TOWIE Towers plan is rejected (From Brentwood Weekly News)

TOWIE Towers plan is rejected

7:30am Friday 3rd August 2012 in News

IT is back to the drawing board for the developers behind a shops and flats plan dubbed Towie Towers.

A multi million-pound scheme to revamp part of Brentwood town centre was thrown out by Brentwood Council members who thought the proposal would be too big for the parcel of land it was aimed at.

Up to eight new shops and 17 flats could have been built just behind the Slug and Lettuce, if Brentwood Council had given the go-ahead to the ambitious planning application.

The project was for land at the corner of Crown Street and Hart Street, a site currently occupied by a two-storey empty building, which was formerly used as a motorcycle and parts shop.

MCC Developments, which is run by Paul Mecklenburgh, father of the Only Way is Essex star Lucy, wanted to knock down the building and put up a four-storey building in its place.

The ground floor of the proposed building was designed to provide one, large unit measuring 315sqm.

However, the unit could have been divided into eight smaller units, each with its own separate entrance, and the permission would have been for shops, professional services and could include restaurants or cafes.

Although councillors agreed work needed to be done on the eyesore, there was a consensus the proposal was too big.

Mike Le-Surf (Lab, Brentwood South) said: “We want something new there for certain, but it was too big, it was a storey too high.

“There could have been 30 to 40 people living there and there’s not the space for that.

“What is there now is tatty so hopefully there can be discussions with the developer and they can come back in with another plan that will possibly see approval granted.”