EFDC’s Submission Version of the Local Plan (SVLP) was finally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in September 2018, after CK Properties Theydon Bois Ltd (who want to develop the former Old Foresters sports ground, on Green Belt land, to the east of the railway line), had their application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal refused. A Planning Inspector has now been appointed and Theydon Bois Action Group (TBAG) has formally requested to speak at the Examination in Public which is expected to take place early in 2019.
Local Planning Matters
Hydes Riding School, Abridge Road/Coopersale Lane – Revised plans (EPF/0429/18) for a 24 hr residential security building in place of a stable were refused at Planning East Subcommittee, against the Officer’s recommendation to grant permission, on the grounds of inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
Blunts Farmhouse (now Ivy House), Coopersale Lane – Following enforcement action by Epping Forest District Council (EFDC), a retrospective planning application (EPF/2169/18) was submitted, which included artificial landscaping features on agricultural land which was not part of the residential curtilage of the dwelling. TBAG objected to the large area of artificial grass and wooden decking around a previously natural pond which had been dredged and sanitised. The application was subsequently refused by EFDC and we now await the return of this agricultural land to its former natural state.
Lillicroft Nurseries, Abridge Road – In August, the Planning Inspector dismissed the appeal (Ref.3195592), against a refusal by EFDC, to develop a replacement dwelling, 4 times the size of the existing dwelling. A revised application (EPF/2550/18) has been submitted for a replacement dwelling which would be 3 times the size of the existing one and in a different location, deeper within the Green Belt site. TBAG considers that this revised application does not address the reasons for the appeal dismissal and has submitted a further strong objection to EFDC.
Conflicting Government Planning Policies are undermining protection of the Green Belt. In spite of Government assurances that they are committed to protecting the Green Belt, their failure to exempt Green Belt locations from development allowed under the General Permitted Development Order is resulting in some clearly inappropriate replacement dwellings being allowed by the Planning Inspectorate as well as some harmful extensions to existing dwellings. TBAG’s Chairman, who is an Executive Committee member, raised this matter at the London Green Belt Council (LGBC) AGM on 14th November 2018. The LGBC also acts as the Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for London’s Green Belt, which aims to support Green Belt friendly planning policies that protect London’s Green Belt for future generations.
In spite of the revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) being published as recently as July 2018, the Government has now launched yet another Consultation to make further amendments to the NPPF and Planning Practice Guidance. Unfortunately, the Government is not proposing to revise its standard methodology for assessing local housing need in the light of reduced population growth figures recently published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and will not accept the reduction in population growth as an exceptional circumstance to reduce imposed housing targets. TBAG will respond to this Consultation.
Draft London Plan – Implications for Epping Forest District
The Draft New London Plan Examination in Public is to open on 15 January 2019. The new Plan is to be applauded in as much as it is said to strengthen safeguards for the London Metropolitan Green Belt. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in an earlier press release (Nov 2017) has vowed to protect the Green belt as the “lungs of the capital”. Mr Khan acknowledges that London needs 66,000 new homes every year but that development must not be done at any cost. However, London Boroughs have only 7% of the overall London Metropolitan Green Belt area, the remainder being in the shire counties around London. The effect of protecting this 7% is that the remaining 93% around London is under more pressure to be developed. Many elected representatives whose constituencies are adjacent to London have raised objections to those Government policies which threaten their Green Belt but TBAG is unaware of any efforts made by our local representatives to defend the London Metropolitan Green Belt in this District. EFDC have stated that the natural population growth within our district is approximately 200 people per annum yet they have been effectively ordered by Government and have conceded to provide 11,400 new homes by 2033 – over the next 14 years. Clearly this number does not merely accommodate new homes for our children and grandchildren but for the many thousands who will migrate out from London into the un‑affordable homes that are most likely to be developed. This number of homes in our Green Belt equates to urban sprawl, and the prevention of urban sprawl is the stated fundamental aim of Government Green Belt Policy. While the Government plays the numbers game with how many dwellings are required within England, it appears that developers are successfully lobbying Government to build on our Green Belt’s ‘shovel ready sites’ with the primary motive of maximising their profits.
Village Design Statement Association TBAG would like to thank all Committee members of the Village Design Association for their hard work and commitment in producing the first Village Design Statement for Theydon Bois. With the winding up of the Association, it was decided by the Committee to donate their remaining funds equally between Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society and Theydon Bois Action Group. TBAG would like to express its sincere thanks for this generous donation which will help us to continue to protect the Green Belt around our village, in line with the aims of our Group and its Constitution.
TBAG extends season’s greetings to all villagers and wishes you all the very best for the New Year.