Maldon is one of several rural areas "disappearing under bricks, mortar and Tarmac", say environmental campaigners.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has hit out at local authorities it believes are showing poor performance with regards to density of development and land recycling.
Maldon is one of those on the blacklist of 25 rural and small town areas.
However, at 25th place, its portfolio of new development is significantly greener than councils in Northumberland, Yorkshire and Devon.
The CPRE claims the councils are ignoring Government policy and consenting to urban sprawl by allowing low-density housing development.
James Doe, head of planning at Maldon District Council, said the statistics used by the CPRE were based on 1999 to 2002, where large developments in the Maldon and Heybridge area were being completed.
He said: "We had a lot of growth in the district over the 1990s and a lot of that took place at south Maldon and Elms Farm.
"Those developments were granted before PPG 3 came out - the Government advice on density and re-use of brownfield sites."
Published Wednesday June 30, 2004
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