A MAN whose house was compulsorily purchased to make way for a car park has hit out at plans to sell the land for housing.

Pete Robbins’s detached bungalow stood in the middle of what is now the Endway car park off Castle Lane, Hadleigh.

In 1968 Benfleet Urban Distrcit Council – which later merged with others to form Castle Point Council – decided to pay him £2,000 for the house so it could be knocked down and the land turned into a car park.

Mr Robbins, 67, who lives in Burtley Road, Benfleet, is upset the council now plans to build houses on the land and feels he could have kept his property there all along.

He said: “I think I got a bit of a raw deal. They didn’t give me enough to buy another house. At the time, the cheapest you could buy a house for was £4,500.

“They housed me in a council house and I had to pay rent. At the end of the day I lost out.

“They made it a car park then all these years later changed their minds. They probably need a car park now more than ever.

“It seems a sneaky way of claiming a bit of property for the future.”

The Castle Point Regeneration Partnership, which works with the council, has earmarked the car park for housing.

The plan to build houses on it has been bitterly opposed by many residents who fear losing the town’s only free parking area.

Campaigners are pushing for a community hall to be built on the site with some of the land retained for parking.

Steve Rogers, the council’s head of planning, said: “This was a very long time ago, but we will look into this and respond to Mr Robbins.”