COUNCILLORS were torn over a proposal to scale down a garden community in the long term.

Braintree Council’s Local Plan, which is under public consultation for the final time, was discussed at a full council meeting on Monday.

Three garden communities are each set to deliver 2,500 homes up to 2033 — west of Braintree, at West Tey, and to the east of Colchester close to Essex University.

Councillor James Abbott proposed to amend the plans for the West Tey garden community, which could provide up to 24,000 homes in the long- term.

He wanted plans to be downscaled to a maximum of 10,000 homes, which would match the scale for the other two settlements.

An overall majority of 35 councillors opposed the amendment. There were two votes for the proposal and two abstentions.

Mr Abbott said: “This does not challenge the principal of garden communities, it is to make West Tey the same scale as the other two communities.

“There isn’t a map that shows the vast scale of the proposal, it would be an urban development almost all the way from Colchester University to Feering.”

His amendment was supported by councillor John Elliott. He said: “I am not against garden communities, I think they have an important role to play. 24,000 homes is a colossal potential development.

“Do we really need this? I have long held the view that at this scale, no we don’t. This will change this part of the district immeasurably.”

Some councillors felt garden communities were the only suitable alternative. Councillor Lady Patricia Newton said: “Councillor Abbott says we do not need to do this, well he doesn’t believe in having a vision for the district. He is suggesting we kick this into the long grass.”

Chris Siddall, councillor for the Colnes, spoke out against garden communities. He said: “We don’t need three garden communities on top of the local development framework plan, we are now going to abandon all of these villages. We have failed the villages and we should not do that.”

His fellow ward councillor, Gabrielle Spray, disagreed. She said: “Villages are taking their fair share but that on its own is not going to provide the numbers.”