RESIDENTS of a small village in Essex say they are ‘unfairly’ being lumped with all the district’s new developments amid plans to build hundreds of new homes on their doorstep reports the Local Democracy Reporter.

Residents in North Weald Bassett feel the village has been allocated a disproportionate share of Epping’s development quota, including a proposed development of 780 homes on fields to its north and losing local market space to a Google data centre.

The parish council has objected to the 780-home development, citing fears that roads around the village – including Junction 7 of the M11 – will not be able to cope with the increased traffic the development would generate.

National Highways, which manages the M11, also has a “holding objection” to the plans over the impact it could have on the motorway.

Approval from Epping Forest District Council planning committee would be on condition that mitigations are secured so that objections around concerns of impacts on highways be lifted prior to a planning permission being issued. The committee is set to decide the application at a meeting on April 8.

A statement in an Epping Forest District Council committee report added: “If this mitigation package is not agreed in its final form this would result in significant increase in vehicular traffic that would have a severe cumulative impact upon the strategic road network and connecting adopted local roads, which would be detrimental to highway safety at both a national and local level and this would carry very significant weight against the proposal.”

The plans also include land designated for a primary school, shops and recreation areas and represent a significant proportion of the wider development plans for a minimum of 1,050 homes in North Weald Bassett.

An objection to the plans from the parish council said: “The parish council has always expressed its objection to the fact that North Weald Bassett Parish has been allocated a quarter of the development proposed for the entire Epping Forest District, stating that this is disproportionate and unfair on existing residents.

“It has also consistently expressed concern about the cumulative traffic impacts that not only this development site will have, but all the development sites in the parish will have on our local roads, including the A414, B181, B1393, Church Lane, and Junction 7 of the M11.

“The natural reaction is to object to all elements of the proposals for these reasons, however, the site is allocated for development in the Epping Forest District Local Plan meaning development of the site is as good as guaranteed.

“As such, the Parish Council has chosen to work with the developer of this site for a number of years in order to try and influence the development to ensure it fits well with the current village, and causes as little disruption to our current residents as possible.”

The parish council has added it had concerns around flood risk matters regarding surface water run-off into the Cripsey Brook, but otherwise the development was supported in general given that it forms an allocated site within the Local Plan.

A statement added: “Ongoing concern is noted regarding the use of Church Lane as a through route to Epping, which will be attractive to new residents.”