THURROCK Council's much-delayed and criticised Draft Local Plan has now been officially launched for consultation, giving borough residents and businesses a chance to have their say on proposals for how development will take place in the area until 2044.

The Reform-led administration at the council approved the draft at its cabinet meeting last month, and the online consultation platform has been set up. The consultation is available on the council's website at thurrock.gov.uk/new-local-plan-for-thurrock/local-plan-regulation-19-consultation

The plan proposes 28,000 new homes being built in Thurrock over the next 18 years. That's around 1,550 homes a year, a stark contrast to recent years when housebuilding numbers have fallen massively below expectations, even though there are acres of land across the borough where planning permission has been granted for thousands of homes.

A rough estimate from planning decisions reported on Thurrock Nub News over the past three years shows that approved developments in West Horndon & Bulphan, East Tilbury, Linford, Chadwell St Mary and Corringham total several thousand - but barely a brick has been laid on them.

That paucity in housebuilding was highlighted at a planning committee meeting in July, when planning director Ashley Baldwin told members that, in the past year, full permission had been granted for 269 new homes, 'of which just four' had been built.

It's now hoped that the new Local Plan will stimulate housing growth. However, even within cabinet there are concerns and criticisms.

At August's meeting Cllr Robert Willoughby said: "Whilst I believe this plan is potentially political suicide I understand the rationale we are told that this is the best solution for Thurrock so that future governments do not take control or interfere in the future.

"My concern however, is what legal guarantee do we have in writing that future government direction could not change the plan once it has been agreed?

"I am sure we are all only too aware that governments lie to get what they want and then renege.

"If we are not 100 per cent certain further government direction will not override the plan, I do not see the point of alienating our voters now and accepting a plan that will change down the line from what we have agreed to.

"However, with such a guarantee, I will support it."

Cabinet member for Regeneration & Environment Cllr Tom Kelly said he didn't think it was a concern, saying: "As a general rule, governments don't like to get involved in a local plan. The only time they would get involved is if it not progressing. The government cannot change this plan as long as we are robust and get it over the line. "

Since the middle of the last decade the previous plan, created in 1997, was deemed out of date and the council has spent millions trying to update it, with much of the spending condemned as profligacy.

Figures published in the last couple of years show that in 2024 the council held a dedicated local plan reserve of £4.78 million, which had dropped to £3,406m in March 2025. The Labour administration then set aside a further £1.28m to ensure the plan was ready by 2028. Costs between 2015 and 2024 are likely to be at least a couple of million.

However, there was no discussion at cabinet meeting about the cost of the plan and the consultation was agreed, with a round endorsement from council leader Richard Bingley who thanked everyone who had worked on the plan and said that when he arrived at the council he was shocked there was no local plan in place.

The Leader stated that officers have been tied up on planning appeals because previous administrations have not had the courage and leadership to put forward a plan. He highlighted that the current administration has 'just won an election' and they want control of development in the borough.

He said: "We want control of where schools, parks and nature trails are built. This plan puts Thurrock in control and not Angela Rayner."

The borough has been without an updated guideline Local Plan document – which is a statutory requirement for councils with planning responsibility – for almost a decade. All local planning authorities must prepare a local plan that sets out a planning framework for their area.

In some areas where councils have also not had a plan in place, the government has stepped in and created its own - though Thurrock has escaped that 'indignity' to date.

A Local Plan includes how much development should be permitted and how it should be distributed around the borough. By law, it must be used when deciding future planning applications.

Successive previous ruling administrations, Conservative and Labour, have been highly criticised for not having one in place – and have been accused of leaving the borough's green spaces open to predatory developers.

The new draft plan, revised and recreated by council officers and a mixed party working group of councillors, has been largely prepared under the Labour administration which took power in 2024 before being ousted by Reform's landslide election victory in May this year.

A draft document prepared by the Conservative administration was published in 2023 and ideas from it were put forward in a previous consultation. That ended in February 2024 but there has been little information shared with residents about its conclusions and Labour restarted the whole process when it took over.

Councillors serving on the working group, supposed to steward its development, were frequently adversely judgemental of data in it - with officers and external consultants criticised for a lack of local knowledge and vision.

Now Reform is pushing the new draft, and promoting the consultation, with Cllr Kelly saying: "The Local Plan guides how development will take place in Thurrock to create a borough that is fit for the future and serves the needs of residents. It is something which Thurrock Council, like all councils, must have.

"While supporting the homes, jobs and infrastructure the borough needs, our Draft Local Plan protects the green spaces, villages and countryside which are such a proud feature of Thurrock. More than half the borough will remain as Green Belt under the draft plan, untouched by anything except nature and remaining for residents to visit and enjoy.

"The six-week consultation is an opportunity for everyone to have their say about the draft plan and have a voice in shaping a future for the borough that means that families have good homes, infrastructure, and access to opportunities to grow and thrive."

The council will also be running a series of drop-in events during the consultation period, where residents can consider the plan and give advice and guidance on how to take part and submit their thoughts.

Events will take place at:

• Tuesday 8 September, 1.30pm to 5.30pm, Belhus Library & South Ockendon Centre, Derry Avenue, South Ockendon, RM15 5DX
• Tuesday 15 September, 1pm to 5pm, Chadwell St Mary Library, Brentwood Road, Chadwell St Mary, RM16 4JP
• Wednesday 16 September, 1.30pm to 5.30pm, Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock Way, West Thurrock, RM20 2ZP
• Thursday 17 September, 2pm to 6pm, Purfleet Community Hub, 53-54 River Court, Centurion Way, Purfleet-on-Thames, RM19 1ZY
• Tuesday 22 September, 3.30pm to 7.30pm, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, RM17 6SL
• Thursday 24 September, 3pm to 7pm, Tilbury Library & Hub, Civic Square, Tilbury, RM18 8AD
• Wednesday 30 September, 3pm to 7pm, Thameside Complex, Orsett Road, Grays, RM17 5DX
• Thursday 1 October, 10am to 2pm, Aveley Community Hub/Library, Recreation Ground, High Street, Aveley, RM15 4BX
• Tuesday 6 October, 10am to 2pm, Corringham Library, St John's Way, Corringham, SS17 7LJ
• Wednesday 7 October, 1pm to 5pm, Stanford-le-Hope Library, High Street, Stanford-le-Hope, SS17 0HG

The consultation is open until 14 October. After the consultation, the plan and the comments received will be considered by a central government Planning Inspector throughout 2027 and, if approved, adopted by Thurrock Council in 2028. However, before that approval, Thurrock Council could have been replaced by the new South West Essex Council which is the planned new unitary authority created by a merger of Basildon Borough and Thurrock Council, due to take power starting on 1 April 2028.

And by then Thurrock (and Basildon) should be in the final countdown for the vote (due in May 2028) of Essex's new directly-elected Mayor who will have powers over housing, skills and transport in the county - some of which may be in conflict with Thurrock's new plan.