CAMPAIGNERS fighting major developments in north Essex have criticised the level of consultation over schemes.

The comments were made at the opening of the examination in public of Colchester’s draft Local Plan which is being chaired by planning inspector Roger Clews.

The hearing, made up of a panel of north Essex council representatives, planning consultants and campaigners, will decide if the plan is legally sound before a final Local Plan can be adopted.

William Sunnocks, representing Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex, said community engagement should have been proportionate to the scale of change taking place.

The “inaccessible” choice of venue at the Weston Homes Community Stadium was also criticised by Malcolm Alsop, on behalf of Great Bardfield Parish Council.

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Malcolm Alsop, Michael Robson and William Sunnocks (pictured in order on the right)

Rosie Pearson, Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex’s secretary, reiterated members of the public had been bamboozled by the proposals particularly at West Tey, and described the way housing numbers were used as “misleading”.

She said: "When it was discussed how the consultation should be promoted, Colchester Council felt it had been done well on social media, but the council's social media isn't heavily followed.

"For proposals of this scale - you're talking 9,000 homes at east Colchester, 24,000 homes at Marks Tey and potentially 13,000 at Andrewsfield, community engagement hasn't been adequate and people are totally unaware and not listened to.

"It's a deeply unpopular plan."

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Ian Vipond, strategic director at Colchester Council, was quietly heckled after stating there had been a “substantial amount” of public consultation over the region’s future garden communities.

He added the consultation had gone “well beyond the legal minimum” which saw nods of approval from Emma Goodings, of Braintree District Council.

Allocating housing in one district to satisfy another’s housing need was also challenged by Mr Sunnocks, who questioned which authority would get the New Homes Bonus.

He said: "Building these on the border means the councils will have to have a massive amount of co-operation moving forward.

“We query whether these strains between councils will survive the pressures.

"Nobody has done this before, let alone on the border."

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Mr Vipond said if the New Homes Bonus exists it “will be calculated in the way it is currently calculated and the authorities have the ability, through the joint working mechanisms that have been set up around the garden communities, to decide how best to use it”.

He added: "It's not ring-fenced in any way, it's just an incentive."