A PETITION calling for a review of rejected shopping centre plans has been handed to town leaders.

The 'We Need A Rethink on Tollgate Village Planning Decision' petition was launched hours after Colchester Council’s planning committee rejected the application for shops, restaurants and a cinema on 20 acres of land in Stanway in February.

The petition has now been handed to Colchester Council’s local plan committee.

Campaigners hope the council will redesignate the land in question as suitable for shops.

This, they say, would pave the way for Tollgate Village to be approved.

The land is currently zoned as employment land which means it should be used for offices or businesses.

Sue Lissimore, Conservative councillor for the Prettygate ward, handed in the petition to the local plan committee on behalf of the anonymous person who started it.

It gathered 2,290 signatures.

Speaking afterwards, Mrs Lissimore said: “The committee did listen to the comments and acknowledged the petition but I was disappointed with some of the negative comments coming from the committee about why the petition had gone to them.”

Committee chairman Martin Goss had previously warned the committee would not debate the Tollgate Village plans but said he would accept the petition.

He said the petition would feed into the process of a review of the local plan which will be published in June.

The Tollgate Village application could not be discussed at the local plan committee because it does not deal with planning applications.

But Mrs Lissimore added: “Whatever the solution, we should always listen to local residents.”

Since the application was rejected, the Tollgate Partnership, the company behind the plans, has also appealed against the planning committee’s decision.

The directors of Tollgate Partnership said they “owed it to the community” for the Tollgate Village plans to now go before a public inquiry.

Mrs Lissimore added: “Now they have gone to appeal on this, the risk is the planning inspector will decide the council has been negligent and will order costs and fine the council and the cost will fall on taxpayers.”

However, Colchester Council has said it is satisfied it has acted in an entirely appropriate manner in the determination of the Tollgate planning application.