PLANS to build a desperately needed care home on Canvey have been questioned by the town council because the applicant’s dad is a prominent councillor on the island.

Proposals have been submitted to build a 57-bed residential home on the corner of Northwick Road and Canvey Road, on the site of Garden World Plants garden centre.

The proposal has been put forward to Castle Point Council by Sheryl Howard, 55, who currently manages Stafford Court Care Home, on Canvey and has worked in care for more than 30 years.

But Canvey Town Council objected to the plans after a meeting of the planning committee, after Mrs Howard failed to mention in the application that she is the daughter of long-standing island councillor, Ray Howard.

The connection should have been made clear in Section 8 of the application.

Canvey Town Council can only object to the plans.

The final decision rests with Castle Point Council.

As well as her failure to declare her relationship to Mr Howard, the council also objected on grounds of insufficient parking and the site being on greenbelt land. When speaking to the Echo after the plans were submitted to Castle Point Council, Mrs Howard said that of course she wasn’t expecting any special treatment just because her dad had been a councillor for a long while on the island.

She stated that this was very much “her project” which she had been planning and working towards for a number of years.

If the plans are approved, Sheryl is hoping to move the current Stafford Court residents into the new care home as soon as possible.

The new home is set to be far more modern and up to date in comparison to Stafford Court, and is much needed on Canvey.

Stafford Court Care Home currently provides residential care to 29 residents.

All residential units will be designed to create sustainable housing so that people can stay in them longer and people with limited mobility or severe disability can live there successfully too.

The plans have been submitted to Castle Point Council and will now be considered by planning officers before recommendations are made to the planning committee.

Visit Castle Point Council’s planning portal with code 17/1063/OUT to submit comments.