A LOCAL campaign group have questioned Braintree District Council's decision to support new garden settlements in their local plan.

Braintree District Council, in conjunction with Colchester Borough Council and Tendring District Council have drawn up a set of three proposed sites where these new communities could be built: on the border of Colchester and Tendring; to the west of Colchester on the border with Braintree; and to the west of Braintree.

The council are proposing the settlements to try and address the substantial growth requirements across the county in the upcoming decades.

Rosie Pearson, Secretary of the Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex, said: "Such a large-scale settlement is highly unpopular.

"6,700 people have signed a petition against the new town and hundreds more have attended public meetings in Copford, Coggeshall, Feering and Marks Tey. CBC, BDC and ECC are riding roughshod over the views of local people.

"Owing to the scale of the development major upgrades to the A12 and A120 would be required in order to facilitate development.

"But we have had years of broken promises. In addition, National Rail has no plans to upgrade the capacity of the Great Eastern Main Line to absorb increased commuter flows from large-scale garden settlements in North Essex.

"Finally, it's undeliverable. There are huge costs and risks associated with a complex infrastructure of this size.

"It's doubtful whether hard-pressed local authorities have the capacity to manage the conflicts of interest that will inevitably arrive."

CAUSE is urging local people to attend Braintree District Council's Local Plan meeting on May 25 and write to their local MP.

The meeting takes place at 6pm on Wednesday May 25 at the Council Chamber, Causeway House, Braintree.

More information about the settlements can be found on the Braintree District Council website: www.braintree.gov.uk.

You can find out more about CAUSE here: www.cause4livingessex.com.