A 1,200-home development near Epping would have a disastrous impact on the town, it is claimed.

A planning application for the proposed development, called West Sumners, at Jack’s Hatch in Nazeing, is expected to be submitted by firm Crest Nicholson in days.

But as a group formed to fight the plans appeals for further support, an Epping shopkeeper said he expects the estate to exacerbate existing problems.

Trevor Krueger, owner of Little Sew n Sews in High Street, said: “It seems to countless of us that Epping Forest District Council sees an opportunity to export its housing needs away from the immediate confines of Epping on the mistaken assumption that the new residents would work in Harlow or travel to work from Harlow Town.

“There is already an impossible problem with insufficient parking. A denser local population trying to access the town will only make matters worse.”

Dr Beverly Le Long, 63, lives on Sumners Farm in Harlow and is a member of the Stop West Sumners group.

She said: “They are working on two major misconceptions.

“Firstly that building outside of Epping will somehow protect the town from commuter traffic and that Harlow has spare infrastructure capacity.

“The developers have not proposed any new schools or doctors surgeries or taken into account the number of beds at Princess Alexandra Hospital.

“Epping will be flooded with commuters. The B181 is a rural road with single access over Cobbins Bridge.

“It is not designed for the traffic which will be created by this development.

“We will fight it all the way, to judicial review if we have to.”

Epping Forest District Council has admitted that the area earmarked for the development is likely to take the ‘biggest hit’ under the local plan, which requires 10,000 new homes to be built over the next 10 years.

The next meeting of the Stop West Sumners Group will be held on November 7.

For more information, visit http://www.stopwestsumners.com/.