PLANS for thousands of new homes on the border of Tendring and Colchester will help protect existing towns and villages, a council leader claims.

Tendring Council leader Neil Stock repeated his support for the creation of a so-called "garden community", which could see up to 9,000 new homes as well as jobs and infrastructure created.

He said: “Housing is always an emotive subject, and we have all seen examples of speculative and opportunistic planning applications which do so much damage to communities, but bring little in terms of infrastructure.

“The way to address this issue is to ensure we plan for the long-term and by creating the stand-alone garden community we will be able to demonstrate how we are meeting housing need and have more legal power to stop these speculative applications that do so much damage to our villages.”

Proposals outlined in the council’s Local Plan would see major development close to the University of Essex.

Mr Stock added: “The plans being developed would be a completely new way of delivering homes, offering us the opportunity to create something from scratch, controlling the design, the speed of build, and importantly being able to create the infrastructure and right mix of housing and business space to ensure they flourish as a community.”

Bosses at Tendring Council have agreed to pump another £250,000 into the development of the project

They are also backing the use of compulsory purchase powers if landowners do not volunteer to sell sites.