Member of Parliament for Epping Forest, Dr Neil Hudson MP, has written to Epping Forest District Council’s Planning Committee, urging it to object to a planning application for a development of up to 400 homes, plus up to 160 elderly living units, on Green Belt land on the edge of Epping.
The application site, north of Stewards Green Road, is not allocated for development in the adopted Epping Forest District Council Local Plan. However, changes to the National Planning Policy Framework introduced by the Labour Government have increased pressure for development near transport hubs, even in areas where infrastructure is already overstretched.
In his letter to the Council, Dr Hudson raised concerns that the site is working agricultural land which, once built on, is lost for good. He also warned that the loss of established hedgerows, field margins and open grassland would be a serious setback for local wildlife and highlighted the strain the scheme's scale would place on local roads, as well as on schools, healthcare and other local services already under pressure.
Dr Hudson's intervention comes against a difficult backdrop for planning decisions in Epping Forest. The district was recently designated by Ministers under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, stripping the Council of its power to determine major applications and transferring those decisions to central government. Dr Hudson has urged the Secretary of State to reverse this decision, warning it risks sidelining the very communities most affected by major development. More on that intervention here.
He has also been a consistent critic of the Government's "grey belt" designation, which he argues arbitrarily targets precious Green Belt land, and has long called for a brownfield-first approach to development. Protecting the Green Belt has been a consistent priority for Dr Hudson throughout his time as MP, including standing up for the Green Belt in Theydon Bois and opposing solar development on Green Belt land in Epping Upland and Thornwood Common.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Epping Forest, said:
“This proposal, which is not in the Local Plan, would carve up productive farmland and precious Green Belt that has safeguarded Epping’s distinct identity for generations.
“Once this land is gone, it is gone for good. At a time when domestic food production, biodiversity and local infrastructure are all under pressure, it is simply not responsible to push ahead with large‑scale development in locations that cannot sustain it.
“I am urging the Council and ultimately the Government, who have taken over large local planning decisions, to oppose this application and to stand up for the communities who would bear the brunt of its impact.”
