THURROCK Council planning officers have rejected an application to demolish a derelict former scout hall, which is no longer in use, and replace it with three affordable homes because they consider the current site to be 'unjustified loss of a building that is in community use'.

An application was submitted to the council for the site off London Road, Grays, known as Foxton Hall to be cleared and in its place 'a modest three flat development' was proposed.

It would have comprised of a single ground floor flat and first floor flat at the front, with a maisonette at the rear of the building. The applicant, Arben Vukelaj, said: "The flats are designed to cater for the more affordable end of the housing market, thus providing a reasonable springboard for first time buyers to get onto the housing ladder.

"The proposal offers a reasonably priced housing option which will fill a gap in the first time buyer quality low end housing market for the area."

The application details previous consultation with planning officers and adds: "We've tried to maintain uniformity as much as possible in the design and have really thought about and incorporated as much of the officers suggestions as possible."

But despite the consultation the application has been rejected.

The notice of refusal says: "The building would be architecturally poor and make it entirely obvious that the building contains flats, thereby appearing at odds with the surrounding buildings. Although the harm in this respect is moderate, it is not considered that the proposal would represent high quality design and would not be wholly sympathetic to local character as required by local and national planning policies.

"Whilst there would be a boost to housing supply arising from the proposal, this would be limited as a result of the proposal resulting in the gain of three residential properties.

"This benefit is not clearly and demonstrably outweighed by the harm caused by the, unjustified loss of a community building, the provision of inadequately arranged parking and the effect on the character and appearance of the area."

Full details of the application and the officers' reason for refusal can be found via this link.