AFTER several years of planning, Thurrock Council is pushing ahead with its plans to start the Purfleet Regeneration project and is seeking to compulsory purchase an area of land and open space known as Hollow Woods.

The authority has advertised its intentions and is seeking comment and objections from interested parties - and have given residents just over three weeks to get them recorded.

Anyone wishing to make their point should contact the council's regeneration team. Its email address is [email protected] (quote reference - Appropriation of lane, Purfleet Centre Regeneration). Comment must be submitted by 24 January.

As park of the development much of the the wooded area will be leveled and trees chopped down, though there will still be an area of open space.

You can see a detailed proposal for the area via the red button below.

In april last year the council was blasted by borough MP Jackie Doyle-Price for its plans for Purfleet and sais its officers showed "staggering ineptitude".

Ms Doyle-Price said: "I am incredulous that Thurrock Council officers allowed for these proposals to be drawn up without any reference to its obligations under Thames 2100.

"It shows staggering ineptitude that officers' advice was that these obligations could simply be ignored. Consequently, the proposals were objected to by the Environment Agency, the Port of London authority and the Mayor of London".

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The council followed up by putting plans forward when seeking planning permission that led to those objections being withdrawn and the scheme was approved.