NOT a single house in Castle Point should be built until plans for infrastructure has been in put in place, a council leader has claimed - despite the threat of government intervention looming over his head.

Both Castle Point Council and Basildon Council were issued a warning in November that central Government was considering intervening in both council’s incomplete local plans, set to provide 4,000 and 20,000 homes a piece.

Since then, Basildon Council have earned a pat on the back after pushing through their plan, with a series of meetings going into the early hours of the morning and plenty of man power dedicated to sticking to the council’s agreed timetable.

On the other hand, Castle Point Council took the threat just as seriously, but have focussed its attention on the newly formed Association of South Essex Local Authorities, focussing on meeting the area’s infrastructure needs, before committing to any houses.

And the council is sticking to that standpoint, despite government experts being sent in to investigate the lack of a local plan.

Colin Riley, leader of Castle Point Council, said: “The new guidance clearly states that any local plan should be heavily linked with a strategic plan.

“We have no strategic plan for our infrastructure at this time, and that needs to go hand in hand with the local plan. The Association of South Essex Local Authorities are meeting on a weekly basis, and we are focused on securing an infrastructure plan for the whole of south Essex.

“We have never had the infrastructure contributions we should have had in Castle Point, and we are now in this position.

“They go hand in hand and we have been prioritising the infrastructure, and I think most of our residents would appreciate that.”

Of course, Castle Point’s local plan presented very different issues to Basildon’s. Not least the fact Basildon’s new leadership inherited a largely completed local plan in 2016, while at the same time Castle Point’s plan was kicked into the long grass as it was outvoted 25 councillors to six, pushing the plans back to stage one.

And chair of Basildon’s infrastructure, growth and development committee, Linda Allport-Hodge refused to criticise Castle Point’s failings, insisting it is right to focus on infrastructure.

She said: “Every local authority has its own difficulty. For us, being the unofficial economic hub of Essex, we wanted to ensure the number of new homes had an acceptable level of new jobs.

“Each borough has its own issues, and I would support Castle Point in its focus on infrastructure. We have said the same about the infrastructure. It is a catch 22, and all the south Essex authorities have formed this partnership to combat that. Our local plan for the borough looks at infrastructure around strategic development sites but not in a wider context, hence I completely agree with Castle Point that the wider strategic network needs consideration. We all have our own local plan, but the collective impact needs to be looked at properly.

“It is absolutely essential the two go hand in hand.”

The government’s chief planner has already made contact with Castle Point, requesting a diagnostic report of everything the council has done since its last plan was rejected.

And with the chief planner making contact, concerns have begun to mount that tax payers could be left to foot the bill for intervention.

The ministry of housing, communities and local government has confirmed that sending in experts will not cost the council a penny, but if the government formally intervenes, a full cost recovery exercise can take place.

Mrs Allport-Hodge admitted this was a main concern for Basildon Council, losing the decision making process, while being left to pay the bill.

Mr Riley said: “The initial offer is free advice, which we will of course take. The Chief Planner is an expert, so we will take on board any advice he can give, but we do want to remain in control.

“The last thing we want is central government taking full control, and these decisions being taken away from us. We want to remain in control of this plan, these vital decisions on housing cannot be made by central government, completely disconnected to our issues.”