Spring 2014 Photo courtesy David Adamson/Shutterstock.com Photo courtesy David Le Tour Epping Forest p12-13 Inside this issue What you need to know about Le Tour: Make your plans early and be prepared Road closure information Leader’s Comment I am delighted to say that the Council has, for the fourth year in Moreton and Magdalen Laver down to North Weald new housing, infrastructure and protection of the succession, frozen Council Tax. The Council has benefited from Bassett. From there, the riders will build up speed for environment is the Council’s most important job this years of prudent financial management and planning and so we the sprint section through Epping High Street. Then year. It will shape local development over the next 20 have protected front-line services, while achieving significant it is down through Epping Forest following the A104 years. financial savings in line with central Government cuts. Changing Epping New Road to Buckhurst Hill and Woodford. Epping Forest district is a first-class, innovative the way we do things rather than cutting the things we do has been This is one of the greatest sporting events. Whether Council. We stand for the values that matter to our central to our strategy. your interest is business or recreation, Le Tour is set residents. While we do all we can to protect the Green The untapped potential of tourism will receive another major boost to put the district on the map like no other event. It will Belt, 2014 will see the first new council housing built this year. The Tour de France comes to Epping Forest. Watched draw thousands of visitors here for the day. A network in our district for 30 years (see p8). It is the start of by countless millions of people world-wide, it will be an incredible of organisations is involved in the planning now. a modest Council house building programme on experience and business opportunity for our district. Starting initially This will be a crucial year in setting the long-term brownfield sites and will complement the work we in Leeds, the third stage of the Tour will set out from Cambridge on local strategy for conservation and development. continue to do with social housing landlords and Councillor Chris Whitbread Monday 7 July, reaching Willingale in the north of our district later in The next Local Plan public consultation phase starts developers to provide affordable homes for local Leader of the Council the morning. The cavalcade will follow country lanes through Fyfield, this summer. Striking the right balance between people. Contents - Issue 70 Spring 2014 cover story Photo courtesy Rasmus Holmboe Dahl/Shutterstock.com VAEF 7 Council NEWS 4 The Forester is published by the befriending All the current news from around the Public Relations Office service Epping Forest area, fresh from the Epping Forest District Council editor’s desk Editor: Jane Boreham Celebrating its first year E-Mail: [email protected] Telephone: 01992 564712 Civic Awards 2014 10 Online: www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk Recognising unsung heroes in our community The Forester is available in large print, Braille Starting to 8 or on audio cassette build houses Freetime 20 on request First for 30 years 12 Get out and about and more active Design, Production and Advertising Tour de France New Horizons 21 What you will need to know For the over 50s Essex Technology & Innovation Centre The Gables, Fyfield Road, Ongar Waste and recycling ‘Park Safe’ 14 Countrycare 18 23 Essex CM5 0GA news Telephone: 0845 900 5796 enforcement Events E-Mail: [email protected] Bank Holiday collection dates [email protected] vehicle Events for all the family Online: www.rareblue.co.uk Ensuring drivers park safely near schools How to contact us 24 Printed on paper A-Z directory of Council services produced under ISO 14 001 2 Forester 70 / Spring 2014 Forester 70 / Spring 2014 3 E-Mail us: forester@ Join facebook.com/ Follow us on Twitter CouncilNEWS eppingforestdc.gov.uk eppingforestdc @eppingforestdc The latest news about Epping Forest District Council and what’s happening around the district many houses have been completed each financial year between 2001/02 and 2011/12. The impact of the recession can be seen as considerably fewer houses were Local Plan completed in 2007/8 and 2008/9 than has historically been the In the last edition of The Forester our ageing population. The Council’s Forward Planning case. Since 2010/11 we have seen we looked into some of the We have heard a lot in the Team records what housing is an increase as the economy has characteristics of our population and national news over the last few being built in the district year slowly recovered. In the most recent how the population of the district months about how the country is by year, along with a number of financial year, 2012/13, we saw a is growing because more people not building enough housing for other factors. It is known as the relatively low number of new houses are being born and we are living our current population or for the ‘development pipeline’, as sites and flats completed and we are longer. We also saw how over time future. This is leading to increasing move from being a planning confirming the reasons why. We the typical number of people living numbers of young people living with application on paper, to an approved know that the figures for 2013/14 in each household has decreased, parents and older people moving in scheme, then to a start on site and will be considerably higher due to which increases the number of with their relatives. Many reasons finally to the first houses being current building activity. We currently houses and flats we need to have been suggested for low house completed. Many will have noticed have another 244 houses and flats accommodate the local population. building rates, including shortage of how, on a large building site, not all with planning permission but not So in our new Local Plan we need mortgages due to tougher lending houses will be built at once because yet started. Our new Local Plan will to consider the amount of housing criteria, difficulties getting planning developers may decide to build only need to identify suitable sites for we will need, as well as the kind of permission and developers not as fast as they can sell - and in the house building into the future. housing which will best meet the building the houses for which they recession, sales have been slower. Over 2,000 houses have been More houses are needed for the future needs of smaller households and have obtained planning permission. The graph below shows how built in the district during the last decade. Most of these have been built on what is sometimes bedrooms and just over one third the district are within half an hour’s called ‘brownfield’ or ‘previously were large houses with four or more travel time by public transport to Housing completion since 2001/02 developed’ land. In 2012/13 80% bedrooms. a shopping centre, GP surgery, 500 of all the new houses and flats Many people look for a place to primary and secondary school. built were on previously developed live, which is conveniently located This is just a snapshot of the kind 400 land, which does not include former for shops, schools and doctors’ of information we collect to help us 300 gardens. surgeries. Developments, which monitor how we are implementing Of the units completed in 2012/13, are close to these facilities are our planning policies and to inform 200 66% were houses and 34% were often said to be more sustainable, our thinking on the new Local Plan. flats. The existing housing stock is because they enable people to We publish an Annual Authority 100 around 77% houses and 21% flats, travel by public transport, walking Monitoring Report, which contains so we are seeing a slightly different or cycling as well as by car. Our a range of information and enables Net dwellings 0 mix of housing in new projects district has large rural areas where you to see how we are doing year coming forward. Nearly half of the these facilities can be harder to on year. You can see our Reports at recent completions had one or two reach without a car. National and www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/ bedrooms, which is interesting when local planning policy encourages index.php/home/file-store/ 2010/11 2011/12 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 you consider how household size development in more sustainable category/136-annual-monitoring- in the district has been decreasing locations. Over 90% of the sites with reports Year over time. A fifth had three residential planning permission in 4 Forester 70 / Spring 2014 Forester 70 / Spring 2014 5 Keeping the contents of your shed and garage secure Spring 2014 Council Tax frozen Befriending service Councillors have frozen Epping He continued: “We’ve put £35,000 a good budget for trade and a Voluntary Action Epping Forest VAEF also offers a volunteer home Forest District Council’s portion of aside to promote our high streets good budget for our services at the (VAEF) is celebrating a successful visit befriending service, which the Council Tax for the fourth year. because we want to see them Council, which we’ve continued to first year of their Befriending provides a ‘friend’ who will be able Leader of Council Councillor vibrant and working.