Blunts Farm 'dumping' is a fiasco (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Blunts Farm 'dumping' is a fiasco

2:21pm Monday 17th September 2007 in Search By Guardian-series

HOW can Epping Forest District Council's planning department get it so wrong, so often?

The inexplicable recommendation of a planning officer to grant the permission for almost uncontrolled dumping at the Blunts Farm site in Theydon Bois created a fiasco that remains unresolved after five years.

It was the fault of a planning officer that a house has recently been built on Abridge Road that resulted in eight findings of maladministration by the Ombudsman and a fine for the district council.

Fortunately the planning committees now appear to more closely question the recommendations of the planning department.

Just as well otherwise the developer of Wansfell College, as originally recommended by the planning officer, would now be converting the building into an unreasonable number of flats and building a new dwelling in the grounds.

The refusal of both applications have resulted in appeals that have been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Recently the Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal of a developer (Blunts Farm) to replace a house, in the green belt in Coopersale Lane Theydon Bois, with a considerably larger one, out of keeping with the locality.

The planning application was again recommended for approval by the planning officer and rejected by the council's area plans B sub-committee. Is our planning department working on behalf of residents or developers?

Mike Emmett, Theydon Bois.