Epping Forest District Council News Release

Published: 16 June 2026

15 June 2026

Government places Epping Forest District Council in planning special measures

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has stripped Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) of the sole local right to determine major planning applications.

The designation under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, comes after the council breached government limits on the number of planning refusals overturned at appeal.

This will come into effect from 9am on 15 June 2026.

Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council called the move by MHCLG Secretary of State Steve Reid an attack on local democracy.

"District councillors are the voice of local residents. Taking away their power to determine major planning applications is an attack on local democracy and accountability. The Epping Forest district is over 90% Green Belt. We understand the pressure from government to build more houses, but we also represent the interests of residents already here. Councillors support good planning applications but there is often a fine line between meeting the ambitions of developers and the needs of the community.

"We have done everything in our power to balance both sides. Unlike many councils, the Epping Forest district has a strong, up-to-date Local Plan. Some of our town and parish councils have developed their own Neighbourhood Plans too. We operate according to policy and law. Often that makes us very unpopular with our own residents when we are compelled to grant planning permission for developments we would rather not have. But that makes it all the more important that we are able to refuse applications that simply don’t meet our tests of acceptability.

"Just over 10 percent of those refusals have been overturned at appeal, marginally breaching the government target. The government has decided that is not good enough. It has decided to make it possible to bypass local democracy. I am deeply sorry for our residents. They will be the biggest losers as the voice of local councillors elected to represent them has been taken away.

"Epping Forest District Council has worked incredibly hard in recent years to improve our planning processes.

"We took on board government concerns and implemented a wide range of recommendations made by the Planning Advisory Service including unpopular changes to our planning committees. To remove our local powers now when the reforms are just about to bear fruit makes no sense.

"The Rt. Hon. Steve Reed MP should think again."

Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council

The designation means developers with housing schemes bigger than 10 homes or on sites bigger than 0.5 hectares, those looking to build buildings over 1,000 square meters or all other developments on land over 1 hectare no longer need to apply to Epping Forest District Council for planning permission.

Instead they can now apply to a government-appointed Planning Inspector over whom there will be no local control or right of appeal. The Inspectorate will also receive the planning application fees despite the council still being required to help administer the application including putting up site notices, writing to neighbours and hosting any public hearings.

The council has retained the power to determine small scale planning applications including householder improvements.

More details are to be found on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government website.

MHCLG Planning Applications (s62A)

Ends