ANGRY residents packed a meeting to hit out at plans to change Hadleigh Country Park after the Olympic Games.

Essex County Council has submitted plans to Castle Point Council for permanent recreational trails through the park – the venue for the Olympic mountain biking event – as well as a new information centre for visitors and cycle tracks.

Several public exhibitions have been held and local people have come forward to have their say on the proposals – however, residents in St Mary’s Road, Benfleet, which backs on to the park, say they were not consulted.

Some 50 residents attended an exhibition on the plans, at Richmond Hall, in Benfleet, to have their say on Monday.

Deryn Newitt, of St Mary’s Road, Benfleet, was incensed when she saw the plans and said she would rather the country park remained unchanged.

She said: “Our homes back on to the country park and I walk my dogs over there every day.

“If these new trails are put in place, it will increase traffic in our road and parking will become a nightmare.

“We are all really annoyed, because nobody has been consulted in our road and we are going to be directly impacted.

“I would like to see the trails remain as they are. The meeting was the first time we have seen the plans, and we are all against the changes.

“The new paths would also see trees and scrubland taken away, which is not right.”

The proposals for new walking trails include creating a new colour-graded trail network, with a “red-grade” mountain bike trail on the Olympic course, “blue grade” mountain bike trails, and “green grade” multi-user trails for walkers and cyclists.

The routes include information signs, horse riding trails and cross-country paths.

John Stack, a former councillor for Benfleet, also attended the meeting and demanded to know the exact number of people who had responded to the consultations.

Alf Partridge, ward councillor for St Mary’s, said he had been inundated with calls from residents opposed to the plans.

He added: “The whole process has been a shambles. I knew next to nothing about these plans until a resident told me about this meeting.

“People living in Benfleet have used the country park for dog walking for years and they don’t want to see it spoiled.”

But a spokeswoman for Essex County Council said it had been “completely transparent in developing the legacy proposals”.

She added: “Throughout the planning stages, the council has hosted nine workshops, three site tours and four exhibitions.

“In addition it has tried to ensure press coverage of both the proposals and the opportunities to attend consultations, in the Echo, and on local radio and TV.”

“In September 2011 a questionnaire was issued to 40,000 residents in the borough and Leigh, and those visiting essexlegacy.org could view the proposals.