Practice’s Northlake development would also feature new school, health centre and a lido
Studio Egret West has submitted proposals for a new 2,500-home neighbourhood in the Essex borough of Thurrock, north of the Lakeside Shopping Centre.
Drawn up for developer London Strategic Land, the scheme would be built out on 48 hectares of green belt that is part bounded by the M25 motorway and which also includes the Essex Arena raceway and the Lakeside Karting tracks.
SEW is seeking detailed consent for 342 homes, all but 24 of which would be flats, a lido, café, linear park and a 3km mountain bike trail for the site. The practice is also proposing to create a cycle tunnel beneath the A1306 to connect the shopping centre with the development, named “Northlake”.
Outline consent is being sought for the remaining homes, a primary school, a convenience store, a health centre and a “community pavilion”.
While the former chalk quarry site is located in the green belt, documents supporting the application said its development had been identified in Thurrock planning policy back in 2011. SEW said the scheme’s linear park would work with existing ecological habitats to “create a holistic landscape”.
“The proposals intend to establish a highly liveable community where wildlife-focused areas and people-focused areas are balanced and mutually beneficial,” it said.
“A lake with a lido, a woodland park with mountain bike trails and open mosaic grassland all contribute to the quality of the neighbourhood and to regional bio-diversity by creating another core area along the Mar Dyke River Valley linear corridor.”
Supporting documents for the application said the 2,500 homes would account for 11% of Thurrock’s “objectively assessed need”, to use official Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government jargon, for the years to 2037.
Thurrock has indicated it will determine the application by the end of March.
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