A public meeting will take place to discuss the introduction of a housing plan which could limit the number of homes being built in a village.

Earls Colne Parish Council is inviting residents to attend a meeting about producing its own neighbourhood plan.

The scheme aims to give communities more involvement in the development of their area.

Residents can have their say on where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, how the buildings should look and what infrastructure should be provided.

Braintree Council must take neighbourhood plans into consideration when ruling on planning applications.

Planning experts will be at the public meeting to provide more detail on how the plan would work and what is needed to create one.

Parish Councillor Tony Calton, who will also be in attendance, says the aim of the meeting is to gauge whether there is enough to interest to press ahead with the scheme.

He said: "Getting a neighbourhood plan would be quite a long and complex process.

"The idea of the meeting is to give a bit more information on what it is about and what in involves. We are also on a steep learning curve ourselves with this but we need to see if there is enough enthusiasm for this.

"We sent out a letter to residents earlier this year and had about 120 people respond and show an interest.

"What we are really looking for is ten to 12 people in the village who would be interested in taking part in the process and joining a steering group.

"There is no obligation to go forward with this though so if there is not much interest then we are unlikely to go ahead with it."

Mr Calton, who joined the parish councillor earlier this year, says the meeting is taking place due to increasing concerns among residents in Earls Colne about the number of new homes set to be built in the village.

He added: "I would say over the last year there has been a huge number of planning applications put forward by developers for the village.

"We have had people coming to parish council meetings voicing their concerns about specific planning applications.

"There is something like 300 new houses planned for Earls Colne.

"There is a growing feeling in the village of how are the amenities are going to cope with all these new home? But it would appear problems with the oversubscribed schools and doctors are not seen as legitimate reasons for refusing an application."

The meeting takes place at Earls Colne Village Hall on Tuesday, October 24 at 7pm.