TODAY IN THE CHAMBER: Epping Forest MP, Dr Neil Hudson, challenged the Government over its decision to strip Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) immediately of its ability to decide on major planning applications.
Ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have designated EFDC under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This removes the Council's power to determine major development applications, transferring those decisions to central government.
The designation follows a warning letter sent by the Chief Planner at MHCLG in March 2026, citing data showing that 14.6% of EFDC's major planning decisions had been overturned on appeal over the two years to March 2025, just 4.6% above the Government's 10% threshold.
Since receiving that warning, the Council has undertaken significant reforms to its planning committee processes, working closely with the Planning Advisory Service. Given that major applications take many months to progress through the system, early signs already indicate that these improvements are taking effect.
Dr Hudson has called on the Secretary of State to step in and reverse this decision, warning that the decision ignores the progress EFDC has made and risks permanently sidelining the communities most affected by major development.
In the Chamber, Dr Hudson said:
“Outrageously, today the Government has stripped Epping Forest District Council, of the sole local right to determine major planning applications.
“This means that my constituents will have major planning decisions taken by Central Government and not by our local council.
“Epping Forest District is largely green belt, and we are already under threat from speculative housing applications, farmland being sacrificed for solar plants, and the Labour Government arbitrarily reclassifying Green Belt as so-called ‘grey belt’.
“Will the Secretary of State step in and reverse this awful planning policy decision, which is a complete affront to local democracy?”
Speaking afterwards, Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"Planning decisions are devolved to local councils for very good reasons. This is community empowerment and local accountability. Our local councillors understand what is at stake.
"Epping Forest District Council has listened to Government concerns and acted on them. To strip our Council of these powers before those reforms have had time to bed in is unjust, and it is an affront to local democracy. This Labour Government is trampling roughshod over our local communities.
"I will continue to press the Government to reverse this outrageous planning policy decision, and I will continue to fight to protect our precious Green Belt here in Epping Forest.”
