Basildon Labour say ‘Borough to miss out on £22m boost’

The council’s infrastructure committee heard on October 3 that the decision to revise the borough’s local plan by removing 300 homes allocated to Billericay and 350 in Noak Bridge could mean the loss of millions in infrastructure money.

The funds would have been obtained through a charge to developers that requires them to provide money for facilities and services before they can begin building work.

An assessment by council officers found that a previous draft of the local plan, approved in May under a Labour administration, would have raised an estimated £127million but revisions made under the Conservative administration mean that figure would be reduced by up to £22million.

Labour group leader Gavin Callaghan slammed the council for the reduction, calling their claim that the local plan puts infrastructure first was a “myth” and there was never a need to remove the 650 homes.

He said: “Our plan put a greater emphasis on delivering infrastructure across all four corners of the borough before homes were built.

“We made it clear that if developers wanted to build in our borough they would have to pay infrastructure monies upfront as part of planning permission. We estimated we would have raised £127million from developers over the plan period to pay for schools, roads and amenities.

“Now because the Tories are only interested in protecting Billericay, the rest of the borough has been shafted. Shafted to the tune of £22million less in infrastructure monies. It means that roads and schools now won’t be built in places like Wickford, Laindon and Pitsea that should have been built. It means their plan will cause chaos on our roads and in our classrooms.”

Kevin Blake, deputy leader of the Conservative group said: “He has certainly got that wrong it’s not £22million, it is about £10million at the most. It still remains that our priority is infrastructure comes first.”

The council will vote on the local plan at a full council meeting on October 18.