Maldon District Council's North Western Area Planning Committee will meet tomorrow (10 August) at 7.30pm, and will decide whether to approve plans for affordable retirement housing in Woodrolfe Road, Tollesbury.

Development company Lewis & Scott aims to build 25 homes for people aged 60 and over in the 'Tollesbury Salt Meadows' scheme.

As of today (9 August) 152 residents have commented on the planning application. Of those, 125 support the proposed development.

Tania Shirley wrote: "Being recently widowed, myself and a neighbour have found ourselves in a frightening situation in the fact that only having small pensions to live on, both our three-bedroom family homes are increasingly more expensive to run.

"There truly is a massive need for this development and more like it.

"This application has shown that there is hope that people like me are considered, and worth fighting for."

"There truly is a massive need for this development and more like it." Tania Shirley, who supports the application

Jean Brown is one of the 22 who objected to the proposal. She said it is "completely the wrong development in the wrong place".

"No transport near, all uphill to the village and people should not be segregated into age-related enclaves. Sewage cannot cope now; electricity is quite often suffering outages. It would mean even more cars through village and the road is not suitable for people using mobility scooters because lack of pavements.

"This land is liable to flood in the not too far future, so I object to this application most strongly."

"People should not be segregated into age-related enclaves." Jean Brown, who objects to the application

Douglas Minter, manager at D&D Engineering, which is based near the proposed site, is in favour of the development.

He told Nub News: "Everyone needs somewhere to live."

Ashley Birkin, director of Ashtec Automotive on Woodrolfe Road, said he was "on the fence" about the development.

He said: "Tollesbury needs something like it, but you've got to be very careful of flooding. Putting footings and things in is only going to make it worse."

The proposed site and its surroundings in Tollesbury (Credit: 2021 Google Earth)

The Environment Agency has raised no objection to the plans, and the site is in Flood Zone 1, the lowest-risk area.

Helen Tidswell, co-founder of development company Lewis & Scott, told Nub News: "The proposed site is categorically not at risk from tidal flooding - this has been confirmed by The Environment Agency and The Lead Local Flood Authority.

"Any views in contrast to this are going against the independent expert assessments.

"Furthermore, the site has been engineered to have a positive impact on the local drainage system.

"With the cost of living increasing dramatically, and the significant shortage of affordable housing for older people, it's imperative that we support this vulnerable group in our community. We have 125 letters of support from local people who need this project to come forward soon, and for whom the current situation is unsustainable."

Tomorrow's North Western Area Planning Committee meeting will also be streamed live on Maldon District Council's YouTube Channel, from 7.30pm.