Developer critical of council after another homes rejection

By Piers Meyler - Local Democracy Reporter 15th Sep 2026

Local News by Piers Meyler - Local Democracy Reporter 10 minutes ago

BASILDON Council has been blasted by a housing developer after a bid to build 49 new homes was thrown out.

Plans for 49 new homes in Billericay were refused as it would cause 'substantial harm' to the green area in the town, a planning meeting has heard.

Basildon Council had already refused plans for 49 homes on land off Potash Road prior to the most recent planning meeting on 8 September.

The latest meeting heard that it would be 'inappropriate' to build homes on the green belt area.

A motion read out at the meeting said: "The proposed development would result in substantial harm to the openness of the green belt and conflict with the purposes of and including land within the green belt.

"The local authority is not satisfied that the benefits of the scheme clearly outweigh the harm to the green belt and other harm identified so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development."

However, the refusal of the plans has sparked outrage from a developer, stating that Basildon Council's planning authority is "among the poorest performing authorities in the country". The council had heard from officers at the Basildon Council meeting that the area has only delivered 23 per cent of its housing requirement.

They added: "Behind these figures are real people, young families unable to get on the housing ladder, residents forced into unsuitable accommodation and households waiting for access to genuinely affordable homes. The council is failing its constituents in this regard and denying future generations the opportunity to live in the town they grew up in."

In response to that planning committee member Councillor Sam Journet said he "fought passionately" against plans to build on our green belt.

He said: "Reform UK said we'd fight to protect it. That means turning up, making the argument and voting to save it."

The most recent decision continues a sequence of planning rehections in the Billericay area. https://basildon.nub.news/news/local-news/hundreds-of-homes-in-billericay-and-wickford-rejected-306340