Exclusive - Huge Backlash Against The 'South Epping Masterplan Area' (SEMPA)
- Feb 28
- 4 min read
Editors Note - The public consultation that was initiated last summer showed that over 70% were against the plan. It is little wonder that the council have been slow to release the document and The Epping Society had to resort to a 'Freedom of Information' request in order to see the outcome.
As far as we can tell this document is still not freely available on the council website. We will be publishing it in full shortly. This is hardly transparent democracy and with the knowledge that local people are vastly against this plan you can only wonder why it is steaming ahead.
Remember that precious Greenbelt land that had endured for thousands of years is going to be concreted over. This plan obviously has limited support in general so we have to ask why a council that is elected to represent us is actually doing the opposite.
The Epping Society is leading the fightback by telling you what they don't want you to know. Please do read our Press Release below and follow the links at the bottom of the page to support us. Thank you.
Press release – Public Consultations on proposed developments at South Epping (SEMPA)
Local residents express serious concerns
A few days ago, Epping Forest District Council released the findings of the consultations into the plans, along with the developers’ responses.
The release was very tardy, having been promised in some cases many months ago, see timetable on p.26; it came following a Freedom of Information Request by the Epping Society.
The findings and responses by Meeting Places run to 339 pages, although many of these are reminders of the consultation materials. Page 9 states there were 315 responses, and p.12 claims an estimated “reach” of 24k via social media.
Our general summary of the data would be “Residents express serious concerns”; or perhaps more strongly, “Residents very unhappy with plans”!
The very first data set, presented as a pie chart
shows 72% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree with the plans. A bare 12% were in any way in favour.
Nearly three-quarters of local residents who took part do not agree with the plans as presented. We believe that Council should urge the developers to address the specific objections and concerns shown by people who know the area, to revise, review or simply cancel the development.
We would urge individual Councillors to consider the electoral consequences of going against the convincingly expressed wishes of the residents of our community; however distant or uncertain those elections may be. The Epping Society will ensure councilor voting records are in the public domain.
Our chain of thought is reinforced by the delay, the unwillingness of EFDC to release this data until effectively forced. No-one tries to bury good news. Many comments do refer to the unclear style of the questions asked, talking about Vision etc, Fortunately it seems as if most people responded with their opinions about whether the project is advisable, feasible etc, and it’s impacts.
Throughout the report, there are no fewer than 181 pages of verbatim transcripts. To our brief sampling, these are overwhelmingly negative. We would urge Councillors to scan these – to see what their constituents are saying.
There was some numerical support for “green” measures, and the childrens’ play areas. Enhancing Rights of Way (footpaths) was encouraged too.
Otherwise, in general responses were negative:
· p.126 “integrating the development with the town”- almost 50% believed it would not;
· similarly, “attractive homes on tree-lined streets”, nearly half strongly disagreed or disagreed that this would be the case.
· The proposed Design Code and a new Village Green were not popular
· P.127 shows a majority unhappy about the bridge /crossing (over the tube);
· and on sustainable travel, the negatives edged towards 60%
· p. 130 “general layout” had negatives at 70%
Several key response points include:
· The provision of a primary school is now clearly limited at this stage only to a site; requiring input from Essex County Council
· Flux’s Lane Recreation ground is still tabled to be lost
· Plans are now added for a “small retail / café” unit, for everyday shopping
· Transport infrastructure problems will require measures “beyond this remit”, but developer’s Section 106 funding could be used to support this. The report confirms there has as yet been no detailed traffic assessment of likely impact.
· There will be no onsite medical facility, but rather possible funding of expansion at The Limes
There are many pages of raw data, in table form. A committee member has taken a very small sample, and it appears that the numbers do add up.
Appendices refer to the concerns expressed by various bodies, mostly statutory, also voluntary, like the Epping Society. A column is added of Responses by the Council / developers - there is an awful lot of “we will look at that”, “it will not be a problem”, with occasional “you don’t understand” – all crafted to be reassuring. We ask how can a major project get this far, with so many issues unresolved?
Please contact your Councillors, ask if they have read this report? How do they intend to vote when Planning Permission is sought, bearing in mind the outcomes of this Public Consultation?
END
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