Reject seafront flats - recommendation

From the archive, first published Wednesday 11th Apr 2007.

CONTROVERSIAL plans to replace a landmark seafront building with a block of flats have been recommended for refusal by council officers.

Benfleet-based Runwood Healthcare currently runs Crowstone House, on Chalkwell seafront, as a nursing home but wants to replace it with 14 flats.

However, Andy Lewis, the council's director of enterprise, tourism and the environment, has advised Southend councillors to refuse planning permission.

In a report, Mr Lewis said the development would be detrimental to the character of the area.

He said: "The proposal would result in the loss of a historic building that is a heritage asset to Southend borough, without adequate consideration of alternative reuse of the building, and without provision for an acceptable alternative.

"It fails to preserve or enhance the character of the conservation area."

Delighted campaigners hope councillors follow the recommendations when they decide on the application at the development control committee meeting next Wednesday at 2pm.

Singer Tina Cousins, 33, of the Leas, said: "I'm over the moon.

"I can understand sometimes a building gets past its sell-by date, but this is such a beautiful building.

"Once you take these buildings down, there is no getting them back. It is not like a modern property which is put up in five seconds - it has been here for more than 100 years."

She added: "I am all for things being regenerated, but we have to keep a little bit of what Southend should be like - a pretty seaside town."

The plans include 14 flats, varying in height from two to five storeys, with balconies and roof terraces, car parking, cycle stores and a communal garden.

Architect Ron Hudson has previously said the owners had no plans to develop the site until they had built a new nursing home in Southend for the residents.

Crowstone House, built in 1905, is singled out by the planning department as a centrepiece of the Crowstone conservation area, and described as "an important townscape feature on the seafront".