A thriving shopping village has been given the go-ahead to expand - and the growth could bring hundreds of new jobs to Braintree.
The expansion at the Freeport Outlet Village includes a £20 million leisure complex with a 12-screen cinema, bowling alley, swimming pool and family entertainment centre. This alone could bring up to 200 jobs.
The proposals were given the green light at a meeting of Braintree Council's area planning committee on Tuesday night.
To allow for the extension the council had to agree to change the original planning permission, which restricted the amount of space Freeport could use for retail purposes.
It means the factory village will get an extra 2,312 square metres of floorspace.
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article