AFTER previously 'giving in' and dropping a £473,215 affordable housing payment from a Grays High Street development project, Thurrock Council has now acquiesced to a further request and allowed more flats, rather than shops, to be added to the site. It will now house 50 dwellings.

The developer of the apartment block on the site of the former Dominoes snooker hall and gym has successfully argued the project would not be financially viable without changing the shops to homes.

The same argument was used to cut the affordable homes quotient from the scheme in 2024.

The development plans for the new block of flats, which were vigorously opposed by the team ministry of the adjacent St Peter and St Paul's Church and the Church Of England who believed it would impose on and overshadow the historic church, have taken many twists and turns since an application for  21 flats was initially approved in 2011.

The scheme was then upgraded to 41 one and two bedroom apartments in 2013. The full history of recent planning applications and revisions is included within planning officer Lucy Mannion's report, which can be read here.

The change to planning permission was granted by officers, rather than it going to the planning committee. Permission was granted on Wednesday, 28 January. All documents and submissions related to the changes can be found via this link.

Horncastles.

Originally the site, which included a covered arcade, was home to a second hand furniture store known as Jackamans, then later Horncastle's. It was run by the Horncastle family until 1958 when it became Perrings Furniture Shop.

When its role as a furniture shop came to an end the art-deco styled building became a snooker club, with a gym above it run by trainer Dave Amos.Initially popular and successful for a number of years, it eventually became run down and the building was subject to a fire that left it derelict and boarded up.

Then a series of applications were drawn up to demolish the old building and create flats.

In 2004, after Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation (TTGDC) took on planning responsibility for the area, its planning committee rejected an application for 41 flats on the site and a later application in 2008 was also given short shrift. In 2011 the Development Corporation finally granted permission for 21 flats and four retail units.

The TTGDC was dissolved in 2012 and planning reverted back to the council, and in 2013 they allowed the number of flats to rise to – but the shops were retained.

How the site looked after Dominoes closed.

When demolition on the site began in 2014 there were confrontations between church users and construction teams, most notably when work disrupted a wedding.

Construction eventually began on the building of the flats, but work was halted for several years or so while the viability of the site was reconsidered. The original company behind the scheme is believed to have sold it on at that time.

Building resumed in 2021 but it has been a long and slow process, ultimately ending in the latest planning application revision.

Justification for the scrapping of the shops element of the plan is given by its owners Star Properties International Limited. They say a market assessment demonstrates the local retail market is experiencing considerable oversupply.

How the new development is envisaged.

Ms Mannion's planning report says that while council policy normally seeks to protect retail frontages, exceptions can be made when there is clear evidence that shops are unlikely to be let. In this case, they concluded the loss of retail floorspace was acceptable.

In addition to the four converted units, the revised plan includes two new ground level flats created through internal reconfiguration, and three extra apartments on the fourth floor, built in the space between the block's two stair cores. The upper floor changes will result in the loss of one of the planned communal terrace areas.

The council's heritage adviser said the changes would not cause any greater harm to the church than the development which has already been approved.