THE LEGITIMACY of a wide reaching document that will see thousands of homes built in the area will be examined in court.

Yesterday (March 20) in the High Court of Justice, a judge allowed CK Properties Limited to take Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) to judicial review.

The Theydon Bois based company argued the council had not treated its house development offer properly and that a parcel of land it owns to the east of the town should have been included in the Local Plan.

When the Conservative led council approved the 11,400 house building project at a meeting in December before a Government deadline would have led to a sharp increase in dwellings required, many including Loughton Resident Association (LRA) councillor Chris Pond considered the process 'deeply flawed and unsound.'

Representatives for CK Properties echoed this point yesterday, suggesting the council had not fully explained why some sites had or had not been included for development.

The court decided that the case should be heard in full, and the Judicial Review hearing will be held on May 23 and 24, 2018.

Until then, the Council will have to defer submitting the Plan.

The Government’s previous deadline has now been extended to much later in the year, removing the immediate threat of extra housing being required.

Stephen Murray, an Independent councillor for Loughton Roding, said: "This in my opinion should come has no surprise to anyone.

"I felt at the time of the meeting that councillors were bounced into making a decision on December 14 without being able to fully consider the full site selection report, with the threat of a government deadline imposing even higher housing numbers on us being used as a way of bullying councillors into making a decision.

"It is my opinion that now this imminent Government deadline has disappeared as quickly as it came, EFDC should take this opportunity to allow councillors to make a decision with the full site evaluations now publicly available and should start listening to local residents particularly as regards Jessel Green."

A key part of the developer's case is that Appendix B of the Local Plan's Site Selection Report was not available to councillors when they made their decision December 14, 2017.

This meant that interested parties such as developers could not tell whether sites had been fairly and consistently treated, their representatives have argued.

The Council responded that any resulting problems could be dealt with at the next stage of the process, when the Plan is examined by a Planning Inspector in a public hearing.

David Linnell, an LRA representative, said: "As I understand it, the judges thinks there is a case to be heard as to whether the council followed the process.

"The detailed information as to the why they included or didn't include sites wasn't available to the people on the day."

The Local Plan sets out the council's strategy for the next 16 years in order to meet the economic and housing growth in the District by identifying potential sites for development and regeneration.

Councillor John Philip, planning portfolio holder for EFDC, said: “It is frustrating but it is not the end of the road. We are ready to submit the Plan but circumstances outside our control have created this delay.”

“Fortunately, the Government’s deadline extension means the case can be heard without compromising our position.

"When all the evidence is placed before the judge, we fully expect to win the review. We are still on target to agree 11,400 homes during the Local Plan period up to 2033.”