I understand the circle area around the Airport is a no go, but what about the rest under Southend CTR 1?
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My understanding is that is more for āmannedā aviation.
Someone more in the know will reply soon I am sure.
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Class D aerospace shouldnāt affect you flying a drone.
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What app are you using to get your flight area information?
If you click on the hamburger at the top right of the page one of your options is Dronescene. It has switchable layers which show that the circle is indeed Southend Airport and restricted whereas the lighter coloured area is Class D airspace in the Southend Controlled Traffic Region.
You would be best checking with Southend ATC as to where you can fly. Looking at the Dronescene plot people have successfully flown in places like Burnham on Crouch, Siuthend and Hadleigh Castle. The blue shading on the Dronexcene map shows the Shoeburyness danger area, yjr purple solid colours show Crown Estates property - they are good people and are happy with legally flown drones.
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Iām new to this, and wasnāt aware about what a class d zone is/was.
How does getting permission work? Do you have to gain permission every time you fly your drone in that area or a time given permit?
Yes you do
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Some ATCs will want two weeks notice too 
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I chatted to a guy at Southend ATC last night through their official FB page and he seemed really cool. I said Iād already emailed in my application to fly along Leigh on Sea foreshore and he said heād make sure heād deal with it first thing this morning. My first encounter with them but they seem quite amenable to the use of UAVās
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Thatās good. Had a message from them saying to email them for a form.
Let me know how long the process takes please.
Itās a little bit frustrating. If the weather isnāt good, and you canāt fly, you have to reapply and wait before going again. ā¦
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My understanding is that you do not need ATC authorisation to fly in Class D airspace if you are operating within the āOpenā category (i.e. below 400ft/120m). See this CAA page which states:
Although controlled airspace requirements (Class A,B,C,D,E) do not apply to UAS operating within the Open category (i.e. below 400ft/120m), any UAS operating above this height will, within the terms of the authorisation, be required to obtain permission from the relevant air traffic service provider.
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Indeed, according to Drone Scene a vast area of land around where I live is Class D airspace and Iāve never had any issue just rolling up and taking off without any notification. if you look at this half the bloody south east is Class D 
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Correct, my answer was to the question of āif authorisation was needed every time or if it could cover a longer periodā
Massive chunks of North and West Yorkshire are Class D and Iāve never had any issues
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The airspace in question also forms part of the Southend Airport Traffic Control Region. I would suggest that a courtesy call or email be made to ask what is allowed within that area but outside the restrictions for the airport itself. If the answer is no flight above 400 feet outwith the airport FRZ then great, if itās you can fly but we would appreciate a courtesy call then, again, great. Keep in with local ATC then when you want to fly inside the airport FRZ they will be aware of you as a responsible flyer and will do their best to help.
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There is a model aircraft flying club based on Two Tree Island in Leigh, only a few meters beyond the end of Southend Airportās protection zone (the runway bit) in the Class-D zone if you needed any more proof itās OK (so long as you follow all the other rules)!
However, an off-the-shelf drone, like a DJI one, might take a more precautionary approach to hazard areas ā Hadleigh Castle, mentioned above, is just outside the Southend Protection Zone, but nevertheless DJI Go suggested I didnāt fly above 0 meters! 
DJI tend to create vast areas around airports as zones where their aircraft wonāt even take off without contacting DJI with proof that permission to fly has been obtained. This displays their responsible attitude to legislation but, more importantly, shows how little faith they have in the accuracy of their positioning - the geofence is far larger than the zone it protects
Somehow I doubt it stems from a lack of faith in the geofence (at least the GPS, which seems reasonably reliable going as far back as the Phantom 2). My guess is that it has more to do with the lack of interest in following each individual nationās rules to the letter.
Itād be difficult, at best, to build up a global database of flight rules, and even trickier to keep it to a reasonable size, let alone dealing with the changes every time one or another aviation authority / panic-stricken government changes the rules. Or just builds a new runway.
Anyway, it let me take off.
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Iāve just submitted my form to fly within the FRZ on Sunday 25th after making initial contact last night via the ATC Facebook page. They do seem very accommodating and helpful. Fingers crossed because what Iāve got planned will make for a great bit of footage.
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Iāve flown at both Two Tree Island and Hadleigh Castle and not had any problems or even any messages from the app. There Belfairs Park right on my doorstep of which a section falls with the NFZ. I had to walk about 30m before the app sensed it was outside the zone and would allow me to take off and then it was only in three directions
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Well, as I understand it the airport isnāt too busy right now.
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