In Thurrock, the government’s target of 32,000 new homes over the next 20 years is putting increasing pressure on its green belt and attracting significant local opposition.[1]Not least because this development is leading to plans for controversial new roads.

Our jurors in Thurrock talked about how they love where they live, care about their neighbours and feel anxious about changes that impact upon their homes.

They didn’t want to be priced out of their area and they didn’t want to spend more than they could afford on their homes. They didn’t want the costs of changes to home heating to be borne by those who could least afford them.

They want new homes to be good new homes, that serve the needs of the community and don’t damage nature. For them, this means protecting and creating green spaces and increasing biodiversity.

They called for all new developments to be properly assessed for their environmental impact, to ensure they add rather than detract from the local environment and for them to be energy efficient and low carbon from the get-go.