OPPOSITION councillors have criticised council bosses over not fully releasing the details of a report on garden community plans for north Essex.

Colchester Conservatives are concerned a letter from consultants PWC was only made available in a redacted form to Colchester councillors.

Pressure from the group led to some councillors being able to see the full document but only under strictly controlled conditions.

Lewis Barber, deputy leader of the group, said: "While it is claimed the secret letter was mentioned within a cabinet paper some time ago it was never explained to elected members they should read this as part of the new town work.

"I haven’t found a backbench member who knew of its existence and just how important it was to this scheme.

"Even when we did it was redacted and it has taken considerable pressure from us for elected members to be allowed to see it, and then only under very close restrictions. It is totally shameful.

"It is part of council work that not every document can be made public but nothing should ever be kept from elected representatives."

He added: "If the council commissions work then the council is 51 members not one or two. This goes to the very heart of democracy.”

The PWC report was commissioned and paid for by both Colchester Council and Essex County Council.

It was produced in 2016 and is classed as a "high-level commercial review" of the approach to developing garden communities in north Essex, which could eventually see 43,000 homes built.

Julie Young, deputy leader of the council, said the council was looking at ways to make the full document available.

"We have been very clear we want to be as open as possible," she said.

"We have to take a cautious approach in the sense the report was commissioned in such a way there is some confidential information in it.

"Kevin Bentley praised myself and David King since we took our posts on the North Essex Garden Communities board saying there has been a seachange for access of information.

"I think it is disingenuous of the Conservatives for them to accuse us of a lack of openness when the Essex County Council Conservative deputy leader is praising us for opening up the process.

"We want to make it available to all 51 councillors and those interested groups who have asked to see it but we are in a process of working this through with PWC."