THURROCK'S Labour cabinet will consider selling off more borough assets when they meet on Wednesday (19 November) evening).

Among the sites that could be sent to market is the whole of the South Essex College in Grays town centre.

Also likely to go up for grabs are five areas of open space around the borough which currently offer a local recreational facility for nearby residents.

They are sites on Coronation Avenue in East Tilbury (though the council lists the road as being in Tilbury), Catharine Close, Chafford Hundred, land to the south of Edward Close, Chafford Hundred, and two patches of land either side of the Manorway in Stanford-le-Hope.

They are described in a report to cabinet as 'open and capable of informal public recreational use, they generate no income, offer no strategic or operational benefit (including housing delivery), and are subject to ongoing maintenance liabilities under the Council's borough-wide grounds maintenance programme'.

Some of the plots have been of previous interest to potential developers and other, similar sites which had disputed ownership did raise considerable sums for private owners – even with no guarantee of planning permission. In 2022 Nub News reported that more than £100,000 was raised from the sale of three sites in Stanford-le-Hope.

Also up for discussion at cabinet is the sale of the former Culver centre site in South Ockendon, once part of an ambitious scheme put forward by the council's development arm, which wanted to develop the site as a mix of social and commercial housing. It received planning permission in September 2021, but the council backed away from building out the site with a commercial partner.

There was considerable opposition to that scheme and a petition was raised against it, which includes the signatures of some people who now find themselves holding seats in cabinet and voting on the land's sale.

Up for sale - the land lease for South Essex College

Also on the agenda is the plan to sell off the site of the South Essex College. Though the building and maintenance of it is in the hands of the South Essex Colleges Group, Thurrock Council owns the land and gets an annual rent of £4,500 – guaranteed to be matched with inflation across its remaining 112 years meaning the current deal is worth more than half a million pounds to coming generations.

It is not yet known what the price tag will be when the lease goes up for sale.

A report to the council says: "Retention would preserve a nominal ground rent income of £4,500 per annum, but demonstrates disposal presents a stronger overall financial position when considered in the context of the council's wider financial recovery strategy.

"The freehold interest generates minimal income growth over the remaining 112 years of the lease term, offers no strategic or operational benefit, and ties up capital in a lower performing forming asset.

"Disposal is recommended on the basis that it delivers a capital receipt which can be applied to reduce borrowing and debt servicing costs, directly supporting the Council's Improvement and Recovery Plan. Retention, by contrast, would fail to realise this benefit, offer no potential for income enhancement, and continue to divert resources toward the management of a long-term, non-operational investment holding."

Check out the sites the council want to sell off via this link.

Selling off its land for development has been a long-running policy of Thurrock. The previous Conservative administration, as far back as 2020 it planned to take many plots – including the Culver Centre – to market.

Thurrock Council's own plans for the Culver site were not built out.

While the council sees benefit in selling off one leased-out site it owns, it is taking a different tack on another possibly prompted by failures in its own past administration.

Members will be discussion the issue of a lease to the occupiers of the Riverside Business Centre in Tilbury, which it currently rents to NWES Property Services Limited. However, it appears that due to an oversight discovered by independent accountants Avison Young who were brought in to check the council;s books, a lease agreement is not in place so the council is seeking to implement one up to the end of July 2027.

The report to members says: "The lease will formalise NWES's existing occupation, address legal and governance risks, and protect income for the Council.

"NWES is a not-for-profit enterprise organisation specialising in the management of business centres and support for small and medium-sized enterprises across the South East. It currently manages the Riverside Business Centre under a service management contract which is due to expire in December 2025.

"The proposed lease is aligned with NWES's other lease and terms held on the Business Centres at George Street and The Old Courthouse, Grays. Across the whole term, the lease is expected to deliver income of approximately £298,362 to the Council.

"The relatively short lease period (19 months, 11 days) has been chosen to provide continuity and income protection while maintaining strategic flexibility for disposal or investment opportunities."

The council-owned Riverside Business Centre

So, it remains possible that the council will want to sell the site at some point, but tomorrow's debate appears to centre around the fact that the council has realised, it runs some risk but not having a current lease in place.

The report continues: "The current service management contract expires in December 2025, and continuation without a lease exposes the Council to legal, financial, and operational risks, including:

• Current arrangements do not meet the Council's governance requirements for a high-value asset.
• Legal uncertainty over NWES's rights and its dealings with subtenants.
• Absence of enforceable protections as landlord (e.g. repairs, insurance, and subletting).

Cabinet members will be told there were three options open to them, including testing taking the property to market – which may still happen at a future date.

Options Considered:

• Option 1 – Do Nothing (Not Recommended): Would expose the Council to governance and legal risks, loss of enforceability, and financial uncertainty.
• Option 2 – Grant Lease to NWES (Recommended): Provides continuity, regularises occupation, secures income, and mitigates risks.
• Option 3 – Market Testing/Alternative Operator (Rejected): Considered but rejected given the short timescale before expiry of the existing contract, the importance of continuity for sub-tenants, and the potential for disruption during a period of financial recovery. This option may be revisited in future strategies.

Plans by the council to sell off assets, particularly the five local open spaces and the Culver site, have been criticised by independent councillors.

Members of the five strong Non-Political Alliance of Independent Councillors (NPAIC), say the proposals are robbing future generations of Thurrock residents of assets and facilities to throw money away against the council's debt brought and to remedy other errors by previous administrations – over which residents had little say.

A joint statement issued by NPAIC says: "Once again it appears Thurrock residents are getting the sharp end of a feckless and ill-conceived plan that robs local residents of assets today – and repeats the sin in future years when income from properties formerly owned by the council will no longer be available to whatever authority runs the borough.

"At tomorrow's cabinet its members will be asked to approve a new lease for the Tilbury Business Centre which it owns and maintains. The paper put before them extols the benefits of owning a viable asset, saying: "the lease will protect income for the Council".

"It will generate £298,362 in the next two years.

"Yet at the same cabinet meeting members are being asked to approve the selling of the South Essex College site in Grays. Granted, it does not have the earning power of the business centre, only bringing in £4.5K a year – but there are no outgoings.

"However, selling it will bring in a big chunk of money today, which will be thrown into the pit of interest repayments caused by the council's "Unconscious incompetence" – the term used by government-appointed inspectors to describe the state of Thurrock Council. And in a couple of years the money it generates, however small, won't be there to supplement local needs. Even £4,500 a year could be put to good use for the people of Grays.

"But it isn't just about money.

"Alongside the sale of the college site, the council wants to sell off five small sites currently used as recreational open space by neighbouring residents.

"It's difficult to imagine who might want to buy them other than someone wanting to build on them – or in the case of Coronation Avenue turn it into an access for planned residential development. Whatever the outcome, for limited monetary gain today (more chucked into the pit), residents could lose the small green lungs that add to the quality of life in their neighbourhood.

"The Non-Political Alliance of Independent Councillors simply asks what real and tangible benefits do the people of Thurrock get from this selling of the 'family silver' – endorsed and supported by the Labour administration that runs the council?

"The Labour Party exists (set out in its own constitution) to give ordinary people a voice and improve lives.

"How does the selling off of Thurrock people's assets without a mandate – and delegating decision-making on those sales to unelected officers – meet those provisions?

"The people of Thurrock have little or no say now in how this borough is run. Not does it have the mechanism to stop the theft of our assets. That lies with the Labour cabinet and leader Lynn Worrall, who was among the most vocal of critics of the Conservatives when the financial scandal unfolded.

"They were elected on a local manifesto to protect the people and assets of Thurrock. It now seems they are selling both down the river of convenience."