Braintree district councillors are set to consider strategic sites submitted to the council as part of the Local Plan Review during September and October.
Braintree District Council is currently reviewing its Local Plan, which will cover development across the district over the next 15 years up to 2041.
The council’s Local Plan Sub-Committee will be considering the larger, more strategic sites submitted to the council that could cater for 500+ new homes in the district, as well as supporting infrastructure like roads, healthcare and community facilities.
Some smaller sites will also be considered where they are next to or can be combined with a larger site. All sites have been assessed to understand and identify ways to mitigate any impact and test their suitability for development.
So far land for around 1,600 homes through smaller sites allocations have been recommended to go into the draft Local Plan, with land for around 8,500 homes still needed to be allocated to meet the government’s housing target.
Following the announcement by government that they have withdrawn funding for the A12 widening scheme, Braintree District Council has taken this into consideration for its plans for growth.
Councillor Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning at Braintree District Council, said: “We’re on track to get an updated Local Plan in place next year, which is crucial so that we, as the district council, can once again take back development control locally and prevent the speculative development which will come about because of the absence of an up-to-date local plan.
“We need to allocate 11,000 new homes approximately during this period to meet the government housing target. If we don’t, we risk Local Plan being rejected with decision making being taken away locally and having less say over where new development goes.
“We know how passionate residents are about development, especially infrastructure, which is vital to support housing growth. This is why it’s important for everyone to get involved and make their views known to us during the process, engage with the proposed plan and share ideas for shaping the district’s future so we can take those comments on board.”
Residents can watch the committee meetings live or on catch up via its YouTube channel, and register to speak at meetings.
Once all the sites have been considered, the ones selected will go forward into a draft plan, which residents, businesses and all interested parties will be able to comment and share their views on later this year before a final decision is made on what sites are included.
Residents can keep updated on the Local Plan Review by signing up to the council’s planning email newsletter, following its social media and visiting its webpage.