initially as Gilbarco).

18th November

Pitsea swimming pool officially opened. The new four lane 25 x 8.5 metre pool with a fixed depth of 1.2 metres was built at a cost of £6.3 million as an addition to the Eversley Leisure Centre complex in Woodcote Crescent off Crest Avenue. It is the second Basildon Council owned public swimming pool to have existed in Pitsea; the first in Rectory Park Drive had closed in November 2012 as part of the second Pitsea 'regeneration' programme. Around 500 people attended the opening of the new facility which is operated by Sport and Leisure Management (SLM) under the brand name Everyone Active in partnership with Basildon Council. Two days earlier on the 16th November a ribbon cutting ceremony took place attended by the South Basildon and Thurrock MP Stephen Metcalfe, Leader of Basildon Council Cllr. Andrew Baggott and Pitsea South-East Ward Cllr. for Health, Wellbeing, Leisure, Arts and Culture, Jeff Henry, who cut the ribbon watched by children from Eversley Primary School taking part in the pool's inaugural swimming lesson. The project, which was delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction to a design by Orpington, Kent based architects Calfordseaden, included an additional 50 spaces to the existing 112 spaces for parking.

23rd May

Labour Councillor Allan Davies (Fryerns Ward) is elected as the 7th Mayor of Basildon. Councillor Victoria Joseph (Labour, representing Vange Ward) was re-elected as Deputy Mayor.

June

Westgate Shopping Park, Town Centre, Basildon is acquired by Basildon Borough Council. The retail park, opened in 1999 and located at the western end of the Town Centre, has 143,000 sq ft of retail space within its 12 units, ground level parking and additional two-storey car park providing 431 spaces overall. The purchase price for the 7 acre site, the second largest after Eastgate in the Town Centre, also included the Basildon Centre and Towngate Theatre. Amongst the retailers at the time of the sale included Dreams, One Beyond, Home Bargains, J.D. Sports and Burger King, who opened the previous year in the former Maplin unit.

4th July

James McMurdock (Reform) (12,178), is elected as the first Reform Member of Parliament for the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency. He took the seat from conservative Stephen Metcalfe, who finished third behind the Labour candidate Jack Ferguson. His majority of 80 was arrived at following a recount.

4th July

Richard John Holden (Conservative) (12,905), is elected as the member of parliament for the Basildon and Billericay constituency. He won the seat following two recounts, with a small majority of just 20 votes over second-placed Labour candidate, Alex Harrison. The previous MP, John Baron (Conservative), held the seat from 2001.

25th July

Vue cinema in East Square, Town Centre, Basildon officially opened. Standing on the former site of Freedom House, it's construction, on behalf of cinema chain Empire Cinemas, was held up due to the company carrying out the site clearance running into financial difficulties. Following the buildings eventual completion its opening was then delayed due to Empire Cinemas going into administration leaving the project uncertain before Vue Cinemas were announced as the new operator. The new cinema was built at a cost of £26.7 million and features ten high definition 4K screens and a Laser Digital projection system. The Mayor of Basildon, Cllr. Allan Davies, cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony. It's opening marked a period of 24 years since the Town Centre had last had its own dedicated cinema, that being Robins in North Gunnels, which closed in December 1999.