Land West of Heckford’s Road,

Great Bentley

Welbeck is bringing forward an outline application for around 200 new homes, including 30% affordable housing, new landscaping, community allotment, and an orchard, as well as publicly accessible open space on land west of Heckford’s Road.

This website provides you with the details of our proposals and provides the opportunity for you to comment before an application is submitted. Even after any application is submitted there will be the opportunity to make formal comments to Tendring District Council.

The Proposals

Site Location Plan

Key

Vision Drawing

Key

Sustainable location for much-needed new homes

Great Bentley is a sustainable and well-connected settlement. Within Great Bentley there are a range of retail, community and social facilities which are readily accessible to the local population on foot and cycle. Great Bentley also has public transport connections in the form of both rail and bus services. Great Bentley Railway Station has frequent rail services to Walton-on-the-Naze and Colchester with the ability to change for trains to London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford and Ipswich.

There are also bus connections to the surrounding areas. The A133 provides access to Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea to the north, and onwards via the A120 and A12 to Chelmsford and London. The B1027 links the village to Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea via St Osyth. The B1029 links the village to Brightlingsea and Dedham.

Landscape-led design

The masterplan creates a sustainable, landscape-led addition to Great Bentley, respecting the village’s character to ensure it remains distinctive for future generations to come.

The masterplan proposes a high-quality network of green spaces, along with new recreational routes. This greenspace will provide recreation opportunities for existing and future residents thereby promoting healthy lifestyles.

The children’s play area will benefit from the natural surveillance of nearby dwellings, and has been designed to encourage recreation, physical activity and healthy lifestyles.

The play space will be easily accessible for future and existing children. In addition, a multi-functional open space to the north-east corner of the Site has been designed to provide opportunities for incidental play and other recreational activities.

A community allotment and orchard will provide opportunities to grow food, learn new skills and foster community and social interaction.

Street trees and green focal spaces are dispersed throughout the scheme, ensuring attractive streets and further green connectivity for residents.

The surface water drainage proposals include planted attenuation basins and swales,. Together with meadow habitats and hedgerows, these drainage features will deliver net gains for biodiversity and provide opportunities for a range of species and wildlife.

Site access and connectivity

A pedestrian and cycle access is proposed via the existing development to the south to better connect the Site with existing settlement. This would also provide an emergency access.

The Bridleway connection to the west will be retained and enhanced to allow convenient accessibility on foot and cycle to the Site and proposed community facilities, such as allotments, orchard and play areas.

Benefits

The proposals offer a range of benefits for Great Bentley, including:

Around 200 new high quality family homes in a mix of sizes and tenures to meet the growing demand for homes and to help address the housing shortfall;

A range of new homes to cater for the housing needs of all members of the community;

Sustainable drainage with features to support and enhance the biodiversity and ecological value of the Site;

New childrens’ play areas and recreational routes promoting outdoor activity and active lifestyles;

New footpaths and cycle routes connecting into the existing Public Rights of Way network;

New area for community allotment, orchard and food production to promote healthy lifestyle;

New multi-functional green open spaces, enhanced existing green infrastructure and boundary planting to strengthen the existing landscape structure;

New landscape buffers and a variety of landscaped spaces with wildlife friendly features, delivering a net gain in biodiversity; and

Proposed connections to the existing village centre to ensure safe access to existing services and facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Proposed homes

What is meant by ‘affordable homes’ and how many are proposed?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T16:58:01+00:00

What is meant by ‘affordable homes’ and how many are proposed?

Affordable homes are homes made available through a registered housing provider at prices below the market rate. This can include homes for social rent, affordable rent, or intermediate housing, such as shared ownership or rent to buy.

The proposed development in Great Bentley would deliver 30% affordable housing.

What would the proposed homes look like?Stuart Miller2025-12-18T15:32:55+00:00

What would the proposed homes look like?

An outline planning application seeks to establish the principle of development and details of the main point of access to the Site. Other detailed matters such as the design of the new homes would come forward at reserved matters stage, however material choices and design references would reflect the character of the surrounding area of Great Bentley.

Is there a local housing need?Stuart Miller2025-12-18T15:33:22+00:00

Is there a local housing need?

As of January 2026, the Council are unable to demonstrate a 5-year supply of deliverable housing sites within Tendring District.

What type and size of homes are proposed?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T16:59:27+00:00

What type and size of homes are proposed?

A range of house types, sizes and tenures will be delivered to accommodate a variety of household types and meet local needs in line with policy requirements. The final housing mix will be determined at Reserved Matters Stage.

Detail of proposals

What community benefits/facilities will be provided?Stuart Miller2025-12-18T15:35:10+00:00

What community benefits/facilities will be provided?

The development will deliver a range of benefits for both new and existing residents. This will include publicly accessible green space, such as community allotment and orchard, safe play area, and enhanced walking and cycling routes connecting to the village and wider countryside. In addition, financial contributions will be made through the planning process to help support local services and infrastructure. Further details will be confirmed as the proposals progress.

