AFTER a process that goes back to 2018. Thurrock Council has finally completed disposal of a site it owned in the heart of Grays - netting more than £600,000.

The site, which was previously used as allotments, is adjacent to the junction of Orsett Road and Dell Road. It was first cleared with a view to sale more than five years ago.

Trees and shrubs that had grown since the allotments were taken out of use were cut back to allow access to the site.

The Thurrock Independent newspaper reported on secretive council plans in 2019.

In March 2019, the council employed a team of outside contractors who spent several weeks clearing the site, cutting down a number of roadside trees in the process. The council has always declined to say what its intentions were or what the clearance project cost.

Kepmoat's plans for the site - which were ultimately withdrawn.

While there was no announcement about a sale of the land, in September 2019 developers Keepmoat put forward a planning application for the site, for a mix of 15 flats and 20 houses, with properties ranging from one bedroom to four.

Just six were to be categorised as 'affordable housing', which is half of the normal requirement for a development of this size but the developer claimed in planning documents that "costs of developing the site means that it cannot sustain a policy compliant quota of affordable housing."

The application was opposed by local ward councillors but the planned development never even got to be debated by the council's planning committee. After failing to win concessions from the council over community contributions and with issues over property density and access, Keepmoat withdrew its application in October 2020. 

The site was back on the market - and a sale announced by the council - early last year.

The site remained fallow and once again became overgrown. However last year the council cleared it again and took it back to market - and announced that a deal with a developer had been struck.

But it was only this week that council has confirmed sale of the land to a property developer for £675,000, saying it offers potential for a residential-led development subject to the necessary planning consents being obtained.