EPPING FOREST: More affordable housing needed - rural group (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

So the Countryside Alliance are poking their nose into Epping are they?! How can they say (according to this report) that 'many communities will shrivel and die' - I don't think so! Epping is a thriving, overcrowded town as it is with the infrastructure unable to support anymore developments and the people who come along with it. This is supported by Such bodies as Ivy Chimneys school objecting to 60 houses being built as they have not got the space for anymore children. Anyone who lives in Epping knows how long you have to wait to get a Drs appoinment.
There is also no legal way that these houses can be only for the people of the area - totally illegal -anyone can buy them.
As for no houses - look at how many are for sale in the various estate agents in Epping. St Margarets is an ongoing development. Wintry Park has applications being put in on it. And this report is wrong anyway stating that plans have been passed for 317 homes at present - 338 are being built in one location - St Johns School site! So what with this and the other developments passed and pending I should think the quota has been met or nearly met - AND there is no infrastructure to support it.
We need to protect what is here not vandalise it and make it another Harlow concreted mess.

The Countryside Alliance claims to be working for everyone who loves the countryside.... so why are they campaigning to concrete all over it?

there will never be affordable homes in epping perhaps when they are first bought the price will be affordable but when they are sold by the owners they will be priced high and that is because it is epping

Thank you James, I keep saying that!! They may be "affordable" when they're first on the market but as soon as they're sold it'll be market rate, so it's a complete misnomer

Affordable housing for who?

In Loughton there has been many new homes built over the past decade. The latest development is on the old Luctons School grounds.
Loughton, similar to Epping has a problem with affordable housing for its own youth. Very few have,or will ever be able to get their foot on the property ladder.

As far as I can see a lot of people moving in to these estates are not from the area.

All you hear about today is community cohesion etc yet the very fabric of communities are ripped apart when the younger generation is forced to move away from their parents. If that is their choice then fine but with the down turn in the economy and the predictions that pensions are not going to be good enough to support the elder generation etc then now is the time to review our policies on how we sustain community cohesion and encourage a social responsibility.
I believe that councils should encourage the developers to find a way to allow people with older family in the area to haver incentives and get priority in new housing developments. This would ensure the continued legacy of communities and solve in my opinion a good few social issues without costing the tax payer millions in community cohesion schemes.

For example. I have shared the same doctor as my grandparents did (in later life) my parents, and now my children.
A small thing but very important in my view regarding healthcare and any hereditary problems that may arise.
The parents in some instances at my local schools are people that I went to school with. I know their parents and they know mine. If my children are out and about I know that there are people out there that know who they are and would have no issue telling them off if so needed and likewise with them.

We have heard all about the riots this week and how good it is that communities have pulled together well how can we ensure our communities do when they are constantly being watered down and expanded?

Wanstead, Leytonstone, Walthamstow Ilford were all leafy suburbs once upon a time yet they have all been heavily developed and expanded beyond recognition of just one generation. Loughton is growing, so will Epping and then Northwield eventually they will stretch out to Harlow one will touch the other and London would have expanded again.

Where are the reservoirs? Where are the new sewer plants? London now has to build a super sewer that we will have to pay for in our water rates because of unchecked expansion.
Another £3 or £4 per month on already stretched household bills because of rapid expansion that in many instances was unwanted and enforced is coming.
These small housing projects dotted here and there all add up to a massive drain on reserves and essential services let alone the social impact that is never quantified or taken into account but promoted as massively important at times like these.

Epping is big enough, Loughton is big enough any new housing should be for existing people without new infrastructure they should forget it.

Here lies the problem with these "partnerships" between private business and the councils. We pay for the services or put up with the lack of whilst the businesses profit and reap the benefits.

Good point, Michou!

The countryside doesn't need more houses, it needs jobs for the people who want to stay there. Putting more houses into areas with little work just increases unemployment and social problems - including conflict over the few jobs and facilities.

And it's the same in Epping, Walthamstow and everywhere else. We're already overcrowded. We need jobs that will support a family, and infrastructure, not more crowding.