A LAND promoter has said the council should slow down on making a decision where to build a new Garden Community.

The Local Plan Sub-Committee met at Braintree Council on May 16 to recommend land for new towns.

Land at the Colchester and Braintree borders and land west of Braintree were approved and will deliver 2,500 homes each up to 2033.

Monks Wood in Pattiswick was an alternative site but councillors felt the impact on facilities would be too big.

Land promoter of Monks Wood, Richard Walker, said the site had been neglected.

He said: "The core offer is a 7,000 home development across five neighbourhoods, the land could be acquired with ease.

"We do not think Monks Wood has been given proper attention."

He referred to a review carried out by Lord Kerslake, which encouraged councils to spend more time considering large scale developments.

Mr Walker said Braintree's decision to go to council in June could be looking premature.

He said: "You have not taken fully into account what Monks Wood will offer."

He wanted councillors to delay plans and double check other options.

Peter Kohn, chairman of the Coggeshall neighbourhood plan steering group, said Monks Wood should be a "last resort" for housing.

He said: "Monks Wood would be hard up against the A120, it would totally dwarf Coggeshall, in this location the infrastructure would be totally inadequate.

"It would alter the focus of Coggeshall and make it less resilient."

A Garden Community at the Colchester/Braintree border, five miles west of Colchester’s town centre, will deliver an overall total of up to 24,000 homes beyond 2033.

The garden community west of Braintree, five kilometres west of the town centre, will deliver up to 10,000 homes beyond 2033.

David Churchill, agent of G120 Ltd in favour of a garden community at the Colchester/Braintree border, said they were "critical" to the delivery of the Local Plan.

He said the site would provide sustainable growth, and he supported the need to bring infrastructure first.

Martin Herbert speaking on behalf of Galliard Homes, one of the controllers of land west of Braintree, said garden communities were an "imaginative solution" to the housing crisis.

He said: "We will continue to engage with the council and make sure the impact on the area is minimised and that residents will feel they are benefitting.

"We feel confident the vision is proceeding in the right direction."

Rosie Pearson, secretary for the Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex, said the council had shown "relentless refusal to listen to residents".

The campaigners are strongly opposed to large scale developments, saying decision making has been premature.

The plans will now go to council in June before a second eight-week public consultation.