A petition has been launched against controversial plans to demolish a once-thriving community centre, clocking up almost 500 signatures in a week.

Rochford District Council wants to pull down Mill Hall and build a new centre to be used by the council and the public.

Now Rochford Lib Dems have had hundreds of signatures in a week for their petition demanding a public consultation on plans for Mill Hall.

The new two-storey building will contain offices on the first floor with the ground floor earmarked for public hire.

Rayleigh resident Roger Gardiner said it could cost somewhere in the region of £6million at a time when the country is in “dire straits”.

He said: “It should be stopped. They are always selling land for housing but we don’t need any more houses and this is not the right time to be doing this. They seem to want to build on every spare bit of green grass these days.

“I have already signed this petition. When these buildings, including the Freight House were run by a private company they made a fortune.”

The new centre will be smaller than the current one which is used for big events.

It is currently being used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre.

James Newport, leader of the Lib Dem group, said: “As a group, the Lib Dems were excluded from having a place on the working group on that project. We feel very strongly that residents should be consulted and we felt a petition for consultation was appropriate.

“We have been contacted by groups and users of Mill Hall and we thought this was the most appropriate action to take.

“One of the main concerns is that there was never any costs put forward for refurbishment. There will be a smaller community hall which won’t have anywhere near the facilities of Mill Hall including a stage.

“Mill Hall has a lot of events like pantomimes and concerts as well as popular comedy clubs. Rayleigh has a lively night life, with many people going to restaurants before the show.

“We feel this is very short sighted.”

The petition can be found at https://essexlibdems.org.uk/en/petition/save-rayleigh-mill-hall-and-council-chamber