PLANS have been submitted for more than 100 homes in an abandoned car park in Basildon.

A planning application for 105 homes in the former "car park 14" in Basildon was validated by the borough council last month.

Sempra Homes, a commercial housing arm of Basildon Borough Council is listed as the applicant. This comes after earlier plans to build 233 homes at the site were withdrawn in September 2021.

According to a design and access statement, the car park 14 site, now being referred to as "Chapelgate", is of strategic importance due to its location between Laindon Link and Nether Mayne.

A section read: "Due to its setting and strategic location to Basildon town centre, the Chapelgate site provides an opportunity for an extension to the existing town centre community and to provide high quality housing and amenity for the residents of Basildon."

A later section read: "The proposal for providing housing at Chapelgate forms part of Basildon's strategy to increase the number of much needed housing in the area for local people."

According to the statement, the scheme will include two apartment blocks, reaching five and six storeys in height. 

There would also be 11 two-storey terraces and three townhouses reaching three storeys, laid out to create a gradual increase in height and density.

The statement says the site is walking and cycling distance from the town centre, with Basildon train station only 12 minutes away.

In addition to the homes, Sempra's application is proposing vehicle access from Laindon Link, cycle and pedestrian accesses, new car parking, landscaping including open space, boundary treatments, drainage, earthworks and a substation.

The site originally contained a small number of houses, but was converted to a car park for the Westgate retail park when it was built around the turn of the century. However, it has been closed for roughly 10 years, and has since become overgrown. According to the statement, a large amount of hardstanding remains.

The full application can be viewed by the following link: https://planning.basildon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RGN8BQCQ00A00