IN the four years since Tendring Council had a local plan, hundreds of new houses have been approved for Alresford.

The local plan is the masterplan for development, the blueprint which dictates where new homes should be built.

But in those years without a local plan, developers have pretty much had carte blanche to try to build homes wherever they can get land.

And some villages see this as catastrophic.

Alresford, which has around 800 houses, had been in discussion to expand by 50 new homes in the document.

Instead, 325 new homes could be built over the coming years.

It is a problem the village cannot cope with, and one which Alresford parish council chairman Frank Belgrove said was entirely avoidable.

He said: “It’s unsustainable and villages like ours in Tendring will be swamped.

“In 2011, we were consulted by Tendring Council on sites for new homes and agreed on 50.

“They said they were going to bring out their local plan to confirm this. But then, of course, it got rejected.

“They knew full well that plan wasn’t going to be accepted by the Government.”

Tendring Council drew up its draft local plan two years ago but it was not up to standard and was withdrawn.

It failed to acknowledge the national shortage of houses and recommended 6,000 instead of the now accepted need for 12,000.

While a new draft has been in the pipeline for some time, it has still not been approved.

And developers have been making hay while the sun shines.

Mr Belgrove said: “Because we have no local plan, the National Planning Policy Framework comes into force which means we are in the hands of the developers and that is where we are going wrong.

“Taylor Wimpey put in plans for 145 homes off Cockaynes Lane, which we were obviously dead against.

“It was rejected by Tendring Council and Taylor Wimpey appealed it and won because we had no local plan saying where housing is meant to go.

“The problem is developers and landowners think they can now make some serious money by getting planning applications approved and increasing the value of their land.”

Ernie Osborne, chairman of the parish council’s planning committee, said: “It’s a gold rush.”

Housing is a long-running issue across the whole of north east Essex.

Three garden villages look set to be built around Colchester and both Colchester and Tendring councils, are working on new local plans.

There is no doubt towns and villages will have to take more homes.

Alresford Parish Council is quick to point out it is happy to take its fair share but there is no question in councillors’ minds 325 is not fair.

Mr Osborne said: “50 houses would be the maximum in Alresford because of the infrastructure.

“We have no medical facilities apart from a small GP practice which struggles to find staff and the school is oversubscribed by one class.”

Mr Belgrove added: “We aren’t a NIMBY council, we wanted extra houses but the roads really can’t cope.

“And there is too much reliance on our railway station, which doesn’t have that many trains which go straight to London.

“We also have level crossings going through the village which cause incredible delays. And what jobs are coming here in support of these developments? We haven’t heard much about that.

“Alresford just isn’t a good location for major development.”

Fed up of sitting back and being able to do nothing in the face of overwhelming development, the parish council is five months into making its own neighbourhood plan.

While it will take 18 months to complete, once it is finished it will dictate where developers can build in the village in the future.

Mr Belgrove said: “We are going to fight back on this.

“It will dictate where development goes and prevent development which will cause harm.

“We feel there should be controls which protect the rural character of Alresford.

“The document will carry some weight. There are several cases across the country where neighbourhood plans have prevented damaging developments going ahead.”

Unfortunately for the council, there is nothing they can do at the moment to stop more developers from proposing yet more housing.

In the meantime they have to accept whatever housing gets built.

However, developers only have three years to start building once they get permission. If that time runs out and new neighbourhood and local plans are in place, they will be unlikely to be approved again.

Mr Belgrove said: “It has come time for the Government to act on this.

“It’s not just Tendring, there are several other councils across the country with the same problem.

“We are pointing the finger because they should know better.

“The Government needs to stop the developers from controlling the planning system.”

A Tendring Council spokesman said a timetable for the new local plan has now been approved.

It is expected councillors will approve the draft plan in June before a public consultation is held in June and July.

A submission to the Secretary of State would happen in October before a final decision occurs after that.

He said: “Where there is an up-to-date Adopted Local Plan which is consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework, planning decisions are taken in accordance with local planning policies.

“Where there is no up-to-date Local Plan there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development and decisions are taken having regard to the three strands of sustainability contained in the NPPF – economic, environmental and social.

“A key consideration in considering whether a proposal is sustainable is the ability to access public transport, as an alternative to private car use.

“Alresford village benefits from a railway station with connections to Clacton, Colchester, London and Norwich and a range of local services and facilities which make it a more sustainable location for housing than villages which do not.

“Because of the historically low rate of house-building in Tendring district, the council is also required to provide a 20 per cent buffer over the normal requirement for a five-year supply of deliverable land for new house-building; the council still does not yet have an adequate supply of housing land.

“In the circumstances, developers are confident if the council refuses planning permission for speculative planning applications, their schemes will often be allowed on appeal to the planning inspectorate.

“The situation in Alresford is reflected locally in Great Bentley and the position in Tendring district is reflected nationally in many other similar districts.”