TENDRING Council has been forced to stage an extra consultation event for its Local Plan after leaflets advertising it arrived after the event took place.

The move also follows criticism of Tendring Council from Walton and Frinton deputy mayor Robert Bucke for not staging such an event in Frinton or Walton.

As part of its Local Plan process, Tendring Council is staging consultation events for residents to help it determine its planning policies until the 2030s.

Such an event took place at Baker Hall, Kirby Cross, last Wednesday, but leaflets advertising it did not arrive in local letterboxes until several days after.

Ray Enever, of Kirby Cross Residents' Association, called it “crazy” and said there should be another meeting.

Neil Churcher, of Frinton Residents' Association, branded it "ridiculous".

"It seems to be symptomatic of the whole planning processes so far to get the only pamphlet when it’s too late for people to go to the only local meeting relevant to their area," he said.

The blunder came as Mr Bucke had been pressuring council officials to stage a consultation meeting in Frinton and Walton.

He said the Kirby Cross meeting last week had attracted few people and it would have been better for it to have been held in the busier Triangle Community Centre. But planning and regulation manager Simon Meacher said Kirby was preferred as it already has planned housing developments there.

Following the blunder, the district council is now to stage a public exhibition in the Columbine Centre in Walton on August 4 from 3pm to 7.30pm.

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council’s communications manager, apologised to residents and businesses in the Frinton and Walton area that leaflets arrived after the Kirby exhibition had actually taken place.

“This is obviously not a satisfactory situation but was down to circumstances beyond our control,” he said.

“In recognition that an exhibition in the Frinton and Walton area is very important – and the reason for it being on the list of venues in the first place – we have set up another date.”

“We have gone for a venue which will be able to accommodate the likely interest and we urge residents from the area to turn up and make the most of the opportunity,” he said.

Last week, Frinton and Walton Town Council agreed to set up a working party to produce its own submission to the plan.