Exactly where 18,000 new homes could be built across Tendring
There are major sites planned across Clacton, Dovercourt and St Osyth
The details of where more than 18,000 homes could be built across dozens of sites in north-east Essex have been published by the council responsible for housing allocations.
The draft local plan published by Tendring District Council – which details where 18,334 homes it thinks should be built across more than 50 sites – is set to go to public consultation for the last time before being sent to the Government for examination.
The updated local plan identifies additional sites for housing and employment development to meet the Government’s mandatory housing target of at least 18,173 new homes between 2026 and 2043.
The target for Tendring has gone up from 11,000 when the last local plan detailing where homes should go between 2013 and 2033 was adopted in 2021.
The council has said the mandatory housing requirement – which for Tendring has increased substantially since the adoption of the current Local Plan – now requires the district to plan for a level of growth “without precedent” in its history.
It says accommodating this growth in a sustainable manner will require significant investment in transport, education, healthcare, utilities and community infrastructure whilst ensuring that the District’s environment, landscape character, coastal assets and internationally important habitats are appropriately protected and enhanced.
This will present challenges for existing communities and service providers and will require careful planning to ensure that growth is supported by the facilities, jobs and infrastructure needed to create sustainable places.
Councillors are to vote to give the go ahead for plan to proceed to six-weeks’ formal public consultation in line with Regulation 19 of the statutory plan-making process at a meeting on August 25. It is the last stage before it heads off to the Government for examination.
A statement said: “The local plan review is therefore critical to ensuring that Tendring can manage growth positively and proactively, rather than leaving the District vulnerable to speculative and unplanned development. The review provides the opportunity to direct growth towards the most sustainable and deliverable locations, ensure that new development contributes towards infrastructure improvements and environmental enhancement, and demonstrate how the District can respond positively to national planning policy whilst recognising the particular opportunities and constraints that make Tendring distinctive.”
To meet these additional requirements for housing up to 2043 and to set the direction for growth in the longer-term, draft proposals included three new garden villages at Hare Green, Horsley Cross and Weeley, a major expansion at Harwich, and growth around other towns and villages, and locations with railway stations.
Among the sites are plans for large conurbations – notably the Tendring and Colchester Borders Garden Community that could see 1,950 homes built by 2043 and another 1,800 beyond that.
Hare Green Garden Village could grow to 1,700 homes by 2043 and then eventually to 4,500 homes. Meanwhile, Horsley Cross Garden Village could grow to 1,700 homes by 2043 and then eventually to 6,000.
Sites for housing allocation up to 2043 any beyond
Tendring/Colchester Borders Garden Community 1,950 (1,800)
Hartley Gardens, Clacton 1,870
Oakwood Park, Clacton 925
Rouses Farm, Clacton 950
Land off Deane’s Lane and Oakley Road, Dovercourt 1,650
Weeley Green Garden Village 900
Saltings Quarter, Riverside Avenue, Manningtree 40
Hare Green Garden Village 1,700 (2,800)
Horsley Cross Garden Village 1,700 (4,300)
Land at Vicarage Farm, Dovercourt 150
Land North of Thorpe Road, Kirby Cross 450
Land east of Cockaynes Lane, Alresford 100
Land east of Admirals Green and north of Weeley Road, Great Bentley 120
Land East of Amerells Road, Little Clacton 80
Land South of Clacton Road, St Osyth 100
Land North of Lifehouse Spa & Hotel, Thorpe-le-Soken 70
Durite Works, Valley Road 82
Land adjacent Branscombe Close, Frinton 40
Affinity Water, Mill Hill, Manningtree 80
Crisp Malting, School Lane, Mistley 50
Brightlingsea Telephone Exchange, 16 New Street, Brightlingsea 15
Land at Pannell Place, Brightlingsea 20
Land south-west of Colchester Main Road, Alresford 40
Land adj Village Hall, Harwich Road, Beaumont 12
Land west of Windmill Road, Bradfield 20
Land South of Weeley Road, Great Bentley 80
Land west of Parsons Hill, Great Bromley 15
Land south of Hall Road, Great Bromley 10
Land west of Main Road, Great Holland 10
Land east of Kirby Road, Great Holland 10
Land north-east of Wix Road, Great Oakley 50
Land south of Orchard Close, Great Oakley 50
Land north of Walton Road, Kirby-le-Soken 10
Land west of Manningtree Road, Little Bentley 12
Land south of Shop Road, Little Bromley 10
Lane East of Heckfords Road, Great Bentley 80
Haulage Depot, Heath Road, Tendring Heath 10
Land at Avocet Place, Thorrington 60
Land east of Bentley Road, Weeley Heath 60
Land south of Mill Lane, Weeley Heath 17
Land south of Colchester Road, Wix 20
Land North of Rectory Road, Wrabness 30
Land at Weeley Council Offices Thorpe Road 24
Former Tendring Hundred Waterworks Site, Clacton 90
Land adjoining Harwich & Parkeston Football Club, Main Road, Dovercourt 24
Station Yard and Former Avon Works, off Station Road 40
Well House Site, Chestnut Way, Brightlingsea 60
Vicarage Field, Church Road, Brightlingsea 30
Land North of Robinson Road, Brightlingsea 25
Land North of Wix Road, Bradfield 25
Land East of The Street, Bradfield 30
Councillor Carlo Guglielmi, chairman of the planning policy and local plan committee, added that the level of public engagement had already been significant.
He said: “The Local Plan is one of the most important documents the council produces, shaping how Tendring grows over the coming decades, and we are listening carefully as we shape the next stage of the plan.”