THE costs of funding two public inquiries for a business park planned at Horsley Cross are unattainable, it has been announced.

Iris Johnson, portfolio holder for planning at Tendring Council, told Tuesday night’s district council meeting that a detailed breakdown of costs was “not possible”.

She was responding to a question put to the council by Sarah Candy, who represents Horsley Cross, who asked how much of taxpayers’ money had been spent by the council fighting the proposal at the local plan public enquiry in 2006, before then supporting the subsequent planning application?

Mrs Johnson said: “The local plan public inquiry was undertaken in 2006/7.

“This provided public scrutiny of about 14,000 different representations submitted to the council.

“The cost of organising and managing the public inquiry do not relate to a case-by-case basis, it is therefore not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of costs.”

The plans for an 80-bedroom hotel and six business plots were not included in the local plan following the inquiry.

But a planning application for the development was passed by Tendring Council twice in 2006, and again earlier this year – new rules meant the proposal had to be referred to the Government as local guidelines stated the land should be kept as open space.

This second inquiry saw the council support the application for the jobs it was offering for the area.

Mrs Johnson said: “The purpose of the council in supporting the planning application was to secure employment opportunities and safeguard local jobs.

“The council was arguing the employment merits of the case. The costs of this action have been met within a budget of £80,000.”

The Environment Secretary refused the application after the inquiry was held earlier this year.