THE demolition of a church hall to make way for 19 flats has been approved by Thurrock Council reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
St Michaels Church Hall, in Mill Road, Aveley, South Ockendon has already been demolished for the planned three blocks of two-bedroom flats and Thurrock’s planning committee welcomed the scheme.
Speaking at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday, Jacqui Maney, Conservative councillor for Aveley and Uplands, said: “This has been a neglected piece of land for very long while and while it’s not going to please all of my residents, I’m all for it.
“It’s the first site that you see when you come into Avery from Sandy Lane or Romford Road and it’s a mess’. It’s just a neglected mess where people throw rubbish and it’s overgrown. While I’m all for overgrown pieces of land for wildlife reasons it does look a mess.”
Ms Maney added: “We had the same thing in Purfleet Road when we had the North Court flats and people were quite opposed to it. It was an old bit of land that didn’t serve any purpose and now we’ve got nice flats on there and it looks completely different when you come through that part Aveley so I think it’s a bonus.
“I think it’s going to be a plus and I think it will look a thousand times better than what it does, I really have no objections to this at all.”
Steve Liddiard, Labour councillor for Tilbury St Chads, added: “19, two bedroom properties being built on a scruffy bit of land saves us building on the green belt hopefully. I see it as a real advantage I’ll be voting for it.”
The former St Michael’s Church Hall had been subject to vandalism before being demolished in 2022. The building had been unused since at least October 2014. The committee has been asked to decide the application because it will be a loss of a community site.
The council has received 43 letters of objection and just two in support of the scheme.
Concerns included more building “isn’t needed in the area”, a lack of local facilities, the height and scale of development and the impact on neighbours.
Categories: Planning Permission
