CONTROVERSIAL proposals for thousands of new homes on the outskirts of Clacton are clouded in a “fog of confusion”, according to MP Douglas Carswell.

A blueprint outlining how the town will grow over the next two decades is currently being examined by Tendring Council bosses.

Some 3,100 new homes are earmarked for Bockings Elm, with a further 700 off Sladbury’s Lane.

Mr Carswell, Tory MP for Clacton, said there had to be total transparency before such important decisions were made. He has written to the council’s chief executive to ask for a full briefing, on who will have the final say on where the houses should go, and how many should be built.

He said: “At the moment there is a fog of confusion and what we need is clarity.

“If the decision is completely transparent and made democratically by elected councillors and not unelected officers, I think it would ensure whatever final proposals are put forward will be sensible and acceptable to most local people.

“Those people who were elected to Tendring Council by local residents, in May, have to decide on the shape of the plans and whether or not to approve them.”

Thousands of people in Bockings Elm and Holland-on-Sea are battling against the proposals.

They claim the homes would wreck their communities and have called for a referendum on the issue.

Mr Carswell said the proposals must have public support.

He added: “This is a huge decision. It will have potentially huge consequences for the future of our town over the next 20 years.”

Council leader Neil Stock has already indicated the council will have to reconsider proposed large-scale developments because of the economic slump, meaning fewer people are buying new homes.

The proposals were expected to be discussed last night, at a new forum of Clacton councillors, called by Mr Carswell to look at local issues.

Holland-on-Sea councillor Mary Bragg is opposed to the Sladbury’s Lane development.

She says the influx of thousands of extra families to Clacton will gridlock roads and put too much pressure on existing facilities.

She said: “There is just no work for all these people, so why do we have to have them?”