It forms part of the Herongate, Ingrave and West Horndon ward for elections to Brentwood Borough Council.

Within the main settlement of West Horndon village are some streets of suburban houses and a small area of light industrial use.

Little Warley Hall Lane in the northwest is the other main area of activity with some houses and the Clearview sports centre.

East Horndon is a scattered settlement to the northeast and is partially located north of the A127 Southend Arterial Road.

The northern boundary is partially formed by the Southend Arterial Road, with some land to the northeast of it included in the parish.

There are hills rising as high as 100 metres covered in trees, arable fields and fenland of London clay.

Thorndon Avenue is a long straight road leading to the heart of the modern village of West Horndon.

Halfway down is the junior school with playing fields at the back and opposite is the modern church of St Francis.

[5] The new settlement was previously envisaged to span the Brentwood/Basildon boundary[a] and the two councils worked together to develop proposals between November 2014 and February 2016 under the name Dunton Garden Suburb.

[6] A planning application was submitted to Brentwood Borough Council for 3,700 homes in the parish of West Horndon in August 2021.

The plans were revised from the earlier cross-borough proposal with the development now more interconnected with the village of West Horndon rather than the new town of Basildon.

[10] The site contains a collection of former agricultural buildings, known as the Dunton Hills farmstead, including a Grade II listed farmhouse that will be incorporated into the new settlement.