Green light for 'ugly' Wickford flats

Opposing Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors - who described the proposals as a blot on the landscape - were told there were no planning grounds to refuse the application.

The two parties had called for plans to build 33 flats on the Nevendon Road roundabout to be sent back to developers.

They claimed the homes - which will be built at the entrance of Wickford - were too big and too ugly.

However, Labour council chiefs were warned that refusing the application could lead to a costly appeal by the applicants, with the cost falling on the taxpayer.

Councillor Loraine Rossati, chairman of the council's regeneration and environment committee, said: "I can understand local opposition but it's no different to anything else that has been built in the district.

"I have sympathy with councillors' views on it but the objections they've come up with do not stand up.

"I do not think we can turn it down because we do not like three-storey buildings."

The development will house 23 homes along with the flats, surrounded by a fence and landscaping.

The Wickford area committee, made up of Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors who review planning applications in the town, had opposed the proposals and deferred it to the regeneration committee.

Malcolm Buckley, Conservative member for Wickford South, said: "I accept this site is going to be developed but I want to see something that is aesthetically pleasing because it is the gateway to Wickford.

"Anyone coming into the town will see this block of flats slap bang in the middle of the countryside. This report is badly flawed."

Labour councillors rejected calls to defer the decision for a few weeks.

Although planning permission was granted, landscaping plans will have to go before the committee and the developers will also have to increase the number of car parking spaces on the site.

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