Residents in Billericay and Wickford have spoken on their views on defending the green belt in their areas.
A survey complied by MP for the towns John Baron was sent to the majority of householders asking for their views on local development in relation to his Green Belt Protection Bill which has been presented to Parliament.
From the responses, Mr Baron said that residents felt they should decide the right level of development, not central Government.
He said: "Like me, the vast majority of respondents believe that it is wrong for central Government to impose national house-building targets on local communities - believing instead that locally democratically elected bodies such as the district, county or parish councils should decide the right level of local development."
"I recently presented my Green Belt Protection Bill to Parliament which aims to give local councils more powers to protect our Greenfield land.
"However despite widespread support the Government is presently trying to stop it from becoming law - which to me shows it does not care about this issue."
Mr Baron is presenting his bill again to the House of Commons on Friday, June 13, and is hoping to drum up more support from the Government before that date.
Published Friday, May 2, 2003
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