The Golf House, Crooked Mile, Nazeing Common, Nazeing Waltham Abbey, EN9 2ED Data via plota.co.uk

EPF/1265/26 - Permission in Principle Refused

Proposal

Permission in principle for Erection of up to 9 dwellings. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
26 Jun 2026
✓
Validated
29 Jun 2026
✗
Refused
7 Aug 2026
Appeal
Not lodged

Refused on 7 Aug 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 22 Aug 2026

Site constraints 9

2 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Barn at Fishers Green Farmhouse, Grade II, about 1 m from the postcode pin · 2 Grade II
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Show all 2 with distances
Historic England ↗
Green belt: London
Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.
Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.
Read the government guidance ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. A site survey can differ.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
National infrastructure project about 411 m away: North London (Electricity Line) Reinforcement
The site is about 411 m from the project boundary. Electricity line, decided. The project page says whether consent was granted.
Nationally significant infrastructure projects (power stations, electricity lines, pipelines, major roads and railways, harbours, airports and reservoirs) are consented by a Secretary of State under the Planning Act 2008, after an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than by the council. The boundary is the one the Inspectorate consults on and can change as the scheme does. Projects are shown within 2 km of the site.
Planning Inspectorate project page ↗
Special protection area about 196 m away: Lee Valley
Work nearby can need a habitats assessment.
Harm to a protected site is only accepted where there is no alternative and an overriding public interest.
Public footpath about 25 m away
Matters where it crosses or adjoins the site: obstructing a path without a diversion order is an offence, and work cannot start until the order is confirmed.
Compiled from highway authority data, not the legal definitive map. A few authorities have not published, so no path shown is not proof there is none.
Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 2
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
SSSI about 197 m away: Turnford & Cheshunt Pits SSSI
Natural England may need consulting, depending on what is proposed.
Sites of special scientific interest are the best wildlife and geological sites in the country. Development likely to harm one is rarely permitted.
Also on the record
Scheduled monument about 234 m away: Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Factory.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3

Checked on 6 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Planning Inspectorate and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Application type
Permission in Principle
Postcode
EN9 2ED
Received
26 Jun 2026
Validated
29 Jun 2026
Ward
Waltham Abbey North
Parish
Waltham Abbey
Case officer
Show
Target decision
7 Aug 2026
Decision
Refuse
Decision date
7 Aug 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Agent
Phil Rowe

How this decision compares

Decided in 39 days from validation, 17 days faster than Epping Forest's median of 56 for new homes. Refused, as 60% of new homes here are.

57%decided within 8 weeks
40%approved
100decided in the last year

Plota live figures for new homes decided by Epping Forest in the last twelve months, from validation. Epping Forest decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 22 Aug 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
20 Jul 2026
Epping Forest
Planning Authority Score
4.5/10
Below average
#172 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Epping Forest ranks #114 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Epping Forest is also one of the strictest councils - it refuses more householder applications than almost any other, with only 76% approved vs 90% nationally.

One of the strictest councils
only 76% approved vs 90% nationally
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Epping Forest decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
67%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #295 of 296
76%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #290 of 296
71%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #114 of 296
34%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #87 of 296
49%
Minor dwellings approved
228 decided (1-9 homes)
55%
Major dwellings approved
20 decided (10+ homes)
49%
Change of use approved
43 decided
1,307
Total decisions
429 refused in the year to March 2026