In 1996 the then Labour controlled Castle Point Borough Council submitted its final draft of the Local Plan to the Inspector. There were several objections to the plan, many from builders who wanted to develop various sites which the Labour Group on the Borough Council wanted to protect and retain as Green Belt. The Labour Group’s proposals were presented to the Inspector at a Public Inquiry and these in turn were considered by him.

 

The Borough Council had intended specifically that the land at the Chase should be retained as being designated as GREEN BELT. However various developers wanted the land designation changed to that of residential.

 

John Major’s Tory Government’s Inspector’s decision was that this land, along with land at Scrub Lane in Hadleigh, at Kings Park Camp (Canvey Island) and Thorney Bay Camp (Canvey Island) should be designated as land for “Long Term Housing Needs”.  Effectively that meant that the land was removed from the green belt but would only be built on when all other sites were exhausted. The Labour council reluctantly accepted his recommendation as it was told that if it fought against the recommendation there would be serious cost implications and the legal advise given was that there was little chance of over turning the recommendation.  Further, it would also have delayed the final adoption of the long delayed plan with its many safeguards against random development.

 

The Plan was finally adopted in November 1998 and the Council’s Labour Members adhered religiously to its content.  Although it was common local knowledge from the early 1990’s that various developers wanted to build on land at the Chase not one application, nor even a request for informal talks, came to the Council during the period of Labour control. (1995 to 2003)

 

When the current application was made for 310 houses it was quite obvious that the application was a departure from the content and spirit of Adopted Local Plan, and reference to this was included in the report submitted to the Planning Committee by the Council’s Officers and as was indicated in the Council’s press advertisements..

 

The elected members of the Council could have and should have simply refused the application on the grounds that it was contrary to the local plan. Yet they refused to so

 

However it was clear from the beginning that they had no intention of abiding by the Local Plan, which incidentally has regularly been described by various Tory Party militants, as the Labour party’s plan, yet the plan had been clearly accepted by the Tory Government’s own Inspector.

 

 

There was absolutely no need at this time to gave consent to this application.

 

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