26/00296/OUT Dunton Road (1,100 houses)

A proposal to build 1,000 houses on Dunton Road, north of Steeple View and south of Little Burstead, either side of Rectory Road.
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Link to planning application

​planning.basildon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=TC1X55CQJN800&activeTab=summary

​For help on how to comment please see Planning Application Help

Deadline for objections

30 April 2026

Summary of proposed development

These are some points taken from the planning application.

Please note that this is an outline application so the following is indicative. The final design could change at a later date other than the area of the site and the access points, as those are fixed if outline permission is granted.

1. Up to 1,100 houses
2. 50% affordable housing
3. Site for new 3 form primary school (adjacent to Rectory Road)
4. Mixed use community centre (shops, food outlets, commercial)
5. Leisure and sports facilities with playing fields (adjacent to Rectory Road)
6. Estate access by realignment of Dunton Road with new roundabout junction on A176 Noak Hill Road
7. New roundabout junction with Wash Road and A176 Noak Hill Road (part of existing Bloor development?)
8. Rearrangement of the Dunton Road and Rectory Road junction
9. Public open spaces along river Crouch and through the estate
10. No mention of new health facilities on-site
11. The implication is that much of the existing Dunton Road (from Wash Road to Rectory Road) will become secondary to the new estate road
12. The proposals meet Golden Rules by providing 50% affordable housing, new public open space and infrastructure contributions.
13. Reinstatement of a No. 256 or similar bus service (part funded by existing Bloor development?)
14. The school, community centre, playing fields and main play area will centred on the junction of Dunton Road and Rectory Road
15. Allotments and orchard
16. >10% biodiversity net gain (BNG)
17. Approximately 30ha of the nearly 63ha site will be public access spaces
18. Buildings up to 3 storeys
19. A mix of 1-bed to 5-bed properties.
20. Realignment of Dunton Road to the west at Brentwood Road to give priority to Dunton Road to the A127 roundabout.

Points to consider when objecting

  1. Based on the 2025 Green Belt Study the site sits wholly within parcels BA2 and BA4, and partly in parcel BA1. All three parcels contribute strongly to Green Belt purposes A & B and therefore should not be considered grey belt. They also contribute strongly to purpose C.
  2. The land has not been pre-developed and is primarily active farmland.
  3. The area is considered to be agricultural sub-grade 3b based on what appears to be a desk top survey.
  4. The Design & Access Statement page 17 is out of date as it does not reference planning applications submitted or approved since 2025 that could have a material impact on all infrastructure in the wider context, namely, Wash Road Noak Bridge (300 houses) now approved, Greens Farm Lane (310 houses) pending, Tye Common Road (175 houses) pending, Outwood Common Road (300 houses) pending, Laindon Road (420 houses) pending, Outwood Common Road/Coxes Farm Road (250 houses) pending, Potash Road (133 houses) pending, East of Southend Road (1,100 houses) pending.
  5. Increased traffic on Dunton Road and the junctions with the A176 Noak Hill Road and the A127 roundabout at Dunton.
  6. Dunton Road is already congested on Dunton Car Boot Sale days.
  7. Increased traffic and rat-running along Rectory Road, through Little Burstead village and to Billericay via Tye Common Road which is a congestion point.
  8. No new local employment for 1,100 new household, or 1,369 including the Bloor development already in progress on Dunton Road. Commuting to work is unavoidable.
  9. An extreme edge of town development that has the potential to be car dependent to reach employment, schools, health facilities and major shops. None of these services are within a 15-minute walking distance so car use is inevitable.
  10. No safe cycling routes exist to any of these services.
  11. Many walking and cycling routes require crossing the busy A127 resulting in longer routes or a safety exposure, potentially at the Fortune of War junction.
  12. Laindon station is 2.2 miles.
  13. Billericay rail station is 4.4 miles.
  14. The nearest secondary school (James Hornsby) is 2 miles.
  15. The nearest doctor's surgeries are in Noak Bridge or Laindon, both c.2 miles.
  16. Increased pressure on already over stretched local heath facilities - doctors, dentists, and hospitals - with no defined mitigation.
  17. Red listed birds breed on the site – Skylark, House Sparrow and Greenfinch. Amber listed migratory Whitethroat too.
  18. Bats and reptiles exist and live in various habitats within the site. Note - Great Crested Newt is not confirmed on-site. Badger records are protected by law so their presence cannot be confirmed. Hazel Dormice have not been found from surveys. There is no survey evidence of Hares.
  19. Air quality along this section of the A127 is known to be poor (reference previous Bloor development) and has not been mitigated. It could affect many more people living nearby.
  20. The merger or coalescence of Basildon with Billericay by closing the built environment gap between Steeple View and the housing on Noak Hill Road. The merger or coalescence of Basildon with Billericay by closing the build environment gap between Steeple View and the housing on Noak Hill Road. Likewise with the Green Lanes plotlands south of Little Burstead.
  21. ​Regular severe flooding of fields and roads at junction of Dunton Road and Rectory Road. This is a low lying area with water draining to it from all directions.
  22. There are currently no bus services on Dunton Road.