Colchester borough approves 1,600 Mile End new homes
Plans to build 1,600 new homes on farmland in Essex have been given the go ahead despite local protests.
Residents in Mile End near Colchester said the development should have been on brownfield sites.
Colchester Borough Council approved the development on Thursday. The project, which includes two new schools, should be completed by 2023.
Liberal Democrat councillor Anne Turrell said Mile End was slowly being destroyed by building on its farmland.
A new community centre will be built, a network of paths and cycle routes laid out and new transport links introduced - including an extension of the A314 to join the A12.
Primary and secondary schools will be built for the growing population, the application said, and an existing playing field extended.
Mrs Turrell said: "It's good to see the town growing but not at any cost especially in open countryside.
"There are plenty of brownfield sites around the town not being built on."
Chair of the planning committee Theresa Higgins, also a Liberal Democrat councillor, said residents' views had been considered.
The council is run by a coalition led by the Liberal Democrats.