Talks on plans to build 10,000 new homes in Tendring over the next 17 years have been put on hold so more number crunching can be done.

Tendring Council has said further assessment must be carried out before the final number is confirmed.

It comes after the Local Plan process was recently deemed a “farce” after yet another u-turn saw the number of homes needed for the district jump back up to 10,000. It had been hoped that figure could have been cut to 8,000.

Neil Stock, leader of the council and chairman of the Local Plan Committee said there is a lot to take in.

“It means that we cannot be making a final decision because work is on-going,” he said.

“We need to remain flexible and we need to bring this back to the next meeting in January or to a special meeting of the committee if it is necessary.”

The council’s Local Plan committee put the decision on hold after hearing at a meeting on Thursday that new information and data has come forward which needs to be assessed.

There is pressure o the authority to go for the higher figure of 597 properties a year over the 17-year time period, which would equate to around 10,000 in all.

However, councillors are more in favour of a figure nearer to the lower estimate of 479, which would represent about 8,000.

Colchester, Chelmsford and Braintree Councils will not support less than 597 for Tendring – unless the evidence supports a lower figure - and Essex County Council would also like to see more homes.

However, the committee heard new information has just been released about the district’s profile which now needs to be taken into consideration.

A top consultant John Hollis has also been brought in to carry out the investigations and the results are unlikely to come before January.

Councillors were told once the new information has been processed, the final figure for Tendring is likely to be above 479, but possibly lower than the projected 597.

“As much as we want a lower figure, our numbers must be credible,” added Mr Stock.

“We need to get this right, but also remember the Local Plan is about much more than just the numbers and we must not become obsessed by that.”

Council officers will continue to investigate options to reduce the final figure and share the calculations with the committee.

The outcome will then be reported in January.