Some areas of Witham and Silver End have been allocated new uses after officers listened to local opinions on the recently published District Plan.

A field off Blunts Hall Road, Witham, will remain in agricultural use and outside the town envelope after nearby residents opposed a suggestion to use it for housing.

The Bellfield, off Braintree Road, will remain designated for educational use, as it has for many years. But the ground is so contaminated with toxic metal residue, a legacy of its former industrial use, that it cannot be used until a developer is willing to spend a lot of money cleaning it up.

Smaller areas of land in Chess Lane, behind 77 to 83 Maldon Road and the Mayland car park are no longer earmarked for building.

In Silver End, the RMC site in Boars Tye Road, once intended for business use, may now include some housing connected with small businesses intended to generate local employment.

Published Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Brought to you by the Essex Chronicle