A POSH crescent of townhouses could be built in Gloucester Park under the £1billion Basildon masterplan.

Details have emerged of the houses, although it is not yet clear how many would be built on the site of the current swimming pool car park and former netball courts.

However, early plans released as part of the masterplan consultation show 35 separate buildings, some of which appear to be able to house a number of properties. The aerial images show three separate parallel streets in the crescent, with an interconnecting road through the middle.

Basildon Council leader Tony Ball said the images were indicative and it was not yet clear how many properties would be built.

He said: “The amount will all be part of the consultation. What has been proposed is a crescent of three-storey townhouses, similar to the Royal Crescent in Bath.”

The most westerly street of homes would overlook a new large lake with an island which would be fed by a watercourse. This is to replace the smaller stagnant lake at the front of the swimming pool.

The town houses are additional to the flats blocks planned on the current swimming pool and lake site.

The council is selling off all the land to help fund the £38million sports village at the other end of the park, due to open in the spring.

Dennis Swaysland, 76, from Beauchamps Drive, Wickford, who set up Residents Against Park Exploitation to campaign against development in Gloucester Park, described it as a disgrace. He said: “It is a disgrace to build on any playing field, so it is even more of a disgrace on the town’s park.

“We did an electronic scan of the flat area of the park and with this development and the sports village and rugby club, it takes up 60 per cent of the flat area. We are left with just 40 per cent of the area.”