A PROPOSED development at Marks Tey will be good for business, according to an Essex business leader.

John Clayton, chief executive of the Essex Chambers of Commerce, welcomed a plan to build 10,000 new homes in Marks Tey, as it includes business units.

The Gazette has already reported that the proposal was criticised as "horrific" by the Council to Protect Rural Essex (CPRE), but Mr Clayton said the development should be see as an "integrated whole" and not in isolation.

"Some people may say we should keep Marks Tey small and nice but we need to keep an open mind, think about the future and where north Essex is heading.

"You need to make places attractive to live and that means creating jobs," he said.

The development was drawn up by town planners Andrew Martin Associates, to fit in with Colchester Council's strategy for future growth in the borough.

As well as new homes, which would be built in phases starting with the first in three years' time, and continue beyond 2021 if it is granted permission, the proposal includes community and employment facilities to accommodate the Government's wish for sustainable communities.

Andrew Martin, chairman of Andrew Martin Associates, said: "The development would include a full range of uses you need to build a community - housing, employment, schools, community facilities, leisure and open spaces.

"The employment land would be used for retail, office space, light industrial and possibly some general industry, but there would be no large warehouses."

Mr Martin said Marks Tey is a "very sustainable location", close to the A12 and A120 interchange, with a mainline railway station to London and rail links to Sudbury.

"The development could boost the economy," he added.

Mr Clayton said "at the very least", the new business units would "create good quality employment opportunities" in Marks Tey.

"The types of business premises mentioned here would be an absolute gift to certain types of businesses. It might even tempt more people to work locally and not commute into London," he added.

The development is still only at masterplan stage and Andrew Martin Associates' plans are among others that will be considered by the planning inspector, who will consider which areas of the borough can accommodate growth, later in the year.

What do you think? Does Marks Tey need an economic boost? Do you want to move your business there and think it needs more office space?

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