NEW flats and shops could be coming to the centre of Wickford, years after they were first proposed.

Developers are applying to extend their planning permission for a new block in the Broadway, to be built after demolishing a century-old former bank..

Permission was first given to knock down the Old Bank building in 2008, with the owners hoping to build in its place a four-storey building with ten two-bedroom flats and a mix of shops and offices on the ground floor.

The plot was originally selected and approved as part of the Wickford Masterplan, which it was hoped would regenerate Wickford with new flats and infrastructure.

However, the Masterplan collapsed without strategic partners, and the redevelopment was never carried out.

With the planning permission to carry out the work due to expire in September, applicants Brian Ruff, Angus and Jewers, a group of solicitors which currently occupy the site, have applied to extend it for another three years.

Alan Ball, who campaigned against the Wickford Masterplan, said new flats were not needed in the town.

He said: "I'd rather not see any more flats go up.

"The issue was that there were already too many, and any more were not necessary.

"Now with the current economic climate, that is doubly true – flats are not selling.

"It's no surprise that work hasn't taken place in the past three years, and they've needed to reapply. People want to see more shops, not more flats."

Cllr Don Morris, who represents Wickford Park on Basildon Borough Council, said that if any building work did happen on the Old Bank, it would have to be sympathetic.

He said: "I would expect to see something that fits into the tone of the street.

"Wickford has had too much fifth-rate architecture, so it would have to be something appropriate.

" A lot of money has been spent recently renovating the High Street and the Broadway, and it looks a lot more attractive.

"Anything new would have to complement that."

Brian Ruff, Angus and Jewers declined to comment except to say that the new application was to keep the permission live.