Campaigners have hit out at a series of “aggressive” developments after new plans for a further 45 homes in Heybridge were unveiled.

Endurance Estates Strategic Land want to build the houses and public open space on 3.2 hectares on land west of Maypole Road.

Plans already in the pipeline could mean more than 1,800 houses would be built in Heybridge.

But Maldon District Council has requested an Environmental Impact Assessment due to the scale and complexity of the new proposal.

The site would be near the Iron Age, Roman and Saxon settlement of Elms Farm to the south, which is earmarked as a “sensitive” area.

Potential pollution and “nuisances” to natural habitats were also cited as a reason for the Environmental Impact Assessment.

Chris Salmon, of the Heybridge Residents Association, said: “The council needs to be careful to watch the wellbeing of the wildlife in Heybridge.

“It is rich with badgers and squirrels and birds and if wildlife has nowhere to live then it is gone forever.

“We understand the need for housing but it must be sensible.”

The proposal is the latest in a long list of proposed major developments.

They include the North Heybridge garden suburb that will total 1,235 homes. Sue Ryall, who lives in Holloway Road, said: “It is horrible living under this – it has been going on for years.

“Living here you don’t know what is going to happen next.

“We came here from Chelmsford for the peace and quiet but they are destroying it.”