Nearly ten hectares of land could be turned into a business park in Maldon if a new strategy plan is adopted.

Roughly the size of 30 football pitches, the plan is the brainchild of Maldon District Council which has to allocate land for new business.

Its document - 21st Century Jobs: Towards a Local Plan Employment Strategy - outlines the possibilities and suggests one site rather than a number of small sites. At present no one site has been earmarked.

The council has also suggested a further three-and-a-quarter hectares to provide for business in other parts of the district.

The document has been written in response to the Draft Essex and Southend-on-Sea Replacement Structure Plan (ESRSP) which has given the council the task of finding 21 hectares for business and industrial use.

About half the increase will be through improving derelict and run-down employment land. Local businesses and employment organisations can now respond before a final plan is drawn up.

Leonie Alpin, planning policy officer at the council, said: "We are looking to attract major employers and it is a chance to help local businesses to expand."

She added that the council needed to get a clear idea of what the business community wanted before any further steps were taken.

"It is an opportunity we cannot pass and, at this stage, we are trying to get public consensus."

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