Colchester Conservatives pledge to fight Labour’s unreasonable Housing Allocations 

Colchester City Council has revealed draft maps showing where thousands of extra houses will be built over the next 15 years.

The change is a result of the Labour Government’s policy of shifting the housing needed for Londoners out to the countryside.  The result is a 40% increase in Colchester's annual target.

This requires sites for 11,000 extra houses to be found, in addition to those already allocated in the Colchester Council area.

Conservative Group Leader Cllr Paul Dundas (Tiptree Ward), who leads the opposition on the Lib Dem led Council said “This is a top-down dictat from the Labour government that simply doesn’t care about places like Colchester. We’ve always accepted that people need houses, but Colchester is already one of the fastest growing areas in the country."

We're asking “where's the infrastructure commitment in all of this – where are the doctors, the roads, the public transport, the schools? On all of this there is silence from the Labour Government.”

Conservative planning spokesman Cllr Andrew Ellis (Marks Tey and Layer Ward) said “It is essential that residents understand the scale of these changes and the impact on rural communities and the landscape. This is a draft plan and there is still an opportunity to change it. So it is vital that all residents, businesses and parish councils look at these proposals and respond when the formal consultation opens”

If you are affected by this massive increase in house-building, you can attend a special meeting of the Council's Local Plan Committee to be held at the Charter Hall in Colchester on the evening of Monday 17 February (click HERE for agenda papers).

2025-02-07