PLANS for a 4,000-home development north Colchester have not made a council shortlist.

The fresh list of where nearly 15,000 more homes need to squeeze in across the borough over the next 15 years was revealed yesterday.

But the plans don't include proposals for the Langham Garden Village, which also had proposed a health centre.

Planning consultants Edward Gittins and Associates wanted the council to include the blueprint in its Local Plan.

Critics of the scheme said the development could damage the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Just 125 homes are now earmarked for Langham in the Local Plan.

Anne Brown, county councillor for Constable ward which includes Langham, said: "The residents are very concerned about any development in that area.

"It is a village community and they want to keep it as it is at the moment and changing the number of housing will clearly change the character of the village."

Papers published yesterday, ahead of Tuesday's Local Plan Committee meeting, reveal 2,500 garden settlements will be split equally at sites east and west of the borough.

One of the sites is known as West Tey and is on land between Marks Tey and Coggeshall, while the other is on land east of Greenstead, Colchester.

Hundreds more development sites are also peppered around the borough including 678 in Stanway and 600 in Tiptree.

Wivenhoe mayor Asa Aldis hit out plans out at the east Colchester plans.

He said: “It cannot be called a garden village because it could eventually grow to 9,000 houses.

“It is basically a case of extending Colchester and swallowing up little places like Wivenhoe, Elmstead Market and others like that using grade A agricultural land.

“I cannot begin to describe how terrifying and upsetting it is that Colchester thinks it can grow on the current infrastructure.

“To say the garden settlements will have infrastructure is nonsense on a stick. Are they going to expand the hospital? Or the sewage works?.

Around half of the 14,720 homes needed to meet Colchester's housing targets already have planning permission or are already allocated in the current Local Plan.

These latest proposals show how Colchester Council has had to come up an extended version for the future.

Dozens of people are expected to attend Colchester Council's Local Plan Committee meeting at the Moot Hall for the next stage in the process.

The large venue has been chosen because of the high number of residents expected to attend.

The committee looks set to agree to consult the public on the sites.

The eight-week consultation will run between period from Saturday July 9 to Friday September 2.

After that, the council will prepare a summary of representations made and make any alterations to the plan.

A final version of the plan will be submitted to the Local Plan Committee again for approval before a Government inspector will have to agree to it.

The meeting will be at 6pm.

Sites earmarked for large numbers of home include:

*Stanway - 678

*East New Settlement (garden community) -1,250

*West New Settlement (garden community) -1,250

* Copford and Copford Green - 120

*Eight Ash Green - 150

*Langham - 125

* Tiptree - 600

*West Bergholt -120

*West Mersea -350

*Wivenhoe - 250