A CAMPAIGN group has voiced its concern that the recommended number of homes required to cater for demand across south Essex has shot up once again - saying that the existing infrastructure simply cannot cope.

Al Dow, who lives in Billericay and is a member of the Billericay Action Group, which has always maintained that the predicted need was too high, was horrified to learn the number of required homes for the borough has gone up once again.

He said: “Our railways - the C2C and Abellio lines - are already at capacity and not a lot can be done about that.

“If we build this many homes and grow by such a large percentage these lines will really be under the cosh.

“Yes, we do need to build more homes, there is a housing crisis, but we don’t need that many new homes.

“I do think many local people will support our view; the trains, commuting and infrastructure is a concern for many people who live here.

“We really don’t want to overcrowd the area either.”

The new research, which has been seen by the Echo in advance of its publication on the Thames Gateway South Essex website, has looked into the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA16), which was originally prepared in 2015 and looked at the number of homes which will be required from 2014 to 2037.

Although this was based upon the most up-to-date data at the time it is periodically reviewed to account for any changes and to allow local plans and housing strategies to remain relevant and robust.

Although 2014-based projections for this were released last June, a further study, known as the addendum to the update, was commissioned in the summer and has revealed that objectively assessed need, known as OAN, for homes is much higher than previously thought.

The study has found that there is a need for between 3,750 and 4,000 homes per annum for south Essex between 2014 and 2037; much higher than the previous OAN figures of 3,275 to 3750.

For the Basildon borough this equates to 972 to 986 homes per annum between 2014 and 2037.

Again, this is much higher than the previous prediction of 761 to 873 homes per annum.