Darnley Road - Phase 2

How your feedback has been used to shape proposals for new homes on the Darnley Road and Crown Road Car Parks in Grays

February - March 2023

Thurrock Council is exploring the potential to build 53 high-quality homes on the Darnley Road and Crown Road Car Park site in Grays town centre.

We believe everyone should have a good quality home. Across the borough, around 1,200 new homes need to be built every year just to meet current demand.

Building 53 new homes on the Darnley Road and Crown Road Car Park site would help to provide much needed housing in the borough.

After consulting local residents last year on our initial proposals, we considered the feedback received and have revised several aspects of our plans. We are now ready to share our updated proposals with local residents and once again ask for your feedback.

This current consultation will run for four weeks until Tuesday 7 March 2023. Following this, we will reflect on the feedback provided during this round of consultation before submitting a planning application later this year.

Our Updated Proposals

The Darnley Road and Crown Road Car Park site is bound by Darnley Road to the north, Stanley Road to the east, Crown Road to the south and the Derby Road Bridge (B189) to the west.

Aerial view of the proposed site

The car parks are owned by Thurrock Council and are currently underused, which is why they have been earmarked as a potential location for new homes. The site is close to local shops and facilities within Grays town centre and is only a five-minute walk from Grays Train Station.

After listening to the views of local residents during the previous round of consultation in February and March 2022, we have updated our plans in several ways.

Early-stage masterplan Updated masterplan

Parking and Movement

We understand that the availability of parking spaces is a key issue for local people. Sixteen parking spaces would be retained on the existing Darnley Road Car Park, thereby helping to address some the challenges around parking that residents informed us of during our last phase of consultation. All of the existing car parking spaces under Derby Road Bridge would be retained and would continue to be fully accessible via Darnley Road. Additionally, one on-street disabled parking space and two on-street car club spaces would be provided.

Landscape proposals

Existing residents will benefit from improved landscaping along Darnley Road, Crown Road and Stanley Road, along with pavement upgrades. With residents coming and going, the new buildings would also help to improve security around the site.

The proposals will significantly improve biodiversity on the site. A new landscaped area would be created at the heart of the scheme, which would include a new child play space, trees and wildlife-friendly planting.

View of internal courtyard looking east

Get involved

We want to talk to existing residents to provide information on our updated proposals and listen to feedback. This current consultation will run for four weeks, from Wednesday 8 February 2023 to Tuesday 7 March 2023.

There are a number of different ways you can have your say:

Provide your views online

If you prefer to provide your views online, you can access more information about the proposals and complete a consultation feedback form by visiting: thurrock.gov.uk/say

Call us to share your views

If you’d like to tell us what you think over the phone, please call our freephone line on 08081 963 996. The line is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with an answerphone facility outside of these hours.

Resident drop-in session

We would like to discuss our ideas with neighbouring residents. We are hosting a consultation drop-in session, which will be an opportunity for you and your neighbours to talk to members of our project team and share your views:

Date: Tuesday 21 February 2023

Time: 3pm - 7pm

Location: The Community House (New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6DR)