PLANS for a new open storage complex on industrial land in Tilbury have been approved by Thurrock Council.

The application, by Charterhouse Property Group, covers three long, narrow plots, squeezed between Hume Avenue and the railway line, close to the junction with Dock Road.

Permission has been granted for up to 5,935sqm of open storage, along with new site access arrangements, landscaping, boundary fencing and small welfare cabins on each plot.

Planning officers described the land as "white land" without a specific allocation but noted a historic pattern of commercial and storage uses, including car parking, workshops and storage of concrete panels and electrical equipment. They concluded that fresh employment use in this Tilbury hub location accords with policies promoting sustainable growth and jobs, provided impacts on residents, the environment and highways are kept within acceptable limits.

The approved scheme will see existing gates and fencing replaced with 1.8 metre steel palisade fencing along the full frontage, backed by new hedging and groundcover, while more substantial native planting is proposed along the rear boundary by the railway.

Open storage areas will sit behind parking bays and single storey welfare cabins at the front of each plot. To limit visual and amenity impacts, a condition caps storage height at three metres and requires front hedging to be maintained at a minimum of two metres.

Neighbouring residents raised concerns over increased HGV traffic, noise, overdevelopment, pollution, litter, loss of amenity and the character of the area during consultation. In response, highways advisers secured conditions restricting HGV movements across the three plots to six two way trips per day, routed only via Dock Road, with an annual log of lorry movements to be submitted to the council.

Operating hours are limited to 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with no working on Sundays or bank holidays, after a noise assessment showed site activity would otherwise exceed background levels.

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The council says biodiversity will see a net gain of around 19 per cent through new planting, and that flood risk is acceptable for this "less vulnerable" use in a flood zone, subject to a flood warning and evacuation plan