MORE THAN 100 residents turned out to share their views about thousands of homes being built in the district.

A public consultation ran over two days at Witham Public Hall, showcasing the council's Local Plan for the town.

Sites for Witham were explained to residents, who had concerns over infrastructure and roads.

John Stuchbery, from The Avenue Action Group in Witham, said roads need to be brought up to standard before any houses are built.

He said: "At the moment there just aren't the roads around Witham to take the traffic, and dropping housing around the place is making the situation worse.

"We haven't had a proper piece of road development in Witham for as long as I can remember.

"The A12 is not fit for purpose the way it is, and the north to south way to travel just isn't there at all."

Some residents were concerned about preserving the heritage of the sites.

Bill Blaxland, from Blunts Hall Road, lives near a field which holds thousands of years of history.

The site was taken out of the Local Plan in recent years, but has been put back in and retained for housing.

Mr Blaxland said: "They already seem to have altered the town boundary without thinking to tell anybody.

"The field has a little bit of local history- the coaches and horses used to travel down there and they kept the horses in the field overnight to rest them.

"It's right behind a Saxon fort as well and I have been talking to planners about this for about 12 years."

Consideration for nature was something Michelle Leading, from Cressing Road, thought was important.

She said: "There's plans for 150 homes here. I have concerns about traffic and amenities, and conservation.

"Where I live there are fields around us, we have deer and pheasants- where are they supposed to go?

"There's also no consideration for access- there will be nowhere for people to turn around down the narrow lanes."

Traffic was one of the main concerns residents had regarding the plans.

Christine Leading, from Maltings Lane, said: "If they start building all these houses all these people have one or two cars.

"Maltings Lane used to be a lovely quiet road but now it's a rat run and they have busses up and down here.

"The traffic going up and down that road is horrendous."

Public transport would have to be revised if more cars are to be on the roads.

Christopher Bailey, Witham councillor, said: "The railway lines are running at full capacity- governments shelve spending on transport but we need infrastructure first, it's crucial.

"It's very easy to say we need to get people off the roads and on to buses to work but all the industrial estates are dead end roads that you can't drive a bus down.

"Running a public transport system through a town like Witham is incredibly difficult."

Planning policy officer, Gary Sung, said the council is in talks with Essex County Council and the local Highways Agency to make sure roads and junctions are upgraded to accommodate the new housing.

He said: "We are undertaking traffic modelling, working with the County Council and Highways Agency, consulting both to see what their views are.

"They will come back to us with what upgrades are needed to local junctions- when the development comes forward as a planning application we will say what junctions need upgrading."

Consultations are also taking place for Braintree and Halstead and the surrounding villages.

Information on the consultations can be found on the council's website.