The housing minister told Basildon withdrawing its Local Plan would be unlawful. The council's motion was rewritten: withdrawal only if a legal challenge fails.

The housing minister warned Basildon Council on Monday that any step to withdraw its Local Plan would be unlawful. His letter arrived on the day of the extraordinary council meeting called to vote on doing exactly that.

The motion councillors debated that evening was not the one first published. The version the council has since put on its website no longer withdraws the plan outright. It would withdraw it only “if the forthcoming judicial review is not successful, as a last resort”.

What the minister said

Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, wrote to the council leader, Cllr Andy Barnes, on 26 October. The government published the letter the same day.

He was replying to a letter from Cllr Barnes dated 23 October. That letter asked for more time before the plan is submitted for examination. The minister said the request “will be considered carefully” and that a further response would follow.

He then turned to that evening’s motion. He wrote:

“My direction of 21 July expressly requires the Council to take no steps to withdraw the Plan. That direction remains in force, and the Council is required to comply with it. Any decision to take steps to withdraw the Plan in defiance of the direction would be unlawful.”

If the council went ahead, he said, he “would be forced to consider all appropriate steps available to me, including taking over the plan and potential legal action”.

He urged every councillor to “have full regard” to the July direction before voting. He also reminded the council that it is still under a Best Value Notice, issued on 15 July, and must act “responsibly, lawfully and in accordance with its statutory obligations”.

How the motion changed

The council published the motion in its amended form as a supplementary agenda on 27 October, noting that “amendments were made to the motion”. Set against the original published on 16 October, the changes are:

Original motion Amended motion
Withdrawing the plan Withdraw it from further progress beyond Regulation 19 Withdraw it only if the judicial review fails, “as a last resort”
Plan-making Stop taking part and look at an alternative approach Deleted
Council money Not mentioned No council taxpayer money on discretionary work “solely to support or promote” the plan in its present form
The A127 Not mentioned Notes the government’s removal of the A127 improvement scheme from its Major Road Network programme

The amended motion also adds a line crediting Essex County Council’s feedback. It says that without it the council “would not be in the strong position we are today to challenge, and eventually withdraw if the judicial review is not successful”.

Parts of the motion are unchanged. It still has the council write to the Housing Secretary about the plan’s infrastructure evidence and Essex County Council’s comments on transport and schools. It still asks the government to review Basildon’s housing requirement.

The new money clause keeps the council’s legal duties in place. It says the council will continue “to discharge statutory duties, comply with binding legal requirements and preserve the Council’s legal position”.

What is still not on the record

The council has not yet published minutes of the meeting. Those will record the formal resolution and how councillors voted. On this council, minutes of full council meetings have taken more than a week to appear.

No judicial review claim has appeared on the council’s published record either. Cabinet gave the leader power on 15 October to start proceedings “if so advised”, as we reported last week.

The government has not yet answered the request for more time.

Why the deadline matters

On 21 July the government directed Basildon to submit its Local Plan for examination by 31 December 2026. The plan sets a minimum of 27,918 homes between 2023 and 2043, much of it on land now in the Green Belt. The motion puts the figure at about 29,000.

The council’s own July decision record warned that missing the deadline could lead to the Secretary of State “taking over as the local planning authority”. The minister’s letter names the same step.

Big planning applications are being decided in the meantime. Next Tuesday’s planning committee considers 910 homes at Foots Farm, on land the draft plan allocates for housing.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet for planning applications. They are decided under the current rules. Our planning page explains how to comment on one.
  • The plan is still heading for submission unless the government grants more time or a court rules otherwise.
  • The minutes will settle what was agreed. We will add the result here when they are published.

For what the plan proposes site by site, read our Regulation 19 explainer.