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Adoption of the Council’s interim air pollution mitigation strategy, endorsed by Natural England, has been called-in by 7 councillors from the Loughton Residents Association and Green Party.
The approach to managing the effects of Air Pollution on Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation was agreed by Cabinet on 20 July 2020 for the purpose of formal consultation with Natural England.
Cabinet agreed that the subsequent adoption of the Strategy following this consultation should be delegated to the Portfolio Holder. As a result, a Portfolio Holder report was prepared which was subject to a call-in period that ended on Friday 18 December.
Call-in
During this time a call-in was received on the grounds that the proposed mitigation is insufficient and thus probably unlawful.
The 143 applications that are currently being held in abeyance will not be able to be determined by the Council until the call-in can be resolved.
Representatives gathered at a meeting on 24 December 2020 to discuss the call-in and unfortunately resolution could not be reached. The matter will now be discussed at an Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 7 January 2021 at 7 pm.
Why do we need an interim strategy?
Planning applications that could lead to higher vehicle emissions across the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC) have been held in abeyance following advice received from Natural England in June 2018.
Although vehicle emissions are not the only pollution factor affecting the Epping Forest SAC, the advice has had an impact on housing and employment related applications that could lead to more cars using the roads in or close to the Forest.
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