MOTION CARRIED 31–11 · 24 AUGUSTAPPLICATION REFUSED 8–2 · 27 AUGUST In one week, Full Council voted to protect Southend's Green Belt and the Planning Committee refused the 2,000-home application at Bournes Green Chase. The Green Belt stays green.
The Planning Committee refused the 2,000-home Bournes Green Chase application on 27 August 2026, after the first sitting on 26 August was adjourned.
Residents on the Civic Centre steps before the Extraordinary Full Council, 24 August 2026.Back again before the Planning Committee, 26 August 2026.The moment it was won: application refused, 8 votes to 2. 27 August 2026.
11
councillors sit on the Planning Committee
51
councillors sit on the Full Council you elected
26 Aug
the committee meets — in the summer recess
27 Aug
the new Local Plan is published, one day later
This is what is at stake
Residents walking the Green Belt north of Southend. Open farmland, a few minutes from the city — and not replaceable once it is gone.
Why it matters
A decision this big should not be made by 11 councillors.
It is permanent
Green Belt is not a field that can be put back. Once the boundary moves, it stays moved.
The evidence isn't published
The council commissioned a fresh Green Belt review in 2025. The contract ended on 1 April 2026. It has still not appeared in the published evidence base.
Council hasn't voted
A Green Belt motion in July was referred away without debate and without a vote. Full Council has never been asked.
The move
Councillors have requisitioned an Extraordinary Full Council.
Five councillors can require the Mayor to call one. Five have, from more than one party, to sit before the committee meets.
What the motion does
Asks Full Council to reaffirm that the adopted Local Plan stands in full force, and that this Council has taken no decision to change it — before anyone assumes otherwise on the city's behalf.
What it does not do
It names no planning application and instructs no committee. It could not lawfully do either. This is about who decides, and in public.
One issue, every party
This is not one party's campaign.
Residents and councillors from right across the political spectrum have been making the same argument, in the same fields, for years.
ResidentsHundreds joined the walk across the Green Belt farmland north of the city.ConservativesSouthend Conservatives campaigning to protect the Green Belt.Reform UKReform UK campaigners on Green Belt farmland north of Southend.Green PartyGreen campaigners and councillors backing protection of the Green Belt.
The argument belongs in the chamber
Whether Southend releases its Green Belt is a question of policy, and policy is decided by Full Council — every ward, every party, in public and on the record.
Backed by
Local groups and parties standing together.
Residents' associations, community campaigns and political parties from across Southend, all making the same case.
Parties and council groups who have campaigned to save the Green Belt
Reform UK
Conservatives
Green Party
Confelicity
Thorpe Independents
Non-aligned Independents
Members from community groups who have been vocal about saving the Green Belt
Save Bournes Green Chase Green Belt Land
Shoeburyness Residents Association
East Beach Residents Association
South East Essex Green Belters
Southend Against Sewage
Thorpe Bay Residents Association
The mandate
Three in four voted for parties that campaigned to protect the Green Belt.
Every one of the 17 wards was contested at the city council elections on 7 May 2026. This is how Southend voted.
75.8%16.4%
Parties and candidates that campaigned to protect the Green Belt — 42,930 votes Labour, which leads the council — 9,304 votes All others — 4,369 votes
42,930 residents
voted for parties and candidates that campaigned to protect the Green Belt
Reform UK17,671
Conservatives10,456
Green Party9,848
Confelicity1,539
Other3,416
9,304 residents
voted Labour, the group that leads the council
Labour took 16.4% of the votes cast, and was out-polled in every one of the 17 wards.
A Green Belt motion in July was referred away without debate and without a vote. Full Council has still not been asked. The decision is now set to be taken by the 11 councillors of the Planning Committee on 26 August.
Ward by ward figures are shown against each ward's councillors further down the page.
The Green Belt evidence itself, and why Southend has not published it: read the evidence page.
Source: Southend-on-Sea City Council declared results, 7 May 2026. 56,603 votes cast across 17 wards; turnout 43.12%. Figures are votes cast for each party at that election, not a vote on any Green Belt decision.
Your councillors
All 51. Find yours, and ask where they stand.
Every councillor on Southend-on-Sea City Council, grouped by where they sit on this.
This is the recorded vote from the Extraordinary Full Council on Monday 24 August 2026, on the motion to reaffirm the existing Adopted Development Plan and protect the Green Belt. The motion was carried 31 to 11, with 4 abstentions. Every vote against came from the Labour group, and the four abstentions, including the Leader of the Council, were also Labour. This was an extraordinary meeting called outside the normal council calendar, in August; several councillors who did not attend had long-standing holiday commitments, and no conclusion should be drawn from their absence. Four of them, shown green, signed the requisition that called the meeting, so their support for protecting the Green Belt is on the record even though they could not be there. Use the Planning Committee filter to see the 11 members of the committee that refused the 2,000-home Bournes Green Chase application on 27 August, by 8 votes to 2. Only Cllrs Margaret Borton and Jane Norman voted against refusal.
Voted to protect Voted against Abstained Did not attend
Ward by ward
How many of your three councillors voted to protect?
Every ward in Southend elects three councillors. This is how each of them voted at the Extraordinary Full Council on 24 August, and how that ward voted in May 2026.
Take action
Three things that matter before 26 August.
Write to your councillors. Ask why the Green Belt review completed on 1 April has not been published. And turn up: both meetings below are open to the public, and you are entitled to sit in the gallery at either.
Held 24 August · Motion carried 31–11
Extraordinary Full Council
Requisitioned by 27 councillors, across five groups.Held on Monday 24 August. The council voted 31 to 11 to reaffirm the existing Adopted Development Plan and protect the Green Belt. See how every councillor voted above.
Held 26–27 August · Application refused 8–2
Planning Committee
Refused, 8 votes to 2.The 26 August meeting was adjourned, and on 27 August the committee refused the 2,000-home application at Bournes Green Chase. Only Cllrs Margaret Borton and Jane Norman voted against refusal.
