A NEW secondary school could be needed if up to 6,000 homes are built near Basildon in a “garden suburb”.

Campaigners claim the proposed Dunton Garden Suburb would overload crowded schools and cut choice for parents in the west of the borough.

Almost 1,200 people have now signed a petition against the plan for between 4,000 and 6,000 homes around Dunton, on the boundaries of Basildon and Brentwood.

Joint proposals, put forward by Basildon and Brentwood councils, include a new train station, traveller pitches, industrial land and “cultural, social and community facilities”, but make no mention of a school.

Dr Philip Gibbs, of the Dunton Garden Suburb Action Group, said: “It’s a big concern. I’m up in Dunton Hills and the secondary school in particular has been a big issue.

“We are one secondary school down in terms of need and a development this big would justify another secondary school.”

Kerry Smith, Basildon councillor for Nethermayne, county councillor for Westley Heights and independent parliamentary candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock, said: “Secondary school education is the main issue in Basildon and if they were ever to build this, it would cause absolute chaos.

“It would stop parents still being able to access schools in Brentwood and Billericay due to the extra homes being built.

“It’s another reason why Dunton Garden Suburb should never be built.”

In the past, some parents in Langdon Hills have sent their children to schools in Billericay, Brentwood and Upminster rather than the James Hornsby School, in Laindon, which education watchdog Ofsted says “requires improvement”.

The historic availability of places at James Hornsby has been used as justification against building another secondary school in the west of the borough.

But the school now has more pupils on its roll and parents in Langdon Hills fear those in the garden suburb would snap up places at alternative schools in Billericay, Brentwood and Upminster, cutting their choice of places for their children.