The demolition and replacement of a traditional village pub with ‘bespoke’ flats will result in “creeping urbanisation” of a rural area, it has been claimed

Heavy opposition has met the plans for the Sixteen String Jack pub in Coppice Row, Theydon Bois, ahead of a council meeting next week.

Proposals for 11 flats were submitted to Epping Forest District Council by Constable Homes after their “substantially similar” plans for a block of 13 was refused in December last year.

With people from 17 nearby properties objecting, Theydon Bois Parish Council has led opposition to the plans.

It said: “The scale and design of the proposed development, almost 40 metres wide and some 3 metres higher than the ridge line of the existing public house, is completely out of character with the surrounding area which is made up of detached properties in large garden plots.”

The council added: “We do not accept the applicant’s view that this is a ‘highly sustainable’ site – it is not.

“There are no public transport links in this part of the village and due to the narrowness of the road in this location there is no continuous public pavement for pedestrians to walk to the site on the northern side of Coppice Row… residents in this location would be reliant on cars as a means of transport.”

Groups including the Theydon Bois Action Group and the City of London have also spoken out about the plans, saying the number of flats could create more noise and disturbance on the former pub site.

They claimed little change was made to the rejected plans from 2014 and added: “The proposals would impact on the setting and appearance of the forest and result in a creeping of urbanisation.”

Responding to the concerns, agent Richard Clews said: “We have worked quite hard with a new architect to come up with a scheme that we believe addresses all of the legitimate planning concerns that members had.

“We still feel this is an extremely attractive development, it makes a number of improvements to replace a redundant brown field site which would meet the housing demand in Theydon Bois.

“This is a site, admittedly on the boundary with the green belt, but it is still very much in the urban area.”

He added the development was “quite modest” at 11 apartments and that they would be no taller than surrounding buildings.

Highways safety has been take “extremely seriously” even before the site was bought, he said, with comments from the highways department supporting the plans.

Planners for the district council have recommended proposals are given the go-ahead before the meeting at the civic offices in Epping next Wednesday (October 14).