London Lodge East, Lodge Road, Epping, CM16 5HR Data via plota.co.uk

EPF/1929/26 - Full planning permission Under Consultation

Proposal

Change of use from C2 residential to heritage visitor center / trust administrators/ office use and occasional overnight accommodation for staff and volunteers; replacement garden building. Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 27 Oct 2026, 09:56

Application progress

✓

Received

12 Oct 2026

✓

Validated

26 Oct 2026

Decision

Expected by 21 Dec 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision around 21 Dec 2026, from Epping Forest's recent changes of use.

Comments are open until 16 Nov 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Documents 7

Statements & assessments 1

PDF Copped Hall - Design Access Statement/Heritage Statement PDF · 14 Oct 2026 View ↗

Plans & drawings 2

PDF Location plan_Redacted PDF · 26 Oct 2026 View ↗ PDF Copped Hall - Location Plan and proposed elevations PDF · 14 Oct 2026 View ↗

Consultation & comments 1

PDF Commenter’s name hidden Show WORD_X · 26 Oct 2026 View ↗

Site constraints 10

Ancient woodland: Epping-Ambresbury Banks

Irreplaceable habitat. Standing advice asks for a 15 m buffer from the boundary.

National policy refuses development that would cause loss or deterioration of ancient woodland or ancient trees unless there are wholly exceptional reasons.

1 listed building within 150 m of the postcode pin

Nearest: West Lodge, Gateway, East Lodge to London Entrance Drive to Copt Hall, Grade II*, about 1 m from the postcode pin

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.

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 ↗

Registered park or garden: Copped Hall

Nationally designated heritage. Its significance and setting carry great weight.

Registered parks and gardens, battlefields, world heritage sites and protected wrecks are designated heritage assets: harm needs clear and convincing justification.

Historic England ↗

Copped Hall conservation area

Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.

The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.

Council document ↗

Public footpath about 11 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.

Special area of conservation about 54 m away: Epping Forest

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.

SSSI about 2 m away: Epping Forest 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.

Habitat network: Ancient Semi Natural Woodland

Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.

Also on the record

Priority habitat about 2 m away: Deciduous woodland.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 27 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 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

Council: Epping Forest
Application type: Full planning permission
Postcode: CM16 5HR
Received: 12 Oct 2026
Validated: 26 Oct 2026
Ward: Waltham Abbey South and Rural
Parish: Waltham Abbey
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 21 Dec 2026
Agent: Alan Cox

Decision outlook

Day 2 of the 56-day target. Epping Forest usually decides changes of use by day 56.

prediction

Day 254 days to the 56-day target

51%decided within 8 weeks

54%approved

71decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 27 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Comments by: 16 Nov 2026

Epping Forest

Planning Authority Score

4.5/10

Below average

#172 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Change of use

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