Work could finally start on the construction of 136 homes near a 500-home development site in Rayleigh.

Vistry homes plans for 136 homes just south of busy Rawreth Lane, close to the Wolsey Park development site in Rayleigh, were granted outline planning permission in 2020, with residents now receiving letters informing them of the revival of the plans.

The site will be for 136 homes, a mix of one, two, three and four bed houses and apartments plus associated roads, parking and landscaping work.

Liberal Democrat  county councillor for Rayleigh North, James Newport, noted that the council acknowledged the potential impact the influx of residents would have on Rawreth Lane and was avoidant of pursuing anything similar to the site in future.

He said: “We know it is not ideal.

“I campaigned against this and against the piecemeal development we have had on Bloor’s Ashingdon Road and really, it was due to a failed local plan not done properly.

“As a new administration and a new council led by the Liberal Democrats and Independents, our aim is to do things properly and we will take these issues into account, such as severe congestion, when looking to the future.

“It’s part of the wider picture and it is a part of our core strategy, we need to think about the whole district and this will come up again, these plans, when we consult on the new local plan.”

Mr Newport has previously worked to improve speed on Rawreth Lane, adding that: “I have taken up and we have requested speed surveys and also at the moment on the highway panel, there is a scheme to reduce the speed near the site.

“The speed limit is higher than it should be a the entrance to Rawreth Lane and it is being put through panel, that is part of the mitigation work we are doing around the site.”

He added: “At the moment, Liberal Democrat policy is for a garden village and that will be of a scale that is infrastructure first and we have seen these sites on Rawreth and Ashingdon haven’t had the required infrastructure.

“We are in favour of garden villages and we would pursue that in preference.”