Multi-million pound waterfront development could lead to hundreds of jobs in Maldon, it has been revealed today.

The Baltic Consortium, a group of developers, wants to create a major riverside complex at Sadd's Wharf, off Station Road.

Hundreds of jobs could be created if the district council gives the go ahead for the project called Baltic Wharf.

It includes plans for office blocks, light industrial premises plus parking space for up to 280 vehicles.

The consortium, which owns the site, consists of developers from the home counties and hopes to lure top firms to the town. An outline application for planning consent at the five-acre site is currently before Maldon District Council.

John Peecock, of John PeecockPlanning, Needham Market-based agents acting for the consortium, said the development would revitalise Maldon's waterfront and transform the area into one of the most impressive sites of its kind in Essex.

He said the site would satisfy a demand for white collar jobs in Maldon and was freeing up a site for potential employment.

"Potentially this is a prestige site for offices and for a very considerable number of people working there," he added.

In 1991 a Government inspector ruled the site should be kept for port-related use after defunct Danbury Developments plc failed in its bid to develop it.

Mr Peecock said: "I think this will become a real showcase for Maldon on what is a very important area. This is an opportunity for something special."

Maldon's planning chief Andrew White said the application would be the subject of a detailed report to district council members in the summer.

"It is a prime industrial site and one of the things members would have to decide is whether to continue to market the site as a port," he added.

A more detailed application is expected to follow if planning consent is granted.

The wharf was the former base of John Sadd's timber merchant which was then bought by Boulton and Paul. At one time it was the town's largest employer with around 400 workers on the site.

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