CONTROVERSIAL plans for a 70-pitch caravan site at Bradwell Marina have been rejected for a second time.

Strutt and Parker applied to Maldon District Council to change the use of land in Waterside Road on behalf of Port Flair.

The plans would see 70 static caravans for holiday use put up, plus an office space, amenity block, open space and a children’s playground.

If the plans had been approved the caravans would have been occupied between March and October.

The initial plans were refused by Maldon District Council in December after opposition from the Bradwell Against the Caravan Site group.

They were rejected due to the site being in an ‘inappropriate location’ and would have resulted in an ‘incongruous form of development’.

The latest plans for the 6.6 hectares of grassland were submitted in July.

Villagers were concerned that the plans, if given the green light, would see the population double in size.

Planning officers have slated the resubmitted bid saying the site was remote from community facilities and in an inappropriate location.

Officers also found the submitted flood risk assessment was unsatisfactory and that the proposal would “encroach into undeveloped agricultural land which currently contributes to the character and appearance of Bradwell Marina.”

The report added: “The proposed development would result in an incongruous form of development, at odds with the existing grain of development in the area, failing to harmonise with the existing built form in the immediate vicinity.”

A spokesman for Bradwell Against the Caravan Site said they were happy the plans were rejected but remained concerned about mud banks put up around the marina entrance.

The banks – nicknamed the Great Wall of Bradwell by residents – are subject to enforcement action by Maldon District Council.

He said: “In my view it wasn’t just rejected, it was completely massacred. We have won another battle but the war isn’t really over.

“Every time an application goes in something changes on the site. Going forward we will continue to campaign against that wall.”

The spokesman said the group would continue to look at asking the parish council to form a neighbourhood plan.

He added: “No-one is against the village growing but it has to be growing in character."