A CAMPAIGN group has called for Heybridge Basin to break away from its village namesake.

Maldon District Council has started a consultation into the makeup of governance in Heybridge.

A group has petitioned the council calling for the creation of a new parish for the basin area, which would be served by its own parish council.

If given the green light the shake-up would see the responsibility of Heybridge Basin taken away from Heybridge Parish Council.

The petition said: “This petition is submitted as a justified change from the current situation due to the altered social and economic characteristics of Heybridge Basin village when compared with Heybridge itself, with its continuing expansion into a semi-urban residential complex mandated by and implemented according to the Maldon District Local Development Plan, forming in part the North Heybridge Garden Suburb, and which features little or no nautical connectivity to Heybridge Basin.

“Heybridge Basin, on the other hand, continues as a rural community with interests dominated by its riverside and associated nautical and tourist economic base.

“It is felt that this petition is an expression of a significant majority of the village population to seek change to a more appropriate local governance structure.”

The electoral register shows there are 519 people eligible to vote in the basin area.

If approved a new parish council would have responsibilities for things such as allotments, bus shelters, drainage, litter bins and toilets.

Changes to the makeup of councils normally come into effect at the next scheduled elections.

In Maldon the next parish elections are in May 2019.

Any comments should be made in writing to Stuart Jennings, Corporate Governance Project Officer, Maldon District Council, Princes Road, Maldon, or via email at committee.clerk@maldon.gov.uk.

All representations must be received by 4.30pm on Friday, December 14.

Documents for the review can be inspected at the offices of the Maldon District Council at Princes Road, Maldon, and at the offices of Heybridge Parish Council at Plantation Hall, Colchester Road, Heybridge.