In 2015 the “Call for Sites” phase of the Emerging Local Plan encouraged landowners in Langham to offer land for potential future housing development. Sixteen sites were put forward and after CBC carried out sustainability appraisals, infrastructure and suitability assessments, three development sites in Langham were identified. Two of these sites are in School Road and one in Wick Road.

During this time the Parish Council had regular meetings with CBC and fed into this process by representing the views of Langham residents.

The first site to come forward as a planning application is located at the east end of School Road. This application is being led by Vistry Homes. The Parish Council has undertaken numerous representations under the Emerging Local Plan and submissions to the Borough Council in respect of this application. It has also canvassed opinion through surveys, meetings and drop in sessions with local residents, CBC, and the original developers Linden Homes. Meetings have also taken place with Anglian Water and the Environment Agency regarding infrastructure issues.

In November 2019 Linden Homes was acquired by Bovis Homes Group plc and in 2020 Bovis Homes became part of the Vistry Homes Group who are now the current developers.

As of October 2021, planning approval  was still on hold pending compliance with planning condition 21, which states  that “prior to the commencement of the development the developer shall acquire and provide to the LPA, written confirmation from the Environment Agency and from the relevant statutory provider that adequate waste water and sewage treatment capacity is available to serve the development. Reason: In order to achieve full compliance with emerging policy SS9, to prevent pollution of the water environment and to protect the groundwater quality in the area in the interests of Health and Safety.”

More background on the sewerage infrastructure issues can be found in the following LPC Briefing Paper:

In late December 2021, CBC granted the developer a partial discharge of condition 21, permitting them to proceed with the construction of half of the houses (23 out of 46 homes). LPC had made representations to CBC that the Environment Agency calculations used to demonstrate the availability of sufficient WRC capacity were fundamentally flawed, but these representations were ignored.

The latest information regarding this development can be found on the Colchester City Council Planning Portal (link below). LPC will continue to monitor the situation and challenge any premature attempts to discharge the remainder of condition 21 until the sewage infrastructure issues have been fully resolved.