CAMPAIGNERS say their petition signed by 6,600 people to prevent development of a new town is being ignored by Colchester councillors.

The Gateway 120 group is pressing ahead with plans to build 14,000 homes on two sites – a large site, called West Tey, near Marks Tey and a smaller development on the edge of Braintree, called Temple Border.

Councils in Braintree, Colchester and Tendring are working together on plans for a garden city and have identified the West Tey site as one of four possible locations.

The Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex (CAUSE) ran the petition at the end of last year.

Colchester Council’s rules for petitions say those with more than 1,800 signatures should be debated at full council.

The council, however, told campaigners their petition is invalid as it refers to a planning matter.

Tom Foster, chairman of CAUSE, said: “We are getting legal advice to check this.

“To have a large number of houses over the years is not a planning decision, and nothing has been decided. The council should consider it.”

More than 60 people attended a meeting on Monday at Copford Primary School and some had not been aware of the plans.

Rosie Pearson, secretary at CAUSE, said: “We want people to have their voices heard, developments must be popular and we feel people are being ignored.

“It’s too big, it’s not suitable, it will not be walkable, it won’t support the local economy- there are so many things wrong with it and we feel its not being properly or sensibly considered.”

The petition was handed to Colchester Council on Monday, December 14.

She said: “It’s such a major thing and people are really worried. We are arguing the petition, should be debated at full council and we shall continue to make noise until it is properly discussed.”

Robert Crayston, director of Gateway 120, said it is widely agreed north Essex needs large numbers of new homes, but of all the plans on the table only the Gateway 120 proposals can also help to deliver thousands of new jobs.

He claims the scheme would unlock funding to upgrade the A120 and bring other community benefits.

Braintree Council is working on its local plan and will put options out to consultation in July.

A Colchester Council spokesman said: “The council’s policy on petitions published on its website excludes petitions related to planning and licencing matters.

"This reflects the fact that these areas are covered by statutory consultation procedures which provide for more detailed consideration of complicated issues.

"In this instance, the petition related to the statutory Local Plan and accordingly wasn’t covered by the Petitions Policy." 

However, he added the petition will be logged this summer as part of its consultation process for its revised Local development Plan.