Council's possible plan for 27,000 new homes branded 'not fit for purpose' as it goes to consultation

Plans for more than 27,000 new homes across an Essex borough, dubbed a “developer’s charter” and “not fit for purpose” by the opposition leader, are set to go out to public consultation, giving residents, businesses and interested parties their say on developments over a 20 year period.

Basildon Council has taken the first steps to create a consultation into the proposals, which include up to 4,313 homes in Basildon, up to 4,170 in Billericay, up to 4,220 homes in Wickford and up to 16,928 new homes on green belt sites. On Monday, November 11, the council’s cabinet discussed the local plan, which is set to see up to 27,111 homes between 2023 to 2043, a minimum of 10,420 affordable homes, a minimum of 235 new Gypsy and Traveller pitches and a minimum of a 13 Travelling Show People yard and a minimum of 65 to 82 hectares of new employment land.

The Labour-led council’s cabinet has recommended the full council meeting on Friday (November 15) and has agreed to launch the consultation. During the meeting on Monday, Andrew Baggott, leader of the Conservatives, who are in opposition, said: “The document that’s here shows a stark juxtaposition to our position as administration and this current administration because when we were putting together the local plan, we were very clear and very forceful that the idea of a number of houses which is done by an algorithm which was one size fits all across the country didn't work. We were also very clear that one of the clear cornerstones of a local plan should be infrastructure first. What we see within this developer's charter is that 27,000 homes are projected to be built that are not accompanied by any real evidence, an administration that has not had the bottle to take on their own Government and say these numbers need to be checked or we don't agree with these numbers.

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“We’ve seen a complete about turn by the head of planning, who we sat down with during our administration, and was all pro infrastructure first and now all of a sudden, and it's incongruent, and they are saying infrastructure first doesn't work, you can't do it and that level of incongruence and never been satisfactorily explained, so we have concerns about the fact it's going out to consultation in the format it is in. It is a developer's charter, and it’s an administration that is rolling over and having its tummy tickled by the Government.

“I know you have the right to reply, and you will finish, and I am sure you will use that to either make personal attacks or attacks on the administration, and that’s your right, and that's the way it is, but, what we want you do to and what we would expect you to do is represent your residents as you were elected to do to the best of your ability and imposing 27,000 homes on this borough without infrastructure without a plan just doesn't make sense. What we are seeing here is development already creeping across the borough without infrastructure, without any thought about infrastructure, without any plan for infrastructure and an acknowledgement almost of that fact we can't do it we’ve got to let the developers go first, and infrastructure will come second, that is not sustainable it won't sell to the public it’s not fit for purpose.”

Adele Brown, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, replied: “We need to bear in mind the purpose of this consultation. The purpose is to allow our residents to have a say on each of those sites that have come forward, we are allowing our residents and our stakeholders to say how they feel about those things, I find it quite unnerving you talk about personal attacks while attacking our officers, personal attacks when you talk about the integrity of this administration and I really do think that’s not acceptable tonight and that is not a place for tonight.

"Tonight is about allowing our residents and businesses to have their say; for far too long, that has been held up by your decision to not continue with the process of the local plan. You might say we should be thinking about the numbers and going back on those, we know exactly what happened when you did that last time, the Secretrary of State said they would intervene, it’s important that we follow the regulations, that we follow the process, that we have been asked to follow. This part of the consultation is about residents, businesses, and all stakeholders, which, yes includes developers, having their say about the sites that have come forward, whether that's for homes or employment; this idea that there is no evidence for that calls into question the integrity and expertise of our officers that is not acceptable.”