MALDON councillors will now debate two controversial planning applications tomorrow (Thursday, 20 August).

One of the proposals is for up to 320 new homes on land west of Knowles Farm in Wycke Hill, Maldon, including 30 per cent affordable housing. The developers would be required to contribute around £1.3million to the construction of the South Maldon Relief Road, should the plans go ahead. The proposals include a mix of housing, from one-bedroomed flats to three-bedroomed homes.

The other is an application to carry out ground investigations, load tests and other works in connection with the proposed new nuclear power station on land east of the current power station at Downhall Beach, Bradwell-on-Sea. Ultimately, any application to build the plant would be decided by national planning authorities.

Both applications were previously rejected by Maldon District Council at a District Planning Committee meeting on 9 July – though no formal notice of rejection to either applicant has yet been made.

The plans for the housing development on fields close to Morrison's supermarket were rejected by councillors due to concerns over traffic movement, including access for emergency service vehicles.

The decision to adjourn the meeting last week was taken after a row broke out over whether legal advice - on what rejecting the plans could mean for the local authority - should be heard by councillors in private or in public. It is common practice for councils across the country to exclude the press and public while hearing such information under the Local Government Act 1972.

This week's meeting agenda has the proposed exclusion of the press and public early on the agenda and it is understood that this week members could vote on the issue. If the legal advice is then heard in private, the meeting will be made public again immediately afterwards for the debate and decision on the two plans to take place.

The meeting will begin at 1pm and will be available on livestream on the Maldon District Council website

It will also be available to watch as a video on YouTube after it has taken place.

• Will you be watching the meeting to see local democracy in action? You can comment here or visit the new Readers' Letters section on the Maldon Nub News website homepage. Just visit the Maldon Nub News website and go to the 'Nub It' button under the Maldon News heading – then select 'Readers Letters' in item category.