Forward Planning

An interactive version of the Adopted Local Plan map and

text is available from the Planning Portal

Click here to view the COMBINED LOCAL PLAN (1998) and ALTERATIONS (2006) Policy Document

N.B. This document contains the POLICY TEXT ONLY - for accompanying text / maps / tables / graphs etc, please see the original documents, as in the second grey box below, and on the 'Local Development Plan' page.

INFORMATION ON SAVED LOCAL PLAN AND STRUCTURE PLAN POLICIES:

Please note that the Local Plan Alterations 2006 DO NOT need to be saved, and are still in force, as they were adopted after the relevant Act came into effect. They have an automatic lifespan of 3 years. After these 3 years, i.e. in the early part of 2009, the Council will need to conduct a saving policies exercise on them as well.

Read the letter from GO East regarding the EFDC Adopted Local Plan (1998) policies which have been saved here

Read the letter from GO East regarding Essex and Southend-on-Sea Replacement Structure Plan (2001) policies which have been saved here

Click here to view the Consultation draft of The Urban Place Supplement SPD (The consultation period has now ended, and responses are being collated and analysed by Essex County Council)

Register your consultation details here for the LDF

The Forward Planning team within Forward Planning and Environment is responsible for the production of Epping Forest District Council’s comprehensive District ­ Wide Local Plan and for the production of much of the Supplementary Planning Guidance that has been adopted in the District.

Under the new system, Forward Planning will be producing the Local Development Framework (LDF).

• Click here for the Interactive Local Plan Map and Policies at the Planning Portal
• Click here to view the PDF version of the Adopted Local Plan Policies
• Click here to view the PDF version of the Adopted Local Plan Maps
• Click here to view information about the Local Plan Alterations
• Click here for information on the Local Development Framework

Alterations to the 1998 Local Plan have been prepared, and were adopted on 10th July 2006.  The Alterations have been produced to bring the Local Plan up to date with central government guidance including Planning Policy Guidance (PPGs) and Planning Policy Statements (PPSs), and also to take account of local issues.

The team also now includes our new Town Centre Manager, and is also responsible for Economic Development.

Forward Planning plays a primary role in addressing the main concerns and priorities identified through a major local consultation exercise in September 1999, outlined in The Community Plan. Where possible, through the various functions of this team, we contribute to:

• Tackling social exclusion 
• Meeting housing needs (details about the housing needs survey are available here) 
• Enhancing and conserving the environment 
• Promoting sustainable forms of development  
• Encouraging the active participation of the community in making the district a better place to live and work

There are several centres of population, including Loughton/Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Theydon Bois and Epping - all on the Central Line Tube service into London; also Waltham Abbey, Nazeing, North Weald and Chipping Ongar. All have distinctive character, whether as pleasant suburbia or traditional market towns. 

These and numerous villages are set in Green Belt countryside, ranging from the Lee Valley (characterised by the Regional Park and the glasshouse industry), Roding Valley and forested higher ground in the west to a more gentle and extensively farmed landscape in the east. 

There are a number of industrial areas and two airfields; the District Council owns four of the former and one of the latter. The district can boast over 1,000 Listed Buildings, 25 Conservation Areas and numerous sites of nature conservation importance, including Local Nature Reserves owned by the Council. But it also suffers local pockets of social deprivation.

It is not surprising that development pressures are intense in such an attractive area close to London, not far from the rapidly growing Stansted Airport, and traversed by the orbital M25 and radial M11 motorways. The District is also part of the Stansted/M11 Corridor Growth Corridor, and has been included in several growth studies as a result.

The fundamental challenge is to reconcile the protection of the most valued characteristics with future development and regeneration needs, against the background of the new sustainability agenda and new Regional Planning strategies.

Last updated - 13th May 2008