3:00pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Jon Austin
A NEW housing estate could be built in Basildon.
Council officers have recommended approval for 164 homes on the site of South Essex Gymnastics Centre, in Cranes Farm Road, and adjoining football pitches and open space.
Basildon Council sold the site to developer Bellway Homes to help fund the sports village, currently being built in Gloucester Park.
Adam Keating, council spokesman, said the gymnastics club would stay open until it can be relocated to the sports village, due to open later this year, before homes are built.
Replacement football pitches would also be found before building starts.
The 13-acre estate would include 150 two-storey properties. Four properties at the entrance will be three storeys high.
There will be open space, including existing play equipment on the site, and a new access road on Cranes Farm Road.
Officers have recommended approval, but only if Bellway agrees to provide a currently undisclosed sum towards local highway improvements and other infrastructure.
They have suggested approval despite concerns from Anglian Water and the Environment Agency about the effect the development will have on local sewerage systems.
If councillors agree the scheme, it will be conditional that Bellway puts forward further plans about how it will improve surface water drainage issues.
Four residents objected to the plans on grounds a wooded area on site is a haven for wildlife, there will be added traffic congestion and light pollution, green space will be lost, and three-storey buildings are too high.
An environmental survey of the site found it had the potential to house bats and several bird species.
A report to councillors states: “The provision of housing in support of the sporting village proposals is considered to outweigh the harmful effects.”
Councillors will decide on the plan next week.
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