Billericay District Residents' Association
incorporating the Billericay Action Group
PLANNING MATTERS September 2025
The situation stays incredibly quiet regarding the emerging Basildon Local Plan with the council putting out no new information in recent months. All we can advise at this stage is that a third public consultation is expected and it could take place in November. We will hopefully have more news in the next edition.
However, we continue to face an onslaught of planning applications and proposals for large scale housing estates in the Green Belt. To date, almost 1,500 new homes have been approved with the three district wards that make up greater Billericay, with another 400 dwellings awaiting approval.
But most alarming are proposals for a further 4,500 houses that have yet to get to a planning application but are being actively promoted by landowners, land agents and developers. These map on to sites being considered for inclusion in the new Local Plan. Please note that we include developments at Steeple View and Dunton Road in these figures as they now fall with Burstead ward.
Of particular note are huge estates proposed east of Southend Road (1,100 houses), south of Great Burstead (1,500) and on Dunton Road (1,100).
If all of those 6,400 new homes are approved, it would be show around a 40% growth in housing the immediate Billericay area. That’s 40% more people looking for health facilities, 40% more children trying to find a school place, and 40% more cars on our roads. Rail capacity could become an issue again, as well as parking around the station and High Street.
Quite frankly is unsustainable, and we have seen nothing so far that guarantees that services and infrastructure will keep pace with house building. And there is nothing yet to show that the Local Plan will address this either.
It is becoming increasingly clear that excessive Government housing targets and a weakened planning system are driving the agenda at the expense of quality of life for existing and any new residents, and the environment. Affordability will remain an issue as most of these new houses will be out of the reach of local people in local wage trying to get a home of their own.
Apologies for painting such a bleak picture but the outlook does not look promising, and we need to face the reality of the situation.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
A public consultation, to give people a chance to have their say, has been launched by a number of authorities to guide their proposed vision for new unitary councils across Greater Essex.
The Government has asked councils in the area to propose options to reduce the current number of local authorities in Essex and replace them with bigger unitary councils, which will deliver most local services to their residents.
As part of the Government's devolution agenda, aimed at streamlining local governance, the 15 Essex councils are set to be replaced within the next three years by a smaller number of new unitary authorities. These new bodies will consolidate responsibilities, delivering all local services except those managed by town and parish councils, which will remain unaffected. At the moment the proposal is to merge Basildon and Thurrock Councils to form one unitary council.
Thurrock Council is facing a significant financial crisis, with a projected debt of over £1.1 billion and a budget deficit, largely stemming from a series of failed commercial investments. Currently there is no undertaking from the Government to take any responsibility for this debt, which means that it could end up as the responsibility of Basildon Council and therefore all Billericay households.
There is a consultation which runs until the 20th July, to enable you to comment on the proposal. The link to more information and the consultation can be found on
https://www.basildon.gov.uk/LocalGovernmentReorganisationSurvey
Lost Forever - Basildon Borough Council approve 250 houses, off Laindon Road, adjacent to FrithwoodThis view could be lost forever following last month’s decision by Basildon Borough Council’s Planning Committee to approve a planning application for 250 houses on Green Belt land west of Laindon Road running across the rich farmland to Frithwood Lane and ancient Frith Wood. The primary justification was a dire shortage of new property and a somewhat convenient reclassification of the land as ‘grey belt’ under very new planning guidance, supported by a recent Green Belt Study, that weakens the protection of much of the land around Billericay. This is clearly a very sad and worrying outcome, potentially setting the scene for what is to come in the future, with several other planning applications awaiting a decision. However, the application is now subject to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government considering calling-in the application for review and we have started lobbying for that to happen. We would like to thank the several hundred residents that objected to this application, and very specifically those that attended the planning committee meeting and spoke out in public. As always, resident action and involvement is important. We must use our voices. |
Maitland Lodge, South Green
Two years ago, an application for 47 houses at Maitland Lodge, Southend Road was approved on appeal by a Planning Inspector whose report included an opinionated mini-rant about the importance of the 45% 'affordable' (albeit unaffordable, being discounted 20%) element of the proposal.
But now the developers are trying to wriggle out of this, reducing the 45% ‘affordable’ (21 homes) to 15% (7 homes) claiming ‘viability’ – the government’s guarantee that developers are entitled to at least a 20% profit margin.
Again and again we will see the 'affordable' element used as justification to build on Green Belt, with the proportion later reduced after approval is given.
