A CONSULTATION is set to be launched on plans to build a ‘9,000-home town’ on the border of Colchester and Tendring before the scheme is put to the government for examination.

Colchester and Tendring councils will invite comments from residents, community groups and businesses on long-anticipated plans for the Tendring/Colchester Border Garden Community.

In 2020, a planning inspector found Braintree, Colchester and Tendring councils’ plans for 43,000 homes across three garden communities to be only partially deliverable.

In a letter to the North Essex Authorities, planning inspector Roger Clews said the Tendring/Colchester plan could continue, but two others in Marks Tey and Braintree should be removed.

The Tendring/Colchester Border Garden Community is a planned new settlement laying between Colchester and Elmstead Market, and forms part of the adopted Local Plan for Tendring and Colchester.

Earlier this month, Tendring Council voted to send the plan out for formal consultation.

The decision is subject to Colchester Council also agreeing to send the plan for consultation, with the topic on the agenda for its full council meeting tonight.

If approved, then consultation will take place in May and June.

A Planning Inspector will then assess whether the plan is sound and complaint with planning policy.