DEVELOPERS looking to bulldoze a car showroom to make way for an apartment block have submitted revised larger plans after initially being rejected by the council.

Leigh-based applicant Remarkable Ltd had proposed to bulldoze Beverley Autos in London Road and replace it with nine flats in a three-storey development

The scheme was rejected by Southend Council in April, but now the developers have returned with proposals for a four-storey development.

Councillors threw out the proposals after council officers claimed the development would not offer enough new homes to warrant losing “a commercial active frontage and employment opportunity in the local centre”.

The current building is a two-storey terraced building comprising the Beverley Autos car showroom on the ground floor with flats above.

Echo: New scheme - The revised plansNew scheme - The revised plans

The new plans feature fewer flats, seven, but unlike the previous application which consisted wholly of one-bed flats, this revised application offers three one-beds and four two-bed flats.

The new scheme also features another one-bedroom chalet bungalow at the back of the current building.

The existing car showroom has three members of staff however these jobs will not be lost, planning documents claim, but relocated to another car showroom on the corner of London Road with Medway Crescent, operated by the same owner, and also named Beverley Autos.

The developers argue Southend is in need of new housing, and according to the publication of the Housing Delivery Test 2021, published by the Office of National Statistics earlier this year, only managed to achieve 31 per cent of the Government’s Housing Delivery Test (HDT) – the lowest figure in the country.

Councillor Carole Mulroney, responsible for environment, culture, tourism, and planning, told the Echo the council was working with developers on large-scale developments to address housing needs.

“Southend is one of the most densely populated areas outside London, with limited space within which to deliver additional housing,” she said,

“Despite this the borough has delivered upon its adopted housing targets for the period of 2001-2021, delivering on average, more than the 325 homes required each year.

“We are also currently dealing with a number of large-scale major housing led developments, which will significantly increase housing delivery in the borough.”