DEVELOPERS behind major plans for 500 new flats have been told to "get a move on" and start work on the new homes after delays in the project.

Basildon Estates, which has planning permission for 495 homes on the former Marks and Spencer in Town Square, had been due to start work but has applied to the council for more time to submit detailed plans.

The application, initially rejected by the council, was approved by the Government's planning inspectorate in spring 2022 and will see a 23 storey tower block created.

However, no work has taken place and the developer has asked for more time to propose changes to the plan which it claims are vital as a result of the Grenfell disaster.

A senior opposition councillor is calling for progress in the works.

Kevin Blake, deputy leader of the Conservative Group, said: “They need to get these built, and the council can take this number of homes off its five-year housing supply targets. They need to stop making excuses and get the homes built. The town centre needs it and does need housing. I don’t agree with this number of homes, but the plans were agreed, so get on with it.

“I feel a bit frustrated, and residents do too; I’ve had people asking me when work will start, and we will see some progress there. The shops and businesses will benefit, and it will also help the nighttime economy and the new cinema. It will create a more natural environment in the town centre.”

A spokesman for Basildon Estates, the site owners and planning applicant, pointed to a "economically and financially difficult period" as cause for delays in work.

They said: “Planning permission was granted on appeal for this scheme in March 2022 and, as you will recall, coincided with a particularly difficult period economically and financially – Covid-19, a big uptick in cost inflation related to the war in Ukraine; and later the financial fallout from the Autumn 2022 mini-budget.

“Even more immediately, we have also been directly affected by the new post-Grenfell fire regulations introduced last year.

“Essentially, each of our four buildings will require the provision of a second stair core, with consequential changes to floor layouts, apartment configurations and unit mixes. We are not in any way abandoning our scheme proposals, but the scale of these changes requires a formal amendment to our current permission."