Policy information sourced from the Epping Forest District Local Plan 2011-2033

DM2 Epping Forest SAC and the Lee Valley SPA

  • The Council will expect all relevant development proposals to assist in the conservation and enhancement of the biodiversity, character, appearance and landscape setting of Epping Forest and the Lee Valley. The Council will expect all relevant development proposals to ensure that there is no adverse effect on the site integrity of the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation and the Lee Valley Special Protection Area.
  • New development for which it is not possible to conclude no adverse effect on the integrity of the Epping Forest Special Area for Conservation or the Lee Valley Special Protection Area, either alone or in combination with other plans or projects, will not be permitted. Where development would have likely significant effects, mitigation measures, on-site and offsite as appropriate, will be required to ensure that it will have no adverse effect on the integrity of these areas. In designing mitigation measures, regard should be had to the Air Pollution Mitigation Strategy for the Epping Forest, the District’s Green Infrastructure Strategy and Epping Forest Strategic Access Management and Monitoring Strategy. Contributions towards off-site measures to mitigate the likely impacts air pollution and adverse recreational effects arising from a development will be sought where these are necessary to make the development acceptable, are directly related to the development and are fairly and reasonably related in scale to the development.
  • In recognition of the risks posed to the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation from urbanisation effects over and above that resulting from recreational pressures (including from fly-tipping, the introduction of non-native plant species and incidental arson) planning applications for development will not be permitted within 400 metres of the boundary of the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation unless it can be demonstrated through project level HRA that the development would not generate any such impacts (2).

(2) Note that this is not a ‘no development’ buffer but rather a trigger for application level further consideration of each proposal within that zone.

For more information please see the Epping Forest District Local Plan 2011-2033