How many houses
The local plan was for 11,400 additional homes in the district. EFDC has consistently shown the numbers around Harlow separately and we note that 44 per cent of all homes not around Harlow are to be around Epping with proportionately few in some larger communities.
As we reported in our last posting, the Inspector’s actions have presented EFDC with an immediate shortfall of 272 homes. Added to that, we calculate the additional requirement to be:
| Sites removed in entirety | 272 |
| Limit on height of station developments | unknown |
| Reconsideration of Epping South – possible reduction unknown (say) | 500 |
| Increased margin due to poor delivery in the past now 20% (was 5%) (Action 12 to increase buffer from 5% to 20%) |
1700 |
| Total additional allocations required | 2472 |
We note that developers for Latton Priory have argued for 1,500 instead of 1,000 homes at a site near Hastingwood roundabout. We do not yet know if the Inspector’s concerns about transport and road layouts (Actions 14 and 15) will preclude such an increase.
The Inspector’s letter noted that a number of sites were approved for the consultation version of the local plan in 2016 but a number of them disappeared from the submission version she examined. (Paragraph 21 and Action 9). These may have to be reconsidered for inclusion. Around Epping that could mean the Epping East site and/or east of Theydon Bois station. (Action 9 “…to seek alternative sites to meet the housing requirement, …”). She wrote “certain types/categories of sites could be revisited if necessary ……. include[ing] those sites which were proposed for allocation in the Regulation 18 version of the Plan but deleted from the Regulation 19 version”. Communities who may have been relieved that sites near them did not appear in the local plan need to be aware the nightmare might return.
Leave a Reply