THURROCK Council's cabinet has rubber-stamped a plan for five new council homes in Chadwell St Mary - though planning permission for the scheme still has to be granted.

The recent meeting of the Conservative-controlled cabinet backed the plan to demolish an existing large building at 13 Loewen Road and replace it with the new homes. The application for planning permission has yet to decided but the scheme has already been criticised by local residents.

Housing portfolio holder Cllr Barry Johnson presented the scheme to his colleagues, saying: "I would recommend this project to colleagues as it is not only contributing to affordable housing demands and targets and it continues to bring development forward at pace."

Cllr Johnson told members the existing house on the site is no longer fit for purpose as various extensions and adaptations no longer meet current requirements.

The scheme was applauded by the council's regeneration portfolio holder Cllr Mark Coxshall who said: "We are now investing in homes and I think it is the most important thing - having someone have a home near where they work and making sure that they can afford it. Crucial to that is council houses. Let's hope the opposition can work with us to deliver large scale council houses. That's what we want in the next ten years."

The cabinet meeting was a prelude to a full council meeting on Wednesday evening, when Cllr Johnson came under fire for the Conservatives' record on social housing building in the borough.

He presented his report on the performance of the housing department department in 2019/20. He majored on an improved level of satisfaction from council tenants during the year, saying financial year saw improvement in overall tenant satisfaction with housing services. Cllr Johnson was upbeat about improved performance measures in a host of tenant-related services saying a majority of those surveyed were happy with he provision from the council.

He also reported on a series of new build social housing projects in the borough, naming Alma Court in Grays, Claudian Way in Chadwell St Mary and Calcutta Road in Tilbury - championing the Conservatives' record of new home-building projects in the social sector.

However, he was challenged by Chadwell St Mary Labour Cllr Sarah Muldowney who said that the three projects he had named all had their roots in the previous Labour administration and were not Conservative success stories at all.

And after the meeting she said it appeared that the five houses planned for Loewen Road were the only tangible evidence of the Tories actually building new homes for local people.

Speaking to Thurrock Nub News she said: ""Since becoming a councillor nearly two years ago, most of my case work has been from residents who are desperate for housing. We have thousands of families languishing on our waiting lists and I regularly hear from families in terrible situations, who have been on the housing waiting list for 10 years or more.

"It's absolutely appalling that after years in power Thurrock Conservatives have only agreed to deliver one new development of five houses - and that just minutes before I asked my questions in council."

Cllr Muldowney also spoke of her concern that Cllr Johnson had been unable, when questioned, to guarantee that the rents and service charges on any new houses would be genuinely affordable for local residents.

She added: "It is very worrying that the portfolio holder for housing could not guarantee that, when built, these houses would actually be affordable for those Thurrock folk who desperately need a home.

"We already know that many local families can't afford to buy or rent private housing. It's really coming to something, when they may now not be able to afford to rent a council house. What are people supposed to do?

"Thurrock Conservatives need to stop blaming all and sundry for their lack of action and get on with the job!"