THURROCK councillors have gathered enough signatures to force an extraordinary meeting of the council to discuss delays to the local plan.

Early last month, Thurrock Council announced it would be delaying publication of its long-awaited plan for up to two years.

That decision was based largely on the decision by the Labour government to delay a decision on the Lower Thames Crossing until last least next year.

And it was another hammer blow to hopes that the council would finally get a cogent planning document on the table.

A draft plan to replace the hugely outdated document that was last revived in the middle of the last decade, was published late last year and residents took part in a major consultation exercise in the early months of 2024.

It was hoped that an agreed document, which is now more than eight years in the making, would be ready to become policy by June 2026.

Cllr Lee Watson announced a delay in implementation of Thurrock's local plan.

But at October's cabinet meeting, Cllr Lee Watson, who has the portfolio for 'good growth', announced a further delay.

The failure to have an effective local plan is viewed as a major factor in the number of big green belt industrial and residential being proposed on an ad-hoc basis by voracious developers – with some going direct to the government for approval.

One such scheme, Mulberry Strategic land's proposal for up to 1,000 homes in East Tilbury, was given the green light this week – largely because Thurrock Council did not have an effective development plan in place.

Yesterday (Wednesday, 6 November) Thurrock Conservatives announced they have submitted a call for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Local Plan. It is back by members of their own group and a number of independent councillors have also signed the request. 

The leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Andrew Jefferies says: "It is regrettable that the local plan has been delayed. 

"This will leave Thurrock residents without certainty of where development will be coming in Thurrock. It limits the legal grounds the council has to reject speculative planning applications, which leaves the council and residents powerless to fight against development. 

"This is certainly bad news for Thurrock and limits the progress made over the last couple of years.

"We have joined with other opposition groups to call for an extraordinary full council meeting, as residents need to know why the delay has happened and have full transparency. 

"The Local Plan will help shape development in Thurrock over the next 20 years - it is crucial that we get it right. 

"I hope that all councillors from all parties agree with the motion that will be laid at the extraordinary full council to have the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee scrutinise and investigate the delay to the local plan."

Cllr Neil Speight is the spokesperson for the Non-Political Alliance of Independent Councillors and he has signed the meeting request, but also posed a question.

He says: "I find it somewhat incongruous that Cllr Jefferies is leading this call. Would that be the same Cllr Jefferies who was leader of the council in September 2023 who fought tooth and nail – unsuccessfully I might add – to block an extraordinary meeting called by the requisite five independent members?

"At that meeting, despite Cllr Jefferies' antipathy towards the subject being aired, there was unanimous agreement from the 39 members present that our motion for the commissioning of a fully independent inquiry into the management and achievements of Thurrock Council's planning department since 2015.

"And also, that its remit will include a full and detailed investigation into how and why the council has not been able to formulate a new local plan over the same period of time."

Cllr Neil Speight.

"Instead of embracing that, Cllr Jefferies and senior officers prevaricated and wanted to wait for the outcome of the LGA Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Peer Review of the planning service before progressing an inquiry.

"In the interests of unanimity, I agreed to that but the PAS review is now complete and its report published. It was pretty damning.

"We were told 'officers will now be working with members to agree the scope and terms of an inquiry to cover areas not addressed in the PAS review'. 

"Up to May this year that was on Cllr Jefferies' watch and since then under Labour's, but not a lot has been done. As far as I am aware its another of the many cans kicked into the council long grass. The mechanism is already in place for an independent inquiry into Thurrock's planning process is now sanctionned and it is my beleif it should happen. We cannot build a future on the unstable foundations in place in Thurrock.

"And – as my colleague Cllr Fraser Massey so dramatically put in in the wake of Tuesday's shocking news about East Tilbury' – more nails have been hammered systematically into Thurrock's green belt coffin while we wait.

"I look forward to another extraordinary meeting, but I am afraid I don't expect very much by way of defending our residents' rights from what is becoming an increasingly 'ordinary' council that is really not fit for purpose."

Following the Independent group-called extraordinary meeting in September, there was another special council meeting on 6 December to discuss the 'Local Plan: Initial Proposals document'.

At that meeting a further residents' consultation was proposed. Cllr Jefferies said: "This is not only an opportunity for the residents to have their say on the future of the borough but to also show residents that the council had learnt lessons from the past and would not be repeating them.

"To build a better future for Thurrock it is now time to listen to residents, to be honest with them."

The consultation was later carried out and collated into a new document - which has now been put on hold.

Today Cllr Watson said: ""Thurrock Conservatives had eight years to produce a competent Local Plan, but failed miserably – once again we have been left to clear up the Tory mess, we inherited.

"While I will be more than happy to discuss this at a special council meeting as it will give us the chance to go understand the extent of the Tory failure to deliver a Local Plan, such a meeting is entirely unnecessary

"I presented the case for a delay to the cabinet on Wednesday, 9 of October. Not a single Tory could be bothered to attend that meeting and voice their concerns – even after that, they could have "called in" the decision for the scrutiny committee, something they now say they want.

"The fact is a year ago Cllr Jeffries was against calling extraordinary meetings, saying they were unnecessary and cost £3,000 – this is the sort of hypocritical grandstanding that we can all do without."