NEW homes could be created with extra car parking space across Castle Point in a bid to unclutter the streets.

The borough council is backing proposing that would see all new two-bedroom homes have a minimum of two parking spaces.

At present, new homes can only be given planning permission if there are no more than 1.5 car parking spaces per property.

There is no minimum.

But, Essex County Council is considering replacing the maximum number with a minimum – one parking spaces for one-bed homes and at least two for two-bed homes or bigger.

The council is also championing a number of other methods to ease parking congestion, including larger garages to cater for modern cars and larger parking bays for cars parked on the road.

Steve Rogers, the council’s head of regeneration and homes, said: “Maximum car parking levels do not reflect the actual ways residents use their homes and cars.

“To continue will simply lead to more on-street car parking and will result in congestion.”

But Canvey councillor Dave Blackwell believes the council should consider the current parking crisis for the island’s residents first.

He said: “It’s all well and good coming up with new schemes, but people living on Canvey can’t park their cars outside their houses now.

“I want to hear the council talking about converting grass verges into extra street parking spaces, because it’s that bad in Canvey.”

Essex County Council is currently considering results from a public consultation on the proposals before deciding whether to adopt them.