CARRY on as you are for the present time. That is the message from re-elected Chelmsford MP Simon Burns on the controversial issue of the town’s housing targets.

Objectors to housing planned for the north west of Chelmsford, in the Newlands Spring area, outlined in the North Chelmsford Area Action Plan, were pinning their hopes of getting it scrapped following Tory pledges to have house building targets reduced if they were elected.

Mr Burns said: “I have always been against the Government-imposed housing targets on Chelmsford Council, for the simple reason that bureaucrats in Whitehall do not know the needs of local communities.

“I campaigned on this during the recent general election and the new Government is committed to abolishing the housing targets so local communities can determine their housing needs. I have spoken to the relevant Local Government Minister and I am reassured the new Government is working on its policy to abolish the imposed housing targets.

“I trust this will be announced in the not too distant future.”

He added: “Until the Government announces its policy of abandoning the housing targets, local authorities are still boxed in by the existing regulations and have to proceed in that way.

“I appreciate this is frustrating, but those are the rules for the time being.

“As soon as the Government announces its policy, I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the planning authority and relevant councillors at Chelmsford Council.

“This is to ensure the problems that have bedevilled Chelmsford over the previous Government’s house building policy can be resolved in a way that meets local housing need and hopefully satisfies concerns.”

Roy Whitehead, leader of Chelmsford Council, had told a recent meeting of the development policy committee, when discussing the action plan, that the local authority must approve it, otherwise it would open the floodgates for other developers to put forward proposals for even more housing.

The North Chelmsford Area Action Plan will now go before the full council on June 9, for formal adoption, to be submitted to the Secretary of State.

Paul Grundy, chairman of Newlands Spring Residents’ Association, said the council should now slow down the process of submitting the plan to the Secretary of State, as it would soon be in a position to decide its own targets.

He said: “I have my doubts whether the council does want to reduce the targets because it is not taking this golden opportunity.”