Plans to build a warehouse in Rayleigh look set to be rejected as the space has been earmarked for traveller and gypsy accommodation.

The site, known as Michelin Farm, situated at the junction of the A1245 and A127, has been set aside by the council as land for traveller accommodation since 2014.

Rochford District Council’s planning committee will meet tomorrow night (September 23) to decide the fate of an application to build a 30,000 square metre warehouse on the site – which is not owned by the council.

The new warehouse would sit alongside a 9.5 hectares industrial complex which was approved last year.

The 20-metre-tall warehouse would create 800 jobs and a “post-pandemic boost of up to £56 million a year,” according to the applicant StarUK Rayleigh Propco.

The council has placed the number of created jobs between 400 – 800 and estimates the development would see £23.4 million of investment in the local economy.

Council officers have recommended councillors reject the warehouse plans as land at Michelin Farm, which forms part of the application site, was allocated by the council for gypsy and traveller accommodation in the Allocations Plan in 2014.

The Michelin Farm allocation seeks to provide 15 pitches for travellers on the site. As part of its application, StarUK Rayleigh Propco has offered the council £100,000 to provide these pitches elsewhere.

A spokesperson from StarUK Rayleigh Propco said: “It should be highlighted from the outset that there is no realistic prospect of an application coming forward for the gypsy and traveller use allocated in the plan.

“Therefore, the council should reallocate the land for a more deliverable use, and in the interim support the current application for an alternative use given the proposed use would contribute to meeting an unmet need for development in the area.”

In order to deliver the traveller site, the council has acknowledged it will need to employ a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to buy the land from the current landowner, who, according to council documents, “has no intention of delivering a gypsy and traveller site on the land.”

The council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan for the district, expected to be ready by 2023, and consultation documents for the plan acknowledge the traveller site has yet to be delivered and that “there now exists doubt as to when or if delivery of this site is likely to be possible.”

If the council did purchase the land, it would have to stump up further cash to provide connection to gas, electricity and sewerage.

The estimated cost to the council for the delivery of the traveller site would be more than £1.3 million.