Plan for 400 homes on farmland approved

More than 400 homes are set to be built on green belt land despite concerns about drainage and the loss of protected Essex countryside.

Developer Mulberry Strategic Land (MSL) has been given the go ahead for the development on 54 acres (22 hectares) of land to the north of Southend Road in Corringham, Thurrock.

Thurrock Council's planning committee approved an outline application, which will include a primary school, care home and supermarket, with homes up to three storeys high.

MSL said it revised its initial proposals following public consultation and concerns about traffic and road safety had led to the inclusion of new walking and cycling routes and low traffic street design.

The developer said there was a "serious need" for new homes in Thurrock, where nearly 5,000 people were on the social housing waiting list in 2024 and just 173 homes were completed between 2022 and 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Permission for the development was granted despite Anglian Water raising concerns about drainage, and questions from councillors about whether the site could legitimately be described as "grey belt" land — areas within the green belt that were previously developed or did not strongly serve green belt purposes.

The meeting on Wednesday heard from councillors opposed to the use of the land defined as "grey belt", while another said the area's "housing pressures outweighed the objections".

The outline application was approved at the meeting.

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