A decision by Maldon District Council on the controversial expansion of a business park is expected next week.

There have been 38 letters of objection lodged with the council against plans for 13 new industrial and business units, an office block and a café at Beckingham Business Park in Beckingham Street, Tolleshunt Major.

All three of the parish councils consulted over the application – Tolleshunt Major Parish Council, Little Totham Parish Council and Tolleshunt D'Arcy Parish Council have recommended refusal, too.

Application details

The application site is bounded by the existing business park to the north and agricultural fields to the three remaining sides.

Part of the 1.35 hectares of land earmarked for the new section of business park previously housed three large fruit washing drums, the concrete bases of which remain on the site. The rest of the land is currently an agricultural field.

The land is included for employment use within the Local Development Plan (LDP) and council officers have recommended that councillors on Maldon District Council's North Western Area Planning Committee approve the plans when they come before them next Wednesday (16 December) at 6pm.

An area within the proposals is allocated to drainage and reducing any ecological impact by providing a pond and a new wild flower and wildlife meadow, as well as planting new native trees.

Objections to the plans

However, residents of the villages neighbouring the area are concerned about numerous issues, including traffic and the environmental and visual impact of the proposed buildings.

One objector wrote: "These buildings are imposing and will have a negative impact on our natural environment. They will be seen from the surrounding countryside as far as Little Totham."

Another said: "The roads are not built for this level of traffic and residents have already had to put up with the volume of current heavy traffic entering the business park."

And another added: "Given the current pandemic and time of uncertainty I do not feel that there is any need to take more green fields to build units, café or parking spaces."

Council officers have recommended that if approved, a Section 106 agreement is put in place – containing numerous conditions and including the developer submitting an updated workplace travel plan with a monitoring fee of £5,000.