A bid to turn the Woodham Mortimer Golf Range into up to 25 new bungalows will be voted on by Maldon district councillors next week.

The district council has previously identified the need for more retirement properties in the area, as its proportion of elderly residents grows.

Planning officers have, however, recommended refusal of the application for reasons including the site being in an "unsustainable location" where residents would be "heavily reliant" on private transport.

Officers said it would also represent the "sprawl of development into the open countryside" and would result in the "unjustified loss of an employment use, community facility, tourism facility and sports and leisure facility".

One full-time and two part-time employees currently work at the golf range.

The application involves demolishing the current building on the site, on Burnham Road, and replacing its driving range and pitch and putt with up to 25 one and two-bedroom bungalows and a play area.

The proposal contains small amendments, after it was initially refused by the district council in October - but officers said that these changes have not overcome the previous concerns they raised.

The district council's north western area planning committee will make the final decision next Wednesday (6 October).

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