Manor Farm Barn, Mott Street, Waltham Abbey, IG10 4AP Data via plota.co.uk

EPF/1806/26 - Prior approval Part 3 Class Q Under Consultation

Proposal

Change of use of existing agricultural barn building into use Class C3 (dwellinghouses) to accommodate five single dwellings. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
23 Sept 2026
Decision
Expected by 18 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision around 17 Nov 2026, from Epping Forest's recent agricultural works.

Comments are open until 19 Oct 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Site constraints 3

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. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 4. The predicted grade is Defra's current estimate; only a site survey settles it.
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.
Habitat network: Network Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. 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

Application type
Prior approval Part 3 Class Q
Postcode
IG10 4AP
Received
23 Sept 2026
Validated
23 Sept 2026
Ward
Waltham Abbey South and Rural
Parish
Waltham Abbey
Case officer
Show
Target decision
18 Nov 2026
Applicant
Show
Agent
Kyson & Co

Decision outlook

Day 16 of the 56-day target. Epping Forest usually decides agricultural works by day 55.

Day 1640 days to the 56-day target
68%decided within 8 weeks
51%approved
39decided in the last year

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

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 2 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
19 Oct 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