Vision and Development Brief

Epping Forest District Council has been working with a team led by Urban Practitioners (comprising urban regeneration, transport and property expertise) to prepare a Vision and Development Brief for the Debden area.

Update September 2008

The brief has been amended in response to views expressed by the public and stakeholders during the consultation period. These amends have been accepted by Cabinet and the final brief is due to be presented to Council on 25 September 2008.

What is the Brief for?

The Council recognises that Debden is a strong community and The Broadway area is a great local asset with a good mix of local shops and services. We want to be sure that the area continues to thrive and grow successfully, and the Vision and Development Brief includes a set of realistic projects to improve The Broadway for everyone.

Once the Brief is finalised it will act as a framework to help influence future development within The Broadway area. Council is due to consider the Brief for adoption as non-statutory planning guidance. The Brief will therefore become a material consideration in the assessment of planning applications for sites within the area defined by the Brief. It will be used as a tool to engage with potential private sector development partners who may seek to take forward some of the Brief’s proposed developments.

Timeline

The appointed consultant team conducted an analysis of The Broadway area in terms of its urban design, commercial property market and transport and pedestrian movement. During the course of this work face-to-face meetings were held with key local stakeholders.

As part of the preparation of the draft report, the consultant team held a stakeholder workshop on 11 February 2008 for key stakeholders in the area. The draft Brief was presented to Cabinet on 14 April 2008 and was approved for public consultation.

14 April 2008 Cabinet agenda, decisions and minutes

The public consultation period ran from Monday 23 June 2008 until Friday 18 July 2008. The consultation featured many elements including, a project website and exhibition, coverage in the local press and hard-copy leaflets. It also included an on-street consultation day held on The Broadway to meet members of the public and an early morning session to share information and answer questions from commuters at Debden Station. There were also meetings with local traders, Loughton Town Council and businesses on Langston Road.

During the course of the public consultation process we distributed approximately 1,600 consultation leaflets and received 133 completed consultation leaflets as well as a number of written representations. We notified every business on The Broadway of the consultation on the day it commenced and spoke with several hundred local people during the course of the consultation day.

Debden Vision & Development Brief - Consultation Report pdf (2.6 MB)

Urban Practitioners produced a public consultation report providing a concise record of the consultation activity undertaken. This report provided an analysis of all feedback received and from this recommends a series of changes which it considers should be made to the final Vision and Development Brief.

The changes recommended following public consultation were accepted by Cabinet at its meeting on 1 September 2008.

1 September 2008 Cabinet agenda and decisions

It was agreed that the final Brief should go before Council on 25 September 2008 for approval.

25 September 2008 Council agenda