Braintree District housing targets 'swamping' villages

New housing targets introduced by the government in December increase Braintree District Council’s housing targets by more than 37 per cent.

In Cressing, locals have already expressed concerns over ongoing building work for 250 homes in between Braintree and Tye Green, which were originally refused by Braintree Council in 2019.

The plans were eventually allowed by an independent Planning Inspector, who acknowledged that “the development would be at odds with the area’s strategy for the location of new housing” and that harm to the countryside would be “moderate”.

Site - Last August, residents expressed concerns about the proximity of the Persimmon Homes development to Braintree Road (Image: Newsquest) Bob Wright, ward councillor for Silver End and Cressing, said: “The whole ward has had massive expansion.

“Rivenhall is going to be doubled very shortly in housing numbers, it’s going to go up by 100 per cent.

“Silver End is getting close to that and Cressing is even worse—they’ve built so many houses there, infrastructure can’t keep up.

“There’s a big delay in schools. They’re getting oversubscribed and there’s not enough schools to take the children for the new houses.

“The doctors surgeries are going to be totally overwhelmed. It seems there’s a lack of doctors and a lack of forethought and planning long-term to increase doctors and doctors surgeries, and the NHS could ask the developers for more money upfront to cover the cost of it all.

“It’s swamping the local services and the local roads, and there’s nothing being done about it.

“We’ve got to stop building houses before they solve the problems.”

Sites - Councillor Bob Wright says Cressing's infrastructure can't keep up with the number of new houses set to be built (Image: Google Maps) MP - Priti Patel says local communities are best placed to identify the new infrastructure they need (Image: House of Commons/PA Wire) Witham MP Priti Patel discussed concerns over the new housebuilding targets with members of Cressing Parish Council.

Priti, whose Witham constituency includes the Cressing parish, said: “Cressing and villages across the district are now under threat from Labour’s huge new housebuilding targets.

“These ill-thought-through policies will lead to the countryside and biodiversity being lost and concreted over while Labour Ministers boast about local views being completely ignored and run roughshod over.

“Local communities are best-placed to identify the appropriate sites they have for development and the new infrastructure and public services they need to ensure new growth is matched with better access to services.”