MALDON councillors will decide next week whether to give the go-ahead to plans for a new pub and 12 holiday lodges.

The proposals include the demolition of the existing derelict Mill Beach pub off Goldhanger Road, Heybridge, to create the new pub, which will feature a dining area with inside and outside tables. A new residential apartment with a terrace will occupy the first floor.

The new holiday lodges are planned for the largely open grassed area next to the Edwardian pub. The existing building has been heavily vandalised since its closure in April 2018.

Maldon District Council's Central Area Planning Committee will decide on the application next Wednesday (9 September). The development has been recommended for approval by council officers and has received positive feedback from Heybridge Parish Council and there have been no formal objections lodged by residents close to the pub.

Conditions likely to be attached to any go-ahead given include the creation of a bat roost to rehouse the Soprano Pipistrelle bats thought to currently live at the site, as well as the planting of trees to support wild birds.

The lodges would potentially be open all year round, but for holiday rental only and not as permanent residences.

The pub will have weatherboarding, with timber window and door frames.

A car park providing 25 parking spaces will be built as part of the plans, with an additional parking space next to each holiday lodge. The application also shows a new footpath running north to south from Goldhanger Road to the seawall to link into the existing public footpath network.

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