CONTROVERSIAL plans for a new school in Aveley, which were given the green light last month despite opposition from local residents, are to be brought back before Thurrock Council's planning committee after it was discovered councillors had not been given all the available information about local concerns.

At the planning meeting on Thursday, 9 June, councillors voted 3-1 to approve the new Harrier Primary on land adjacent to the A13 and Love Lane.

Only four councillors were eligible to vote because the application had been deferred from an earlier meeting to allow the applicants to amend some of the details in the design of the buildings. Under council rules only councillors at the original meeting could vote.

There was much concern expressed locally after the meeting that local opinion had been ignored – and ward councillor Srikanth Panjalawas refused permission to speak at the second meeting. Nub News reported on residents' strong feelings that they were being ignored.

Now it has been revealed that officers did not put all the information before councillors and the matter is coming back for a second debate and vote – which could yet see the application rejected.

It is likely that Cllr James Halden, who spoke against the plan at the first meeting but was unable to attend the second because of a long arranged prior commitment, might well bring his powers of persuasion and knowledge as a former portfolio holder for education to bear in the argument about the need for school places in Aveley, which was the prime reason councillors voted for the scheme despite other reservations.

What should also be taken into account is the level of local opposition not flagged up to councillors.

In the agenda for the planning meeting this week (Thursday, 14 July) councillors are told: "At the meeting of the planning committee held on 21 April 2022 members considered a report assessing the above proposal. Members of the Planning Committee voted to defer the application.

"This was because a number of questions were raised by members; these were addressed within an update report which was reported to Planning Committee on 9 June 2022.

"At the meeting of 9 June members resolved to approve the application. Following the meeting it became known that an objection letter and attached petition with 22 signatures was hand delivered to the Council Offices on 8 June 2022.

"This correspondence had not been processed at the time of the meeting and was not therefore known or reported to members at the June meeting. Whilst the objection letter and petition received well after the closure of the public consultation it is proper that members are aware of its existence given that it was submitted prior to the meeting.

"No formal decision notice has been issued. In light of this, it is considered appropriate to report the additional matters raised to planning committee."