Three bids to build in the village of Bulphan have left councillors divided over whether building on green belt land is acceptable.

Thurrock Council’s planning committee became embroiled in a debate over when it is acceptable to build on green belt land during a meeting last week.

The discussion came as they examined three planning applications for small plots of housing in Bulphan – all of which were refused planning permission.

When considering plans to build eight homes in place of existing buildings on Judds Farm on Harrow Lane, Labour Councillor Gerard Rice warned the government could intervene if the committee chose to refuse planning permission.

He said: “If we were to reject this and it goes off to the Government, they will trawl through and look at us and say you haven’t got a five-year land supply and this is previously developed land. In our view, they might say, we’ll let it go through.”

But meeting chair Conservative Councillor Tom Kelly said approving would “set a precedent”.

In a later discussion about two applications to build a total of 14 homes on Peartree Lane, Councillor Barry Johnson, who represents the area, explained the village “sits very much in Thurrock’s greenbelt”.

All of the Bulphan applications were refused permission.