Residents have criticised plans to build nearly 70 homes on pasture land in Maldon.

A planning application for approximately 67 homes on green land to the rear of London Road, in Maldon, has been submitted to Maldon District Council by the agent Collins and Coward on behalf of Linden Ltd, Cancer Research UK and Barnardo’s, who own the land.

Residents living near to the site have voiced their concerns for their community should the application be given the go-ahead.

Arthur Razzell, 75, has lived on nearby Beacon Hill for 48 years and said: "It’s impracticable to bring so many more cars onto London Road."

Maureen Bloch, 73, of London Road, added: "When the land is gone, it’s gone, you can’t bring it back.”

Comment from Lindon Ltd Graham Bridgman, land director at Linden Homes Eastern, said: “It is well known that Maldon has a severe housing shortage, so this delivery of quality homes, sensitively designed to suit the locale will contribute to plugging this gap in the market.

“During our consultation period regarding this site back in October 2013, we received extremely good feedback from the local community, with over half agreeing that the development would be a positive addition to the area.”

A decision has yet to be made about the application.

See the Maldon and Burnham Standard on Thursday for the full story.