NEW plans to build 240 homes on greenbelt land on Canvey are set to be submitted to Castle Point Council, the Echo can reveal.

Persimmon Homes is eyeing up a site at the Dutch Village estate, off Limburg Road, Canvey.

The land has been the subject of numerous planning applications for up to 400 homes in recent years and three years ago the housing firm was spotted doing ground work on a site off Dyke Crescent.

The application is set to be submitted this week, at a time where the council is still trying to draw up its local plan which would allocate housing need and where they new homes should be built.

George Whatley, 74, a member of the Save Canvey Green Belt group and resident of Limburg Road, said: “There’s a strong group of us opposed to it and my opinion is they should not be building on land that is classed as a flood risk or land that is green belt on a flood plain.

“Persimmon has been persistent and they’ve been trying to develop this site for many years, it’s the thin end of the wedge. If they build on this piece of land Canvey will be a concrete jungle.

It’s the last green lung left on Canvey.”

Dave Blackwell, leader of Canvey Independent Party, fears the area is exposed to development because it has not put a plan in place.

He said: “It’s outrageous. What it shows is all these developers are looking in because the council is stuck and has not done a local plan. We were warned by the officers two years ago that unless we get the plan in place then we are going to be inundated with developers. It’s going to cost the council millions trying to defend it.”

Castle Point Council already faces two planning inquiries over plans for 265 homes at Jotmans and 140 Glebelands in Benfleet.

Plans to build 173 homes on green belt land off Felstead Road, Benfleet, have also been submitted by Redrow Homes in recent weeks.

Mr Blackwell said: “All they’re trying to do is increase the pressure on the local authority because it’s not getting on with the local plan.

“The problem isn’t just we don’t have the infrastructure, but we are classed in planning as a flood risk area which should only be built on as a last resort.”

LEADING councillors have met a Government planning minister to discuss how to protect the borough’s green belt.

Planning minister Brandon Lewis MP confirmed Castle Point Council does have the power to protect green belt in its local plan under this Government.

Mr Lewis confirmed green belt is a legitimate constraint on the level of housing that the council has to plan for and they do not have to alter the borough’s green belt boundaries to accommodate more housing.

Council leader Colin Riley said: “This is exactly the reassurance we were looking for. As a council we have to take into account all relevant planning law and policy when we make our local plan, but we can now explore the policies designed to protect green belt with confidence.

“As a council we are determined to construct a sound local plan that provides for our borough’s future while cerns of the residents we are elected to serve.”

The council has been constructing a New Local Plan since 2012 and is considering how much new housing the borough will need over the next 15 years and where they should be built.

Uncertainty over whether green belt land can be protected from development has led to delays in adopting a local plan.

A task and finish group is due to report on the draft plan to full council in December.