I watched a very good BBC news item last night about the housing debate in another North Essex market town, Saffron Walden. It seemed like I was experiencing deja-vu, or should I say groundhog day?

We keep going round in circles as we try to work out where and how to build the homes that we need. Just as the District Council finally sets in motion a sensible approach to formulating a local plan, then the government changes the rules again.

What is often called “planning gain” is a system that enables councils to insist developers provide a percentage of their new homes for affordable housing (rent and shared-ownership). This is vital if local young people and families are going to be able to live in the area, and it is desperately needed here in Chipping Bonhunt.

But now the government has said that councils will have to let developers build “starter homes” instead of affordable housing. This means there is no way that developers can be forced to meet local housing needs and vital housing for local people will be lost.