THURROCK Council has completed yet another U-Turn, ditching plans to sell off land to reduce its debt in the wake of public protest.

Last month, the authority pulled its plans to dispose of land around the Brandon Groves estate in South Ockendon.

That followed another decision to backtrack and abandon a bid to sell off land, including a bridleway, near Horndon on the Hill.

After coverage of its intentions to sell and another public protest, we reported in June on the aborted plans.

Now the council has backed down after giving notice of intent to sell two parcels of land adjacent to Langdon Hills County Park.

The council appeared to have negotiated a potential deal with a prospective buyer who wanted to use the land for Special Educational Needs provision and a wider development opportunity.

Today (Friday, 18 September) the council took to social media to 'clarify' the situation and announce it was pulling out of the disposal project.

The decision came in the wake of calls in July for the recently-elected Reform-led council to abandon plans put in place by the previous administration.

Lead proponent of the council's current position was its leader, Reform Cllr Richard Bingley who said he 'wanted to set the record straight that Langdon Hills Country Park was not at risk from development', however he appeared to deny it was because of residents' pressure. And he came up with an alternate timeline.

Cllr Bingley said: "Rumours are continuing to circulate about plans to build on Langdon Hills Country Park.

"Once again I want to reiterate that the park is protected from sale or development by Thurrock Council. As soon as our due diligence over the summer showed that a small area of the country park had been included in a list of asset disposals, we immediately moved to protect it from sale.

"This happened in mid-August. Any claims from people that they have saved the country park are completely false."

However, considerable concerns remain in the east of the borough about the council's plan to support major developments on adjoining land.

The recently redrafted and controversial Thurrock Local Plan designates swathes of green belt land around the country park as available for potential development.

Two development sites north of the A13 are proposed by the council. They are designated Corringham Park Farm and Lower Langdon. Details of both schemes can be found via this link.