Council Deadlocked Over Flacks Nursery Applications

he District Council Planning Committee couldn’t agree on what to do with two applications for building flats and houses at Flacks Nursery (154 Eastwood Road).

This was at September’s planning meeting.It was the first meeting to be chaired by Rochford Councillor Keith Gordon, and boy, he won’t forget it in a hurry! The applications were for a total of 17 flats, 4 cottages and 7 houses. (The existing “White House” would be kept).

The local Conservative councillors moved for the schemes to be refused. It was clear that they had some support , but other councillors felt that their grounds for refusal were a little shaky. How would the vote go? Twelve councillors voted in support of the motion for refusal – and twelve voted against! So the chairman used his casting vote – and voted against refusal, so the motion for refusal failed 13-12.

The chairman then moved that the scheme be approved. Only 10 councillors raised their hands to support the motion for approval – and 12 voted against the motion, so it was lost by 12 votes to 10.

Why did two councillors who voted against refusal not raise their hands to support approval? It’s not clear. But in any case, the council was deadlocked , and agreed to defer any decisions until the next planning meeting.

You can find the applications on the council website . Their reference numbers are 05/00522/FUL and 05/00514/FUL

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