Property could be bulldozed to allow new homes (From Echo)

Leigh home could be bulldozed to allow new homes

9:00am Thursday 21st February 2013 in Local News

A FAMILY home could be bulldozed to allow boomerang plans for seven new homes on the site of a tennis club to finally go ahead.

Developers have proposed demolishing 131 Highlands Boulevard, in Leigh, to enable them to concrete over the former Leigh Tennis Club.

Three previous versions of the plan for the site, between Adalia Crescent and Agnes Avenue, have fallen flat or been rejected by Southend Council.

Developer MP Pryor is confident it has finally overcome objections by creating a new access route through the bulldozed home.

MP Pryor’s first bid to develop the tennis club was withdrawn shortly before council chiefs were due to make a decision last summer.

Two further incarnations were also torpedoed, the latest because of councillors’ concerns over how fire engines would access the site in an emergency.

The developer hopes to neuter that problem by demolishing 131 Highlands Boulevard and replacing it with a new house and a wider driveway, which could be opened up to the emergency services if needed.

In a statement for the council, the firm’s agent, Russ Drage Architects, said: “Following an extensive consultation process, resulting in a recommendation for approval, the previous application for this site was refused.

“The reasons for refusal have been addressed within these revised proposals, which incorporate a new emergency access route.”