Thurrock council announces plans to tear down tower blocks

A council has announced plans to knock down three tower blocks and replace them with new council homes.

The Conservative cabinet of Thurrock Council in Essex said it would replace the Blackshots flats with a mix of housing and modern tower blocks.

It said there were no plans to replace six towers at Seabrook Rise, where residents have reported mouldy conditions since cladding was removed.

Council leader Rob Gledhill said any new homes needed to be "fit for life".

Plans include replacing the three Blackshots towers, that house 160 flats, with 240 new council homes on the same site.

The cabinet also voted to approve plans for 80 one and two-bed council flats on the site of the old civic offices in the centre of Grays.

Mr Gledhill told the BBC after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday: "We need to put buildings up whether they be high-rise, medium-rise or houses that are not just fit for this year, not just fit for 10 years or twenty years, but are fit for life… try to future-proof it as much as we can."

He said he would love to say it would "take a few years" but it would be a long-term process.

"We tried hard to find a consensus on replacing high rise [flats] and would look to do the same again."

Conservative cabinet member Ben Maney accused Labour of "leaving residents in slums" when they were in administration.

Labour opposition leader John Kent said: "Tories have run Thurrock for 12 of the last 18 years.

"The easy bit is making grand statements and issuing press releases. It's much harder to actually plan and deliver really complex projects like this."

He said the money being spent on new council offices, allowing for the civic centre to be demolished and replaced with new homes, was "expensive, unnecessary and ill-thought-out".

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]