A PARISH council has decided to appoint a planning committee because it expects a lot of development in the coming years.

Heybridge Parish Council have created the committee - the first of its kind in the village - in order to deal with an increase in the planning work load in the village.

The committee will be chaired by cllr Kay Ryder.

Prof Lew Schnurr, a member of the parish council, said: “We are expecting a lot of plans to come through thick and fast in the area in the coming years and we thought appointing a committee would be a more professional approach to the issue.”