RESIDENTS in Vange have accused councillors of rejecting a plan for 300 new homes to save their seats at the upcoming local elections.

At a heated council meeting, residents asked why a plan for 300 homes was rejected when thousands of new homes had been approved in the area by the same council previously.

The rejected plans were for land off London Road near the Vange Primary School and the former Homebase and were discussed at a Basildon Borough Council planning meeting on Wednesday (April 22). It's the latest Basildon council meeting to descend into chaos, with a packed public gallery shouting at councillors throughout.

After the meeting, one resident, aged 65, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "They've passed thousands of homes in recent years, but this one is stopped. It feels like it's all just politically motivated, which is atrocious. Billericay has been hit badly, with plans agreed for thousands of homes in the last few years."

Various concerns were raised by councillors, including a lack of an educational financial contribution, after the developer withdrew about £2.5 million that was set to benefit the borough's schools. However, the developer, Estates and Agency Strategic Land, had offered £1.6 million in financial contributions for services, including healthcare and improvements to bus services.

Residents expressed their views at the meeting

Councillor Alex Harrison said he was confused and concerned about the money for education. The Labour member added: "We've had many applications in the past where we have been told the opposite, that there are not enough school places. We had one earlier this evening, where we got £5million for education."

An independent review found there was a surplus of school places in the borough, meaning no education contribution was needed for this application, the meeting was told.

Reform UK councillor, Sam Journet, raised concerns about a lack of special needs education in the area. He added: "£2.5million would be a good start towards a brilliant new special needs school in Basildon."

The plans were given an initial refusal and will come back to a further meeting for further consideration. There were concerns about the education cash from across the political spectrum.

A spokesman for the developer told the meeting that the plans included "high-quality" new homes and that using previously developed land for housing "will not solve Basildon's problems. He added: "We want to work with you on this critical issue and give local people the chance of somewhere to proudly call home."

Basildon Council was contacted for comment.