Latton Priory: Plans for 1500 homes on Harlow’s border rejected by planning committee
News / Thu 26th Feb 2026 at 08:51am
PLANS for a ‘Garden Town’ development on the border of Harlow near the M11 roundabout at Hastingwood have been rejected by Epping district councillors reports Everything Epping Forest.
The Latton Priory development, which was recommended for refusal by district council planning officers, included up to 1,340 homes.
The proposals are part of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) scheme which proposes some 16,000 homes in various neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the town including Sumners and east of Harlow.
Over the past ten years, numerous articles have been written on the proposal. Harlow residents had many objections including the lack of detail on health provision.
Access would be off Rye Hill Road and the B1393 London Road.
The proposals attracted 119 objections with Harlow Council, East Herts District Council, Essex County Council, Epping Upland Parish Council and North Weald Bassett Parish Council all opposed.
As you may see many of the objections were centred on transport infrastructure.
Despite plans being developed for well over a decade, it seems that a key event seems to be a site visit by a number of members of the Epping Forest District Council committee, where they were “aghast” at how plans could involve a small country road such as Rye Hill Road.
And despite plans being developed over a decade, the decision was made in under 40 minutes.
Film of the meeting is below.
Nicholas Taylor
2026-02-26 10:38:12
Well no surprise there then. The fact is, there has been a sea change since this development was first mooted about a decade ago and many of the problems outlined in the report may well be repeated at other sites forming developments within HGGT. It is no coincidence that only yesterday the John Lewis Partnership announced the closure of their house building plans because of rising construction costs and the need to provide infrastructure. Perhaps of greatest concern is that this is debated and decided by Councillors in Epping, one of whom saId he had never driven down Rye Hill Road. Where was someone representing us the residents of Harlow, afterall, as one of the councillrs said, this development is an extension of Harlow. Put quite simply, if the developers cannot meet the requirements of the EFDC Local Plan (which of course will be overtaken by Local Government reform), then they need to go back to the drawing board. Nicholas Taylor, Harlow Residents Alliance.
Richard Adams
2026-02-26 11:25:31
The fact of the matter is that private developers will only build when there is a big profit in it for them. Epping is right in insisting 40% affordable housing and private money is not willing to operate on those margins. This whole scheme seems to me to be flawed and it was a pleasure to see local politicians seeing through the flimflam of “sustainable transport corridors” etc and saying no, go away. This whole project should be abandoned. Harlow councillors must continue to voice their objections to this whole scheme.
Pete
2026-02-26 12:04:49
10 years in the making, what a waste of time and money. Is it any wonder that our country is in the economic mess that we are told it is.
Seamus
2026-02-26 14:14:37
Access via Rye Hill Road was always it's downfall as anyone with common sense instead of greed would have observered. The refusal highlights Harlows own failures in regards to developers. The council sells the developers the land but has little to no bargaining chip on how many social/council homes are to be built. I'd rather they give the council land to the developer for free as long as the developers built 40% of stock to give to the council to keep as council stock. Developers need profit I understand that, but far too often developers have fiddled, cannived and wriggled out of their planning agreed obligations. Well done to Epping council for doing the right thing
charlie
2026-02-26 18:45:51
Now the same thing should happen to the ridiculous plans to build the new developments over at Gilston. Years and years of planning and yet I still have to meet anyone who wants this development to go ahead. Infrastructure is not in place, let alone a new hospital. Local Council's need to chuck the plans into the bin.
Kim O'connor
2026-02-26 19:33:49
It is how ever good news to hear. Now for Gilston. THE PEOPLE OF HARLOW DO NOT WANT THESES MONSTROSITY S ON THERE BOARDERS. AS THE PETITION SHOWED. YOU LISENING DAN.
Nicholas Taylor
2026-02-26 20:33:06
To add to my earlier comment, it was interesting to hear the comment made by the Councillor representing North Weald Parish Council about 17 minutes into the film. She made the point that consultation by the developers with the Parish Council and residents seemed nothing but a tick box. The fact is that things were even worse when it came to consulting residents living in Harlow, because the little they did do only reached a small part of the town despite the effect this development will have on all of us. Harlow Council has been complicit in this, just as they were when consultation took place by EFDC in respect of land adjacent to Katherines and Sumners, despite the proposal to develop land just 40 feet from the back garden of residents living in Harlow.
Anthony Harmes
2026-02-27 20:12:06
Well done Epping council. People can you Imagine the traffic congestion this will cause. We cant get out of our housees now
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