A RESIDENTS' group has spoken out about how “appalled” they are at "excessive house building” in the area.
The Dengie Group believes more homes are being built than are needed, with the new developments putting pressure on schools, healthcare and roads.
The group said the new homes are “already having a negative impact on the wellbeing of a significant number of residents”.
The group has carried out an analysis report which highlights the land supply in Burnham.
Tony Fittock, chairman of Latchingdon Parish Council and author of the report, said: "Maldon District Council’s five-year housing land supply position is quite frankly a nonsense.
“Whether the current low forecasting is due to incompetence, error, or perhaps by design, the Maldon District Local Development Plan and other local neighbourhood plans are being destroyed.
“The rush to allow more housing will create serious problems for residents.
“Maldon District Council is scrambling to approve new planning applications, yet it does not have an infrastructure delivery plan to accommodate these unplanned major developments.
“Such a plan would set out what waste, transport, education, utilities, health, sports, emergency, and so on, services are needed, where, and when.
“This is currently being done on a piecemeal basis hand in hand with developers, by agreeing to what is known as a Section 106 contribution.
“This is a planning obligation entered into to mitigate the impacts of a development proposal.
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“But since there is no infrastructure delivery plan, there is no way to know if a new development is mitigating the damage it causes."
David Kennedy, a founder of the Dengie Group, said: "Maldon District Council seems intent on undermining the democratic planning process by blindly sticking to deeply confused figures.
“Planning officials should not be using faulty data to secure new planning consents and reshape planning policies in favour of private developers."
A Maldon District Council spokesman said: “The council works to national planning policy and guidance on the five-year housing land supply.
“We have set up a working group to make sure that the methodology we are using is correct and the work of that group is progressing.
"Some questions have been raised and we are seeking external advice to be 100 per cent sure that all of our data is correct.
“The council doesn’t deliver infrastructure and has to be guided by providers such as Essex County Council and the NHS.
"That then forms the basis of our decision making process along with the current Infrastructure Delivery Plan, which forms part of the Local Development Plan, which is worked towards as part of the delivery of our approved planning application sites.“
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