Essex County halts rollout of Master Plan for Land Use [Video]

Before the Town of Essex adopts it’s new Master Plan for Land Use, staff will work to identify best proper use for future developments across the municipality.

The pause comes after a group of Colchester residents expressed concern about a major development in their small community.

The group, called “Colchester Matters”, has been raising concerns about what they call a potential tourism mecca in the Colchester area, pointing to proposals that would see several beaches redeveloped, along with a plan that would add more than 400 homes and dwellings on the west side of Colchester, near County Road 50. The group is worried the infrastructure cannot support the increase in population.

“Before we adopt our Official Plan, which also has embedded in it the Secondary Plan for Colchester, we’re looking to see if that’s where we really want a lot of future development,” said Mayor Sherry Bondy.

“So, what we’re …