Pland to build a Tesco supermarket in Tiptree have moved on another step.

A meeting of Colchester Council's planning and transportation committee discussed the plans to transform the old Tiptree Book Services site into a supermarket, housing, a community centre and some employment development.

A crowd of angry residents attended the meeting and a petition of 1,000 signatures was presented to the committee in opposition to the proposals. A further 500 signatures had already been passed on to the council.

The meeting voted outline planning permission be granted for the application so long as a number of conditions were imposed.

But as two members of the committee voted against the move it will now be debated again at a full council meeting next month.

The application was last discussed at a meeting of the council's development control sub-committee which requested concerns about increased traffic caused by the supermarket be raised again with the county surveyor.

And a report prepared for the meeting confirmed even with another look at the plans the county surveyor was still happy with them.

Councillors agreed the public car park in Church Road, Tiptree, should be closed and replaced by a larger car park owned by Tesco, subject to the application for the former TBS site getting the go-ahead at the meeting of the full council.

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