THE CONTROVERSY of the green light being given for the building of homes may well rumble on.
Eric Pickles approved Colonnade Land’s application to build 299 residential units at Bata Field in East Tilbury, Thurrock, on the advice of his inspector, despite opposition from Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation and Thurrock Council.
Mr Pickles explained that there was a need to make more land available for construction work on new housing and that his inspector felt the quality of the scheme’s design and sensitivity to its surroundings made it worthy of planning permission.
Latest figures from the National House Building Council indicate that the proportion of housing construction jobs completed between March and May was up by 68% on the same period of 2009. Mr Pickles will want to see that continue apace.
The issue is one of the first thorny challenges for new MP, Stephen Metcalfe to grasp. We caught up with Stephen at the Stanford Festival to assess his position on the Bata development.
