RESIDENTS in Chadwell Mary have expressed concern about the latest proposal to increase the number of homes on an already controversial development.

The original development of 20 homes at Oak Grove was approved and built despite the wishes of local residents and the area, initially planned to be a quiet family estate, was almost entirely used for rental purposes and plays host to a number of refugees.

The maintenance of buildings and the general state of the area has caused considerable disquiet to residents. A previous report by Nub News highlighted the unkempt nature of the area in a video, also attached to this latest update. 

Now a new plan has been submitted to Thurrock Council to knock down some existing homes on Oak Grove and extend the size of the existing estate with 24 new homes. The full proposal by the developers can be found via this link. The new development will include the creation of a four-storey block of flats.

The development adjacent to Oak Grove and accessed from St Johns Road currently being considred by the council.

The new application has been submitted at the same time as the council is considering an unconnected scheme for 37 homes on adjacent land. That application was reported by Thurrock Nub News last December and, as yet, remains undecided. A full explanation of plans for that site, accessed via St Johns Road, can be found here.

Applicants for the new scheme to change the existing homes on Oak Grove say the site has been "identified as a potential to increase the much needed local housing supply by adapting and extending existing developments with a sympathetic and contextually relevant design".

Residents have pointed out that almost in its entirety the existing homes on Grove Road have been used by newcomers to the area, including immigrants housed by the Home Office. They say it is a fallacy to suggest the scheme is helping the 'local housing supply'.

The new scheme would appear to be a follow up to an aborted bid to increase the size of four houses on the development in 2020. The plan was to make them 'houses of multiple occupancy and was reported on by Nub News in December 2020. Those four applications no longer remain on the council's planning portal so it is not known what, if any official outcome materialised or if they were withdrawn.

The new planning application and the opportunity to comment on the proposed expansion of Oak Grove can be found here.