Villagers warned Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, that Althorne could be 'overwhelmed' if Maldon District Council allows developers to build 1,750 new homes there.

The site in the rural village was considered 'suitable' for proposed development in the Council's Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) last February.

In response, members of the Crouch Valley Defence Group wrote to both Greg Clark and Maldon's MP, The Rt Hon John Whittingdale.

Signed by 179 Althorne residents, the letter states that the developer has now submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EAI) Scoping Study Report to help 'drive out' the requirements from Maldon District Council, to support their planning application.

Residents feel a planning application is 'imminent' and may cover a 'much wider' land area than the plot noted in the Council's Local Development Plan.

Currently, there are just 623 homes in the village, housing approximately 1,200 residents. It is feared that the 'disproportionate' impact in Althorne will negatively affect quality-of-life in the village.

The letter states: "The disproportionate impact increases our small village by 280%, which would thereby make it jump to effectively become a small town, without any consideration to the existing residents or indeed the infrastructure necessary to support this level of growth."

Campaigners go on to ask the newly-appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities "why Maldon District Council needs to call for more housing on a narrow, overcrowded, peninsula of land with poor infrastructure when there is a government policy of Levelling Up and moving more industry, with housing and jobs, to the north of the country".

While there have been 179 local signatures so far, campaigners expect this to increase by more than a thousand, once they expand to other local areas, such as Burnham, Southminster and Latchingdon.

However, a spokesperson for Maldon District Council told Nub News the calls for sites exercise does not mean the land will necessarily be developed.

They said: "The HELAA looks at whether there is land available to meet local housing needs and does not determine whether land should be allocated for housing or given planning permission for development.

"Including a site as suitable does not mean that planning permission will be granted."

As of yet, no planning application to develop the site has been submitted.