PLANS for over a hundred homes on the former St Chad’s School site in Tilbury were approved by Thurrock’s planning committee on Thursday (5 February).
The homes – a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom houses – are the first to be put forward by the council’s wholly-owned company, Gloriana.
Cllr Lynn Worrall, cabinet member for housing, said afterwards: “Gloriana is a really exciting project and it’s great that we are seeing these first plans come forward … there will be more soon.
“There are very nearly 8,000 homes with planning permission awaiting the start of building in Thurrock, but we won’t have that long to wait with St Chad’s. One of the reasons for creating Gloriana was to kick-start the house-building industry into action here.”
Cllr Worrall explained: “We believe Thurrock is unique in putting this together, although others look like they will be following our lead.
“These homes will not become part of the traditional council housing stock, they will not be available for ‘right-to-buy’, but the council – at least Gloriana – will be renting and even selling them.
“The company will act as a ‘private’ landlord, but equally the homes will be available for sale – at market value – too. We expect that initially they’ll all be rented, at affordable rent, but if and when there’s a tenant who wants to buy at market value, they can – possibly at the full price or a percentage of that price and owning equivalent percentage of the property.”
Thursday’s committee agreed permission for 128 homes with new associated landscaping and infrastructure. In all there will be 57 two-bedroom homes, 63 three-bed and eight four-bed houses.
Gloriana Thurrock Ltd was so-named because Benjamin Britten’s opera Gloriana was commissioned by the Royal Opera House to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. The name refers to Queen Elizabeth I who was greeted by her troops at Tilbury with cries of “Gloriana, Gloriana, Gloriana”, after her Spanish Armada speech there in 1588, providing two links to the borough, historic and modern – Tilbury and the Royal Opera House.
