FRESH criticism of Castle Point Council’s plan for thousands of new homes could mean it is withdrawn, wasting tens of thousands of public money and five years’ hard work.

The Government’s Planning Inspector Paul Crysell has written to the authority with a list of seven problems with the council’s core strategy, which is a masterplan for the future development of the borough and includes where up to 5,000 new homes will be built.

Among his new concerns, he said the plan was unrealistic and was worried about the flexibility of the plan if one of the major sites for new homes falls through.

Mr Crysell had already written to the council in May criticising the council’s house building proposals as undeliverable, and asked the authority to find new sites for up to 1,000 homes.

The fresh criticism has raised fears the core strategy will have to be withdrawn altogether, wasting five years of hard work and public money.

The planning inspector is reviewing the council’s draft Core Strategy and has the power to find it unsound.

This would force the authority to start again on its plans for the future development of the borough.

Work on the Core Strategy began in 2006.

Graham Bracci, founder of the Canvey Green Belt Campaign, which is fighting the council’s plans to build up to 400 homes on green fields off Canvey Road, said: “I think he is basically saying to the council there is so much wrong with this, it needs to withdraw.

“I think the council is on very tricky ground.”

Following Mr Crysell’s first letter, the council launched a full review of green belt and brown field sites in the borough, to find out where the extra homes could go.

Jeffrey Stanley, the authority’s deputy leader, said the council would await the result of its review, which is due in September, before making a decision on what happens next.

He said: “We are not thinking of withdrawing. It is the view of the council that once the current review is completed we will look at what comes up.

“If this review says we are on a hiding to nothing then that’s something we’ll have to consider, but I don’t anticipate this being the case.”

When asked by the Echo the council’s head of planning, Steve Rogers, could not put a price on the cost of the process, but said it was “tens of thousands of pounds”.