THOUSANDS of lorries carrying mud to a Shoebury development will use a controversial route despite pleas from residents and the Mayor of Southend.

Bellway Homes has planning permission to build 214 homes on two flood-prone parcels of land off Barge Pier Road, Shoebury but the project involves raising the level of the site by piling in tonnes of earth.

The route originally agreed will take lorries along Shoebury Common Road, up Thorpe Hall Avenue to Eastern Avenue and on to the A127 despite fears it could damage sewage pipes beneath Thorpe Hall Avenue.

Tony Cox, leader of the previous Conservative administration, suggested an alternative route that would have used the seafront, Queensway and Victoria Avenue but the developer is pushing on with the original route.

On Wednesday, Southend’s development control committee unanimously agreed a lorry management scheme which will see lorries tracked to ensure they stick to the agreed route and a complaints scheme for residents.

However, Southend mayor Ron Woodley, unsuccessfully called for the application to be deferred. He said: “There is not all the details we need for this community to make a decision.

“We look at the highways, it says no objections. My understanding is the route currently being proposed and has been agreed is to go through the city, past three schools, around Priory Crescent, along a lot of residential streets and will come into Thorpe Hall Avenue where we’ve got very shallow sewer pipes. We are talking about over 85,000 truck movements in and out of the site.”

The independent councillor for Thorpe Ward, added: “There is no consultation taken place along the route. Where are the 1,298 letters of objection from people along the route in this report?”

Peter Lovett, chairman of Shoebury Residents’ Association, admitted he was shocked at the decision and raised major concerns over the impact on Thorpe Hall Avenue.

He said: “I was shocked because I thought Tony Cox had changed it.

“My main concern with Thorpe Hall Avenue is we’ve got a 1.6metre diameter sewage outflow pipe that runs down there. That’s burst it’s cover many times and if you’ve got heavy lorries going over it’s worse.”

A Bellway spokesman said: “Following ongoing consultation with the local authority, we are following the agreed lorry route which forms part of our planning permissions granted in December 2022. There will be ongoing monitoring of construction traffic to and from site, to ensure the health & safety of site staff and local community while construction takes place, as you would expect from a responsible developer.