Plans to build a housing estate on a disused music venue that was once used as a huge drugs farm could be given the go-ahead following a planning recommendation.

The application to build 23 new homes on the site of The Belvedere, in Harding Elms Road, Billericay, will go before the council’s planning committee next week.

The site had been an entertainment venue but closed in 2013 when an outline planning application was successfully submitted to transform it into an 82-bed care home.

However, the plan stalled and the venue became the location of a drugs farm where police uncovered 1,500 cannabis plants during a raid in 2014.

It was said at the time the haul was estimated to be worth more than £1million.

While the plan to build a care home was given planning permission, the project failed to get off the ground and it is now listed as a fall back scheme should the application to build homes on the site prove unsuccessful.

In a report published ahead of the planning committee, a council planning officer has recommended that the new housing estate is given approval.

It will comprise 11 apartments of varying sizes spread across two apartment buildings, as well as 12 houses which will be a mix of semi-detached and detached.

The report states that while the development is on green belt land, it would enhance the appearance of the site and return most of it to “greenfield condition”.

It reads: “In its current state the Belvedere site is dominated visually by the large expanse of hardstanding that surrounds the building with limited landscaping to offset this, and the Belvedere building itself is substantial and not particularly attractive.

“The proposal will decrease the amount of hardstanding from 51 per cent of the site to 31 per cent and the amount of green area will increase from 49 per cent to 69 per cent.

“This will be done in a way that makes the open space more prominent to public view as the scheme will feature a village green in the north-west of the site which will be clearly visible from Oak Road and Hardings Elms Road.”

The development will not include any affordable housing and instead the developer will be required to contribute towards homes elsewhere in the borough.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday.