ON the form given out by Tendring Council for people’s thoughts on the expansion of Clacton, it states that the current Government will expect the council to plan for 1,200 homes per year.

Douglas Carswell, MP, however, in last week’s Gazette states: “There is no one in Government telling the council what the figures should be, just a requirement that the figure is based on sensible estimates”.

The problem is, do you base it on Tendring’s needs or on people coming from outside Tendring? I feel that it should be the former, as we owe no allegiance to the latter who can go to any estate agent and choose from hundreds of homes.

What is also worrying to a lot of people is that very few will move here from Suffolk, Norfolk or Cambridge, but when you build “affordable” housing, which Tendring Council saysit cannot afford to buy, and reduce the 3,000-plus waiting on their books, you cannot control where they come from.

Regarding a figure for the number of homes in a year, surely it would be a sensible policy to cut this down to say 400, and see if they sell well in the first six months, and then allow further development once the majority have sold? Preferences should be given to building on land that has not been used for growing food.

We have to import a lot of food to satisfy our needs and to lose the benefit of hundreds of acres producing potatoes, corn, peas, etc is not a sensible idea.

In Sladburys Lane, farm land which has grown high quality crops for well over 100 years, has been put forward for future housing. We are talking about 640 acres which, once lost, will be gone for ever.

If you build 1,200 homes a year, that will mean at least 1,000 more cars in Tendring, or 10,000 over the next ten years. Where will all these cars find parking, especially in Clacton?

I have not spoken to anyone who is for these plans.

Roy Goodall
Sladburys Lane
Clacton