BURNHAM residents fear for the future of the town’s public transport with hundreds of homes now on the cards.

Concerns were voiced at the latest meeting of the Dengie Hundred Bus User Group (DHBUG), a community group that campaigns for improvements in bus services across the Dengie.

Members expressed “serious concerns” about the housing developments and the impact they may have on the “already inferior road infrastructure and local budget restrictions”.

Maldon District Council recently granted planning permission for 180 homes on the outskirts of the town, and around 450 are expected to be built soon.

Ken Harris, a member of DHBUG, said: “The people of the town are certainly dependant on buses, more and more as time passes.

“There are more elderly and disabled people who need the buses to get around now. As well as a lot of students who use the buses to get to school, and people who use them to get to work.

“It is all of the developments that are a concern really, not just the big ones.

“In Burnham there is going to be something like 450 new houses, as well as smaller developments going on.

“One of the problems is there is money that comes in from the developers but it often goes on transport links for the site itself, which doesn’t help with the knock on affect to the rest of the town.

“These new developments put a strain on the other places nearby when it comes to public transport.

“I think it is very important that we make sure the money from the developers goes on making sure the town’s buses can cope, rather than making sure the buses for that site can cope.”

Maldon Town Mayor, Councillor Ron Pratt admitted to feeling a level of sympathy with the concerned residents. He did say however, that he was confident there wouldn’t be too big of an impact.

He said: “All the evidence is that there will not be any significant change on the public services with these additional houses.

“There is some concern from local residents that we have problems already. I have some sympathy with those people who say that new houses will only exacerbate the problem.

“But we have a Local Development Plan (LDP) that has designated a number of houses to be built, and this latest development is within that.

“I do not think it is ridiculous but I do have a certain amount of sympathy.

“We do have problems in Burnham and I am trying to balance that, because the District Council also have targets to meet. There is room for development in Burnham.”