Grays Athletic move a step nearer to old Thurrock FC home move

The Ship Lane ground in Aveley, near Thurrock, is due to be the new home for Grays Athletic FC

A football club which has been without a permanent home for 13 years is set to get its own ground.

Thurrock Council approved a development on green belt land which included Grays Athletic FC moving into the disused Ship Lane Stadium in Aveley, Essex.

The move depends on a car dealer building an inspection centre with a 1,200 space car park at the site.

The development was approved against the advice of planning officers and is therefore subject to further approval.

It means there will be a mandatory referral to the secretary of state for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

A motion must also be passed by the council explaining its decision and officers will produce a further report on the implications of the approval to be considered at forthcoming meeting.

Opponents have been concerned about the development eroding part of the area's greenbelt

Grays Athletic, which plays in the Isthmian League North Division, had its original New Recreational Ground site in Grays sold off for housing by the council.

Since then the 133-year-old club has rented various local facilities.

It recently applied to take over the former Thurrock FC stadium as part of a partnership with Group 1 Automotive.

Council officers recommended this development be refused on the grounds it would harm the greenbelt.

Three councillors on the planning committee voted for the plans while three voted against. Conservative committee chairman Tom Kelly had the casting vote.

During the debate, Labour councillor Lee Watson said she "sympathised" with the club but did not support the application.

"I think there will be too many lorries, I think that they will use Aveley as a rat run," she said.

Conservative member Adam Carter said there were "so many great things" to come from the proposal.

"It does provide some good jobs, but also it does provide a home to Grays that has been missing for years and years," he said.

After the meeting, the football club's vice chairman Gavin Holland, told the BBC he was "very happy with the decision" as a "community club has been given a chance".

"I'm sure there will be some challenges but all we can do as a football club is concentrate on the benefits that we can offer which I believe outweighs any kind of negativity towards the decision," he said.

"We've proved in the past how much we can offer the community."

Cathy Sisterson, who founded the Aveley Green Belt Action group, said she was "really disappointed" by the decision.

"It was a very close vote and we're going to look at ways obviously of appealing it because it's a really large area of green belt," she said.

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