A £1 million scheme to transform a Witham golf club with a state-of-the-art health and beauty complex has been backed by the town council.

Benton Hall Golf Club's scheme has been a long-running saga.

The original plan won the support of Witham Town Council in 1998, only to be rejected by the district council.

Now the club has launched a new bid to win approval for the changes at the Wickham Hill site. Last night at Witham Town Council's planning sub-committee, members threw their support behind the new application.

Owner Clubhaus wants to extend the building to include fitness facilities such as a pool, gymnasium, sauna, aerobics studio and new changing rooms. The car park would also be extended.

The application is said to be almost identical to the original application - now the subject of an appeal - but is slightly smaller in concept.

Councillor Tom Hewitt said: "Part of the original application was existing planning permission to build a hotel at the site would be withdrawn and a leisure centre built instead.

"At the time this seemed to me to be much more desirable."

He added: "The application then went to district who threw it out on policy grounds - for technical reasons the application did not fit in with the District Plan."

Mr Hewitt said: "I do not see any reason to deviate from the original position of this town council - to welcome this particular development."

He said the project included considerable extensions to local cycleways and would bring other benefits to Witham. It would also remove the possibility of a hotel "with a hideous visual impact" being built at the site.

The committee recommended the scheme for approval but Braintree Council will have the final say.

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