ANOTHER tract of public land is about to be sold off by Thurrock Council - this time after several years of debate about what to do with it.

The site is a plot of land that used to contain allotments, at the side of Orsett Road in Grays and adjacent to Dell Road.

The land was, several years ago, covered in trees and bushes until, in March 2019, the council employed a team of outside contractors who spent several weeks clearing the site, cutting down a number of roadside trees in the process.

The council has always declined to say what its intentions were or what the clearance project cost - but in the intervening years the site has once again become overgrown.

In September 2019 developers Keepmoat put forward a planning application for the site, for a mix of 15 flats and 20 houses, with properties ranging from one bedroom to four.

Just six were to be categorised as 'affordable housing', which is half of the normal requirement for a development of this size but the developer claimed in planning documents that "costs of developing the site means that it cannot sustain a policy compliant quota of affordable housing".

The plan was opposed by ward councillor Cllr John Kent, who was critical of Keepmoat and their alleged failure to deliver on promises associated with being given planning permission for a large plot of land at the end of Dell Road, which was developed as the Treetops Estate. It was the site of the original Treetops School and the land was sold to Keepmoat by the Council.

Keepmoat were supposed to carry out restoration work on the nearby Dell Quarry, a home to Victorian pathways and gardens, but the site remained unrestored and a viewing platform built by Keepmoat was described as shoddy and fell into disrepair. Thurrock Council washed its hands of responsibility for chasing up Keepmoat and the Land Trust charity that were supposed to ensure the historic site became a Grays attraction again.

Keepmoat's plans for the Orsett Road/Dell Road site.

The planned development on the former allotment site never materialised. After failing to win concessions from the council over community contributions and with issues over property density and access Keepmoat withdrew its application in October 2020. And all has been silent since, with no response to calls for the council to develop the site as affordable housing via its own wholly-owned housing company, Thurock Regeneration Ltd.

Now Thurrock Nub News has been told the land has been sold.

A statement today (Monday, 13 February) says: "That land has been approved for disposal and is in the process of being sold. Legal work ahead of the final exchange of contracts is currently taking place."