A new leisure centre will be built in Epping.

The new facilities are planned for the currently unoccupied St John's Road site and will replace those on Hemnall Street, it was announced at a council meeting last night (September 26).

The earmarked site has been at the centre of Epping Forest District Council's redevelopment plans since 2012, when the first of a series of proposals to replace the empty Epping Junior School and Epping Hall with a cinema, restaurants and Waitrose were floated.

Four years of negotiations between developers Frontier Estates Epping Ltd and the town and district council failed to bring these plans to life however, leading the councils to opt for a new scheme.

Cllr Chris Whitbread, council leader, said: "Today marks a milestone in the history of Epping.

"These plans can transform the heart of Epping, building on the current success story with an even better town centre.

"We are creating a wonderful new space to draw in visitors, providing jobs, leisure and housing.

"It would be a major boost to the local economy and a fantastic enhancement to our town."

Cllr Whitbread said there had been informal discussions with partners Places Leisure, which had signalled it would work with the council.

If the plans go ahead, the site would also include new shops, a public open space, housing and a cinema.

It is unlikely there would be room for a supermarket however.

The proposals include the transfer of the District Council depot to its new headquarters at Oakwood Hill in Loughton, and freeing up the site of the current Epping Sports Centre for housing as set out in the draft Local Plan.

New Town Council offices would also be built into the new plans.

The council has withdrawn from previous plans to sell the area to a private developer, Frontier Estates.

Liberal Democrat district and town councillor Jon Whitehouse, who has been campaigning for a new sports centre in Epping, said: “I am very pleased the district council has finally recognised the strength of local people’s feeling about their sports centre.

“Epping residents have always been clear Epping deserves its own sports centre, which is why the Conservatives’ plan to close Epping Sports Centre and provide a facility in a more inaccessible location at North Weald was so unpopular.”

While the council has just finished a £1.1m refurbishment of the Hemnall Street site it recently described as "physically limited by size, age and design", only four years remain on its contract.

In a bid to replace it, St Margaret’s Hospital and North Weald Airfield were also looked at.

Buying land at the hospital proved too expensive and North Weald not central enough.

Early investigations into the possibility of a joint-use centre with St Johns Secondary School did not pass feasibility discussions.

Hundreds of Epping residents signed petitions calling for Epping to keep its Sports Centre and many respondents to the Epping Neighbourhood Plan consultation expressed the view that the town should keep a sports centre.