How much publicly accessible space will be provided?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T17:01:11+00:00

How much publicly accessible space will be provided?

A significant amount of the Site will be designed as accessible open space for everyone to enjoy. This will include new landscaped areas, a tree lined green corridor alongside the PRoW, spaces for play, and routes for walking and cycling. These greens spaces will be fully integrated into the design and support recreation, biodiversity and sustainable drainage. The exact amount of open space will be confirmed as plans develop.

What about school places and capacity at the GP?Stuart Miller2025-12-01T11:58:04+00:00

What about school places and capacity at the GP?

We recognise the importance of ensuring local services can support new homes. As part of the planning process, Tendring District Council, Essex County Council and the NHS will assess the proposals to identify any additional needs.

Do the plans take the surrounding area into account?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T17:04:16+00:00

Do the plans take the surrounding area into account?

Existing trees and hedgerows would be retained and enhanced where possible with additional planting, including wildflower planting, attenuation basins and green, open spaces. A new play area will also be integrated in the scheme within the open space, fronted by new homes.

Highways

What will the impact on the local highway network be?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T17:03:01+00:00

What will the impact on the local highway network be?

The Site has been chosen and designed to make the most of its sustainable location. Many key services in Great Bentley can be reached by foot, by bike or by public transport. Within the development, new walking and cycling routes will link directly into the existing network, helping to reduce reliance on private car journeys.

A travel plan will accompany the planning application. This will set out measures to encourage sustainable travel, such as walking, cycling and public transport use, while also providing information and support to new residents about travel choices.

While it is expected that some car trips will be generated by the development, assessments show that the impact on the surrounding road network will be limited and in line with both local and national policy requirements. A Transport Assessment will be submitted with the planning application, providing further detail on the anticipated effects and measures proposed to manage them.

How will you assess the impact on the local highway network?Stuart Miller2025-11-25T17:02:38+00:00

How will you assess the impact on the local highway network?

A Transport Assessment will be undertaken to assess the likely impact of the proposed development on the surrounding network and will be submitted as part of the planning application.

How will people have access to the site?Stuart Miller2025-12-18T15:35:56+00:00

How will people have access to the site?

Access into the Site will be gained from Heckford’s Road for all modes and other existing accesses for Public Right of Way will be maintained.

Delivery

When are you looking to submit an application?Stuart Miller2025-12-01T11:59:26+00:00

When are you looking to submit an application?

The intention is to undertake this community engagement exercise and continue to obtain feedback from relevant statutory consultees. Once this work has been completed Welbeck will be in a position to submit the application, probably within the first 3-months of 2026.

When will you be looking to start building? How long will building work take?Stuart Miller2025-12-01T12:29:23+00:00

When will you be looking to start building? How long will building work take?

Subject to outline planning approval being granted, Reserved Matters application(s) would have to be submitted and approved prior to the construction process commencing. From submission of the Reserved Matters to commencement of development my take about 12. It is still too early to say how long construction would take but a reasonable assumption is between 36 and 48 months from commencement of development.

How will construction vehicles and noise be managed?Stuart Miller2025-12-04T10:02:34+00:00

How will construction vehicles and noise be managed?

A Construction and Environmental Management Plan will be put in place to manage things such as this. This would be secured by condition on the application and will be implemented during the construction phase of development.

Have your say

We want to hear your views on the project, and we will consider them as we finalise the proposals. We would be grateful if you could take the time to submit your comments. You can do this by:

Emailing us at:

greatbentleyconsultation@outlook.com

Completing our online feedback form

Online Form

Please provide your comment by 19^th January 2026

Following the consultation deadline, we will collate all of the feedback received. Once we have finalised our plans for the Site we will submit an outline planning application to Tendring District Council, who will undertake their own consultation on the application.

About Welbeck Land

Welbeck, established in 1993, is a strategic land promoter, master planner and master developer, that is committed to creating value driven outcomes for landowners and local communities.

Having previously focussed purely on strategic land promotion and master planning, we have more recently also taken on the role of master developer. This enables us to take a more holistic, responsible and long-term view of planning and development, by committing to the creation of truly sustainable mixed-use places that provide much needed jobs as well as homes.

Whether we are looking to bring forward a sensitive and well-considered extension to an existing town or village, or a new mixed-use settlement we work in partnership with landowners, local councils, local communities, special interest groups and charities to ensure we successfully plan for and create beautiful homes and places.

But places are not just about homes, so, wherever there is the opportunity we also look to bring forward value add initiatives – that could be vital community green spaces with a focus on biodiversity or community infrastructure such as schools, sports pavilions or GP surgeries.

We understand that value means different things to different people. Utilising our decades of experience and collaborating with our specialist consultants it is our job to bring new thinking and new approaches to the challenges of housing delivery and place creation that ensure valuable outcomes for all. It is essential that everyone shares in the opportunities we create through the places we deliver.

For more information visit our website:

welbeckland.co.uk