The Planning Process

Thurrock is set to change a lot over the next few years, with a growing population, new jobs, and increased investment in local services. The planning system seeks to guide this growth to the right places. To do this, all planning decisions are assessed against the Local Plan for the area, as well as taking into account a wide range of other relevant, often site specific, factors.

The current ‘local plan’ (which in this case is known as the Core Strategy and was adopted in 2011) already identifies Purfleet as a place for regeneration and growth. The vision is to deliver a mix of new homes, jobs and community facilities. In response to this, a planning application was made by Thurrock Council in 2012 and granted planning permission in May 2013 to show how this vision might be put into practice. That application though was ‘in outline’. This means that it only sought to explore the broad principles of how such a development might turn out, but didn’t go into many of the details (these are known as the ‘reserved matters’ ).

Purfleet Centre Regeneration Limited (PCRL) have sought to take matters to the next stage.

Outline planning permission for the regeneration of Purfleet Town Centre has been granted. This establishes the principle of development on the site, and has various conditions attached to it to ensure development is brought forward in an orderly way and in accordance with the planning application. As with most large developments, the scheme will be implemented in phases.

The details of each phase or sub-phase of the proposed development will be contained in what are known as reserved matters applications. Both PCRL and Thurrock Council will consult with local residents and businesses on these applications, so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to let us know what you think.

The next reserved matters applications are unlikely to be submitted to Thurrock Council until late 2020 or early 2021, but thereafter there is likely to be at least one or two as the scheme progresses.

Planning approval has been granted for the first 61 homes (known as Phase 1A) which are to be built in the Hollow Woods area, just west of the Railway Station. Subject to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, PCRL intends to start work on these in 2020.

View the project timeline here.