BASILDON Council will have to pay up to £120,000 for an archaeological dig on the site of a controversial housing development.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed the Tory administration told Redrow Homes, which is building 135 properties on playing fields off Ballards Walk, Laindon, the land “was not considered to be of any archaeological significance”.

It comes after archaeologists discovered artefacts from the Iron Age and Roman era earlier this summer.

In an email to council planning officer Caroline Saunders back in April, Redrow's senior land manager, Mark Smith, questioned why a dig was necessary.

In the email, which has been seen by the Echo, he said: “Firstly, given the result of the desktop archaeological investigations commissioned by yourselves indicated that the site was not considered to be of any archaeological significance no allowance has been made within Redrow’s development costs or the purchase price for anything more than a watching brief during construction.

“Secondly, such unnecessary archaeological investigations will significantly delay the delivery of the dwellings, including your 25 affordable units.”

Miriam Heppell, from Basildon's Green Action Group, uncovered six months worth of emails after submitting the request.

She has also requested a copy of the final archaeological report for the site.

She said: “I was quite surprised by the information, I had no idea Basildon Council and Redrow Homes were going back and forth over the dig. All I wanted to find out was what they had found.

“Redrow Homes were quite rightly annoyed and it’s put Basildon Council in a tight spot.

“I’m still waiting for the final report of what was found. It’s our heritage and we should know about it.”

It is unclear how much the excavations have cost in total, but Basildon Council confirmed it will pay up to £120,000 towards the digs.

A spokesman said: “From the desktop studies that were undertaken as part of the process, the site was not considered to have any archaeological significance.

However, as Essex County Council had no evidence to confirm this, further surveys were requested and a planning condition applied.

“The council agreed to cover the cost of this work up to £120,000 from the sale proceeds.

Payments for these types of surveys from the land value are usual in land transactions.

“Part of the early surveys indicated remains of a potential Roman homestead and so additional surveys works were commissioned to explore this further.

The report for this work is yet to be received, but we are not aware of any evidence to support this early indication.”

Redrow Homes refused to comment.