planning
Pennycook writes to Basildon councillor as council considers withdrawing 29,000-home Local Plan
The housing minister's response to Cllr Andy Barnes was published on the day of an extraordinary Council meeting called to consider a motion to withdraw the borough's Regulation 19 plan and ask ministers to review its housing requirements.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published a letter from housing minister Matthew Pennycook to Basildon Borough Council's Cllr Andy Barnes on 26 October, the date of an extraordinary Council meeting called to consider withdrawing the borough's Local Plan.
The letter was added to a GOV.UK page that collects correspondence the Minister of State for Housing and Planning has sent the council about its Local Plan. The page was first published on 21 July 2026, when the ministry released an intervention direction letter to the council.
The 26 October document is described by MHCLG as the minister's response to Cllr Barnes. The ministry's page gives no further detail of its contents.
The council motion
The extraordinary Council meeting on 26 October 2026 was called to consider a motion titled "Withdrawal of the Basildon Local Plan and Representations to Government", according to papers on the council's committee portal.
The motion says the current Local Plan proposes about 29,000 new homes across the borough. It resolves to withdraw the plan from further progression beyond the Regulation 19 stage.
It also asks the government to review the housing requirements imposed on Basildon Borough. The motion text does not set out an alternative figure.
In questioning the plan's infrastructure case, the motion cites comments from Essex County Council as the statutory authority responsible for highways and education planning.
Background
At the council's 21 July 2026 meeting, the Cabinet Member for Planning & Infrastructure told members the government had intervened in the draft Local Plan, according to the council's minutes.
At the same meeting, a notice of motion by Councillor Barnes said that "decision making regarding the local plan must remain with local people".
Basildon's plan-making has drawn Whitehall attention before. In December 2023 the then Secretary of State Michael Gove wrote to seven councils over their local plans, naming Amber Valley, Ashfield, Basildon, Castle Point, Medway, St Albans and Uttlesford, according to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Wider intervention
Basildon is not the only authority to receive a direction from the minister this year. On 25 September 2026, MHCLG published a letter directing North East Lincolnshire Council to start Regulation 19 consultation by no later than 30 September 2026.
The 26 October letter runs to two pages and sits alongside the three-page intervention letter of 21 July 2026 on the GOV.UK page.
On the record: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Sources
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Basildon Borough Council (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Basildon Borough Council (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-26)
This story was researched from the primary sources above and checked against them before publication. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it promptly.
