Basildon house building plan will wipe out 1,000 acres of green belt land

Tomorrow evening, councillors will vote on whether to send a a draft version of the borough’s local plan out for public consultation.

Basildon Council must build thousands of homes to cope with an anticipated 14 per cent increase in the borough’s population by 2034, from 180,500 to 205,000.

Richard Moore, councillor responsible for regeneration and planning, said: “It is a difficult balance between development and protecting our green belt as much as possible.

“Our preference is not to build on the green belt.

“We want to really push hard on keeping Basildon as a place for business and job creation and therefore we need to ensure there is enough land set aside.

“But, at the same time, we have an obligation to consider the needs of the current and future population so we can build the right number of new homes if we want our children and their children to grow up here."

The draft plan proposes 8,835 homes in the Basildon area, 1,860 in Billericay and 3,300 in Wickford, but there is only space to build 3,681 more homes in existing urban areas in the borough.

To meet the shortfall, 720 acres of green belt land in Basildon, 201 acres in Wickford and 192 acres in Billericay, has been mooted for development.

The council insists 93 per cent of the green belt land earmarked in the new draft also featured in the 1998 local plan, but has remained undeveloped.

Mr Moore added: “We are lucky to have the strongest economy in Essex, and that means jobs. But those jobs mean more people, and we are growing like other major towns.”

The plan also sets aside 121 acres for employment, creating 8,600 jobs.

To cope with the homes, the plan proposes seven new primary schools and major road improvements including a new A127 junction at Pound Lane, between the Nevendon and Fairglen interchanges.

If approved at a full council meeting tomorrow, an eight-week public consultation is likely to begin at the end of this month.