LESS than three months after a plan by Thurrock Council demolish a sought-after five bedroom council house and turn it into five new homes was thrown out by the authority's planning committee and was roundly condemned as being too big and imposing on the local area, the council has come back with a new plan – dropping just one bedroom from the whole scheme.

A new planning application submitted for the site at 13 Loewen Road, Chadwell St Mary, is marginally smaller than the original application that was damned by a majority of councillors – and many local residients, but the only significant concessions in the new plan is the changing of one of the five new homes from a three bedroom home for five people to a two bedroom home for four.

And an additional visitor car parking space has been added to the site.

Eight out of nine councillors were critical of the plans, citing traffic problems, over development and the waste of a larger property that was fitted out to meet the needs of a disable occupant.

Only committee chairman Cllr Tom Kelly supported the application – which was roundly rejected, but the new plan barely touches on the touches detailed by those eight councillors.

And the comments of many local residents appear to have been ignored, with the council saying: "As the design of the scheme was not raised as an issue at this consultation, and the proposed revised scheme is for a reduced development, we have not re-consulted local residents on the updated designs."

You can read the new application in detail here and make comment on the application {L] https://regs.thurrock.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QTPFENQGHRL00 [{L+]via this link.[.L]

In its new submission the council says: "We think that the revised proposals go further to address local residents' concerns regarding traffic and parking, and address the reason for refusal."