Plans for 1,000 homes on land could be abandoned

Campaigners look set to triumph after plans for 1,000 homes on green space were thrown into doubt.

Middlewick Ranges was earmarked for the major development in Colchester City Council's Local Plan in 2022.

The authority said "robust" new evidence showed there was ecological value at the former Army land and it would reconsider the plan at a meeting on 17 February.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrea Luxford-Vaughan said: "We believe it is the right decision to separate Middlewick from the Local Plan."

Under its Local Plan, the council could build 14,720 homes across the city by 2033.

More than a dozen ecological experts signed a letter in opposition to building homes on the "Wick" in 2024.

They described it as the "jewel in Colchester's ecological crown".

The council's local plan committee discussed removing the site, which is south of the city centre, from the Local Plan on Tuesday.

It followed surveys finding Middlewick was of "national significance" due to its invertebrate communities, acid grassland habitats and breeding birds.

Ecology expert and Save The Middlewick Ranges campaigner Martin Pugh called it "amazing news".

"It's a mix of surprise, relief, but also a sense that we knew this was coming. It was really inevitable as a result of the evidence," he said.

Mr Pugh said despite the Wick not being out of the woods just yet, it was a done deal as far as he was concerned.

"It really would be an untenable position to allocate any houses on Middlewick given what we know," he added.

"Often we're made to feel quite powerless by the system... that kind of impression that is David versus Goliath.

"We hope this is a line in the sand that protects other sites as well."

Campaigners had raised £10,000 in a week to cover legal costs should the plans have gone ahead.

But in a statement on Tuesday evening, the council said building houses on Middlewick "would likely cause significant harm" to its biodiversity.

The ranges were also described by Essex Wildlife Trust as "exceptionally invaluable" for its areas of acid grassland habitats.

It said the site played a key role in supporting the UK's second largest population of nightingales and appeared to be part of a network of sites supporting barbastelle bats.

Mark Goacher, a local Green Party councillor, told BBC Essex the council's U-turn came "as a bit of a surprise".

He said: "There is a extraordinary range of wildlife and ecological value of the site and it widely felt that this was being ignored.

"What we heard last night was a really positive first step and all credit to the officers finding a plan without Middlewick being in it."

He said details of where the 1,000 homes could be placed could not yet be disclosed, but residents would know by Friday.

"I am much happier with what has been suggested," the councillor added.

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