RESIDENTS in the village of Bulphan have welcomed news that a bid to build 116 new homes in the village have been rejected by a planning inspector.

Last year Thurrock Council's planning committee rejected the application for the homes on land adjacent to Church Road in the village.

Despite impassioned pleas by a cross party alliance of two councillors - Gerard Rice and Angela Lawrence – the application by Quadrant Land Developments Ltd was vetoed by the committee but the applicants appealed to the planning inspector. This week he delivered his verdict – rejecting the appeal and says there were no 'special circumstances' that would allow the project to go ahead.

There have been a number of significant building projects in the Bulphan area in the past two years (see pictures) with many executive homes and even a futuristic well-being centre popping up amid the green fields that surround the village.

Villagers have opposed all them but they were passed – but the 116 homes project, which also included a pub and three shops, appears to be a step too far.

However, a number of other local projects – including a bid for 750 homes on a nearby airfield, remain active.

Cllrs Rice and Lawrence had argued strongly for the 116 homes project to go ahead, despite the strenuous local opposition. The full application details can be found here.

One villager warned: "To allow development on this site would set a precedent, opening the flood gates to over green belt sites to be developed against the wishes of local residents who believe Bulphan should be kept as a small village."

Another stated: "The proposed build is dangerously close to an already overloaded A128. The junctions are notoriously difficult to negotiate because of high traffic flow and the junction nearest to the proposed development has already suffered many fatalities."

Cllr Rice told members of the planning committee that, despite local objections, they cannot keep turning down developments due to the green belt.

"Sooner or later we are going to have to pass these applications," he told the committee. "The government has told us we have to build these homes, they are going to have to be built in the green belt, so places like Bulphan will be down for a couple of thousand, Fobbing will be down for a thousand plus - everybody has to make their contribution."

However, his enthusiasm for the scheme was not shared by most fellow committee members – nor the planning inspector who deemed it was inappropriate development because of the impact on the openness of the area.

He concluded the significant harm to the green belt far outweighed the arguments given by the applicant in favour of the scheme.

The applicant had argued that the project would contribute to the borough's five year housing supply. That was recognised by the inspector who acknowledged it was a benefit and attracted significant weight in favour of the proposal but in terms of all the other benefits which the applicant relied on - sustainability credentials, ecological enhancement and provision of some community facilities – he was less convinced.

Quadrant Land Developments had also referred to the emerging local plan and the fact a Thurrock Council issues and options consultation at the beginning of last year had identified Bulphan as a potential expansion area but the inspector said that the consultation was only an 'option' and it had no weight in the planning balance.

He concluded by saying that positive and significant weight was given to housing land supply, limited weight to ecology and limited weight to community facilities but no weight was given to the other factors put forward by Quadrant and harm to green belt wasn't clearly outweighed.