BASILDON Council has shied away from promising a start date on construction of a 105-home development as fears grow over the “abandoned looking” site.

Plans to build 35 houses and 70 flats – in a development labelled Chapelgate – in Car Park 14 off Laindon Link near the Roundacre Roundabout were approved in December.

Sempra Homes, the council-owned house building firm, had initially wanted to build 233 homes in a ten-storey block, but reduced the scale of the scheme following public backlash.

Four months on from approval, and the site lies empty, with the council and Sempra refusing to confirm when construction will begin when questioned by the Echo.

“The site has really gotten into a bad state and will probably need clearing before work can begin,” Kerry Smith, Nethermayne councilllor and leader of the Independent Group, said.

“A lot of residents are concerned travellers are going to turn up on the site.

“They cleared the whole site, but they only put up a flimsy gate, one chop with a bolt cutter and they would be in.

“They’ve been there twice before, last during one of the Covid lockdowns, so I wouldn’t doubt it happening again.”

He added: “As it stands the place is abandoned looking, and a real mess.”

This is the second attempt to build houses in the site, between Laindon Link and Nether Mayne.

A larger scheme was withdrawn in late 2021, shortly after a change in administration in the council.

The site has remained unused for over a decade, attracting anti-social behaviour, nuisance and fly tipping.

Under the approverd plans, homes will be built in buildings reaching up to six storeys tall, according to a report, and will be a mix of one to three bedroom-apartments and four-bedroom houses.

There will be no affordable housing in the Chapelgate development.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: “Sempra Homes received planning permission at a meeting of Basildon Council’s Planning Committee on December 14, 2022.

“Sempra Homes are working with the local authority and Essex County Council to ensure the required agreements and planning permission decision notices are in place.

“We continue to work with Sempra Homes to bring the site forward and deliver new homes in the borough.”