LIB Dems are worried the area around Rawreth could be swamped with 850 new homes in the next 15 years without the facilities to cope.

Rochford District Council’s new draft Local Development Framework recommends councillors to allow 650 new homes on land north of London Road, and a further 200 on the Rawreth Industrial Estate site – neither of which are in the main part of Rawreth village.

Chris Black, leader of the opposition Lib Dem group on the council, said it was misleading to suggest there would be no new homes in Rawreth.

He said: “Much of this land is actually in the parish of Rawreth, although it adjoins the built-up area of Rayleigh."

But Keith Hudson, Tory councillor responsible for planning, said nothing was set in stone.

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