PLANS for a “care village” with a 70-bed care home, dozens of assisted living homes, and several retirement bungalows has been rejected.

The development, located on the land East of Ilfracombe Avenue in Bowers Gifford, was set to include the care home, 42 assisted living units, and 13 retirement bungalows.

Plans would have also seen a new nature area, a new parking area for St. Margaret’s C of E Primary School, as well as communal facilities including a day care centre and cinema room.

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However, the application was rejected by Basildon Council due to it being located on green belt and concerns it would have a “harmful impact”.

The planning decision stated: “The application represents inappropriate development within the green belt which is by definition harmful and prejudicial in terms of loss of permanence, openness, and conflicts with the purpose of green belt land for preventing encroachment into the countryside.

“There has been insufficient evidence submitted with the application to assess whether there were suitable, available, and deliverable non-green belt alternatives site.

“It has not been adequately demonstrated that the proposal needed to be located in the green belt, or that it would not be feasible to find a suitable site elsewhere.

“The proposed development would also be unacceptable in the absence of a S106 agreement to secure contributions relating to affordable housing, sustainable transport, additional healthcare provisions, employment and skills, and S106 monitoring, which are considered necessary to mitigate the impacts of the proposed development.”

Eight of the eleven councillors that voted, refused the application in support of the recommendation provided by officers.

In the meeting, several councillors did praise the development for being “a good” idea.

However, the main issues lay with its location which outweighed the positives. A number of residents and bodies also objected to the plans too.

Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council objected to the plans on a number of grounds including being on Green Belt without providing “exceptional circumstances required”.

While the Parish Council welcomed the type of developed, they believe the location is “inappropriate”.

A total of 19 neighbouring properties objected to the plans, raising several concerns.

These included “inappropriate development in the green belt”, “scale of development would appear overbearing”, and “issues of noise, dust, and other pollution resulting from the development”.

A petition with 46 signatures from 35 addresses was also received objecting to the proposed development.