INFRASTRUCTURE works have started on a new 1,000-home development on the outskirts of Heybridge.

The new development, Westcombe Park will provide more than 1,000 new homes, with sports pitches and allotments, open spaces and a neighbourhood centre.

It is set around Heybridge Wood and is designed as a garden village.

The new neighbourhood centre will provide day to day amenities for residents including space for a new medical centre if needed.

Land has also been set aside for a potential new primary school and nursery to be delivered by Essex County Council.

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The new homes include one and two-bedroom apartments and two to five-bedroom houses.

All of them will benefit from full fibre internet.

Developer Countryside says Heybridge Wood has been conserved and will be managed by the Land Trust in a way which bosses say will increase biodiversity.

A network of footpaths and cycle paths links the areas of green space while existing trees and hedgerows are retained for nature.

Martin Leach, managing director for strategic land and major projects at Countryside, said: “Through careful design and placemaking, residents will be able to enjoy the highest standards of contemporary living within a unique garden community that combines the benefits of both town and country.”

The first phase of new homes at Westcombe Park will be available from Countryside later this year.