During October and November local people were invited to send in comments to the Council to express their views on future housing development in Tendring. This is in response to concerns about the Council's draft proposals for new development which were published for public consultation in October 2010. We listened to those concerns and that is why we gave local people another opportunity to have their say before any firm decisions are made.

Local councils have a legal duty to plan for new housing to meet the needs of a growing population and by giving us your views you will be helping us to get it right for local people. We are only too aware that the prospect of housing growth in our communities can sometimes feel daunting and controversial but if your local council does not take these difficult decisions with the interests of local people at heart, they will ultimately be taken by remote officials who have no connection to the area.

The Council must now go through all the comments received and carefully take them into account in the preparation of a new district plan, which will set out how many new homes are needed in Tendring, where they will be located and what types of houses should be built to meet local needs. All 60 councillors you elected to Tendring District Council in May will be directly involved in making those decisions and helping to prepare the new plan. Once this is prepared, it will be placed on public consultation giving you a further opportunity to comment and make your views heard before a final decision is made.

We have prepared five videos to give you more detailed information about the issues on which we sought your views. When you click on a link a new window will open. Each video has sound so please remember to turn your volume up.

Video 1 - A Plan for Tendring

Video 2 - Housing Numbers

Video 3 - Location of New Housing

Video 4 - Possible Housing Sites

Video 5 - Types of Housing

As part of the preparation of a new Local Plan for the Tendring area which, amongst other things, will need to identify sites for housing development to meet the needs of a growing population, the Council invited landowners, developers and the general public to put forward their ideas and suggestions for which sites could be earmarked for housing or mixed-use development.

In October 2011, 167 sites had been put forward for consideration (see Possible Housing Sites Volume 1 for details of these). Between October 2011 and March 2012, a further 59 sites were put forward, bringing the total number of sites being promoted by 'third parties' to 226 (see Possible Housing Sites Volume 2 - which contains only the details of the further 59 sites that have been put forward.

It is very important to point out that these sites have been promoted by third parties, not the Council. At this stage, the Council has not approved any of these sites for inclusion in the new Local Plan, but it is highly likely that some (but certainly not all) will be needed to deliver the number of new homes needed over the next few years.