PROTESTERS are turning up the pressure on the district council in their determination to stop thousands of new houses being built in their village.

More than 30 objectors made their voices heard at Tuesday's full council meeting at Epping's Civic Offices - the first since the deadline for responses to its Community Choices consultation passed on October 15.

The survey, launched at the end of July, put forward sites where more than 10,000 new homes could be placed over the next 20 years.

Of the 5,255 responses received from across the district, more than 1,000 were submitted from Chigwell alone - where 1,250 new houses could be built.

Sue Lloyd, spokesperson for the town's residents' association, said: "The fight will not be over until all of the sites around Chigwell are withdrawn.

"I do believe it will have an impact and I do believe we have to keep raising the issue."

Ms Lloyd asked the council to justify its decision to put forward non council-owned green belt land while council-owned brown field sites were left out.

"That suggests to me that the council has not undertaken a substantial review of brown field sites. Instead we look at destroying green belt land," she said.

"The whole proposal is not viable in terms of infrastructure. We don't have the schools, we don't have doctors, we don't have the facilities.

"Let's say it's still 1,250 houses. That's maybe 2,500 adults, possibly 1,000 children. It will be gridlock."

Answers to the questionnaires will form part of the council's Local Plan, the final draft of which will be passed to the government in 2014.

Cllr Richard Bassett, cabinet member for planning, said: "We must accept that a small proportion of the green belt will be required to provide enough land for the population growth forecasts over the next twenty years.

"Most people would prefer to see any new development take place on previously developed or derelict brown field sites. The council has worked hard to try to identify such brown field opportunities through the ‘Call for Sites’ exercise.

"However we may not have been able to identify enough of this type of land and we are appealing to anyone who thinks they may know of any brown field site not included in Community Choices to let the council know."