THE amount of housebuilding near railway stations in Essex could dramatically increase under Government proposals to award developers default planning permission.

Developers seeking to build near railway stations will receive a default "yes" in the future if they meet certain criteria.

The Government says this will help ensure thousands more working families and commuters can live and work near train stations, such as Chelmsford, home to the first new railway station on the Great Eastern mainline, in 100 years.

Beaulieu station is the latest stop on the route, which also includes Brentwood, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester, and Manningtree along its length.

There are another six railway lines with a total of 38 stations.

These changes will be introduced alongside proposals to streamline the statutory consultee process, in a bid to help the government meet its target of 1.5 million homes.

But the leader of Chelmsford City Council, Stephen Robinson, said the developers will not build at the speed needed unless incentivised through penalties.

He said: "It's not the planning system that has been holding up development. It is developers who have been holding up developments.

"There are over a million planning applications across the country. It's not the planning system that's the problem.

"The Government needs to give local councils the power to require an agreed build-out rate and then some kind of penalty if they don't comply."

Housing Secretary, Steve Reed, said: "I promised we'd get Britain building and that's exactly what we are doing. But it has to be the right homes in the right places, and nearby transport links are a vital part of that.

"We're making it easier to build well-connected and high-quality homes, using stronger powers to speed things up if councils drag their feet, and proposing to streamline the consultation process to cut back delays.

"This is about action: spades in the ground, breathing new life into communities, and families finally getting the homes they need."

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: "We're ending years of dither and delay by green-lighting affordable new homes for working people.

"This is another demonstration that our Plan for Change is getting spades in the ground faster, connecting people with jobs and opportunities closer to where they live, and boosting towns and cities across the country."