A PLAN for hundreds of homes in Basildon faces the prospect of being decided at appeal after councillors rejected development plans for the second time in two months.

Basildon Council officers had recommended the Bloor Homes application for 269 homes in Dunton next to the A127 be approved when councillors discussed the application on Wednesday, 7 June.

That meeting was called to formally decide what the planning arguments should be made after councillors refused the same application in April despite recommendations from officers it should be approved.

That decision had been earlier delayed after allegations the applicant donated more than £1 million to the Conservative Party.

Labour councillor Alex Harrison (Lee Chapel North) made the claims at a Basildon Borough Council meeting on March 22 and called for an investigation into whether local Conservative associations had benefited.

It was confirmed that the Monitoring Officer had received written confirmation that no donations have been made by the applicant to any local Conservative Party Association and that the planning application did not directly relate to or affect any political party or local political association.

Councillors said the application earmarked on 9.5 Hectares of agricultural land on the outskirts of Laindon is unsustainable given the reliance residents would have on cars, harm to the green belt, the impact pollution, especially nitrogen dioxide from the A127 on residents' health and the absence of a S106 Agreement to secure obligations and contributions to mitigate the impacts of the proposed development.

Planning committee member Councillor Phil Turner told the committee: "You have a piece of green belt you are being asked to give up under certain conditions that are going to affect people's health.

"I don't think we have the right to do that. If you get planning permission, people will go there not thinking about how their health is going to be affected. They will go there thinking they have got a home."

The developer has offered to increase the number of affordable homes from a previous quota of 97 to 108 but this was deemed still not enough to warrant approving the application.

Cllr Turner added he anticipated the developer would now take the application to appeal where a government inspector would decide the outcome.

It is likely the council will also be challenged on its housing supply in that process.

Whereas councils should demonstrate they have enough housing supply to last five years, Basildon Council's housing land supply is currently at 1.89 years, placing the authority close to the bottom of the table of councils' housing supply delivery.

Cllr Turner added he anticipated Bloor will be challenging validity of the reasons councillors have given for rejecting the appeal but believed their reasons would stand up to scrutiny.

He said: "The developers are going to argue these points at appeal but I think legitimately it is not perverse for us to put sustainability in there. Fellow councillors have commented on how bad a position this site is for people that don't have a car. These points will be argued at appeal as a dare say this will go there.

He added: "Any appeal inspector will be looking at this and say you must have better locations. And does the affordable housing outweigh the damage and harm to the green belt? No, in my opinion it doesn't."