Project
South Ockendon Station Site Granted Consent

Posted on 17 July 2024

In December 2021 we submitted proposals for 38 new homes on a vacant brownfield site adjacent to South Ockendon Station in Thurrock. Modestly scaled with five buildings, three-four storeys in height following a positive pre-application process, the planning application was recommended for approval by officers but then refused by councillors at committee in August 2023.

The applicant appealed and in May 2024, two and a half years after the planning application was submitted, the refusal was overturned. The appeal decision noted that;

“… the Council has resolved that it would not defend any of its reasons for refusal as the proposal is acceptable in all its aspects.”

“It is agreed that the Council cannot demonstrate a suitable supply of housing sites, compatible with the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework.”

“I have found that the proposal complies with the Council’s Development Plan in all respects”

In other words, the council had no legitimate reason to refuse the application, in the process denying its own constituents access to new homes and the opportunity to greatly improve a brownfield site adjacent to a public transport node.

As is their right, the client will now seek to recover their costs, potentially depriving the council of funds that should be spent on homes, schools and parks. So, is the planning system broken? It’s not the sole problem, and - on the whole - our own experience is positive, but this example shows just one way in which politics and NIMBY-ism can seek to undermine it.

Five years from when we first started work on this project, the overgrown vacant brownfield site remains undeveloped. Hopefully with this decision we can finally start building these 38 much-needed homes.