The appeal over the 492 flats is being held with Basildon Council and developer Orwell
The design of tower blocks planned for the town centre would be “harmful to the health and wellbeing” of residents, a planning appeal hearing was told.
The appeal over the 492 flats, set in three blocks up to 17 storeys high, is being held with Basildon Council and developer Orwell.
Neil Deely, an architect called in by the council as an expert witness, said the design of the homes on land at Market Square, Basildon was “poor” during the opening of the hearing yesterday.
He said: The internal arrangements of the building are going to be harmful to health and wellbeing. It’s pretty clear the design has long corridors with no natural lighting or ventilation.
Residents will have to go inside and outside to get to homes and it would be exhausting and it also isn’t pleasant or convenient for residents, he said. I do not agree there is benefit for a lounge amenity space with 1200 plus people trooping through it. It’s extending the journey and is inconvenient to people trying to use that space.
If you are arriving at this building from the north side to have to walk around three streets to the south of the building is a significant inconvenience and is unnecessary, he said.
The huge plans were previously accepted by councillors on two separate occasions earlier this year, before being swiftly rejected by the Conservatives. They previously dubbed the homes as “rabbit cages” due to their fears over the size.
The development would replace the Moon on the Square pub, Greggs and a Subway.
Mr Deely added: A mixture of residential and commercial use of space and corridors does cause issues and it should be avoided.
