RESIDENTS in Mile End have signed up in force to a grassroots campaign opposing a development which would see 2,200 homes built on their doorstep.

More than 700 people have registered their support for the Love Myland group, organised by Nayland Road residents David and Catherine Clouston.

They want Colchester Council to go back to the drawing board over proposals to build 2,200 homes and community facilities, including a primary school, on 100 hectares of land off Nayland Road.

Some campaigners do not want to see any homes built on the green fields, while others want the number to be severely limited.

Catherine Clouston said many residents were only just becoming aware of the plans.

She added: “We heard whispers about a year ago, but suddenly it has gone from that to being ‘already it’s happening’.

“People are saying: ‘Oh my God, we don’t want this’.

“So we have done this completely off our own back.

“We would love to get them to stop it completely, but I don’t want to be labelled a nimby.

“Colchester is going to grow, but we don’t have the infrastructure here – the roads are appalling.

“There’s going to be building, but let’s really think about how we’re going to do it.”

A five-week consultation on plans for the land, known as the North Colchester Growth Area supplementary planning document, ended earlier this month.

But residents were not consulted on how many houses they would be happy to see, only where they would go and what community facilities should go with them.

David Clouston said they wanted the council to drop the supplementary planning document and replace it with an “area action plan”.

This would result in a fresh chance for the public to have their say before an independent inspector would run the rule over the proposals.

Mr Clouston said: “There will have to be a very thorough consultation, followed by an examination in public.”

Thousands of homes have been built in Mile End in the past decade, with thousands more to be built at the former Severalls Hospital and elsewhere.

Simon Underwood, another campaigner, said he would prefer to see the land, which contains habitats for rare species of birds, turned into a nature reserve, like High Woods Country Park.

He added: “Another country park would be fantastic. We need another facility like that for houses which are already being built.

“I believe there should be a proper wildlife survey of the area.

“The whole business is to the detriment of the quality of life of people living in those houses.”

Campaigners are also concerned about a statement of common ground between developer Mersea Homes, which either owns or has options to own the majority of the land, and Colchester Council.

It states a “minimum” of 2,200 homes should be built on the land.

Visit lovemyland.org.uk for more information.