I have a map at home which shows almost every field around Epping, North Weald and Theydon Bois highlighted with green shading. These are all places where developers have expressed an interest in building large housing developments – but they can’t because the land is in the Green Belt. As long as the land stays in the Green Belt the council won’t grant planning permission unless there are very exceptional circumstances.

This hasn’t stopped some companies – including in Epping Forest – trying to sell small plots of land in the Green Belt as an “investment opportunity”. They imply that planning permission for new houses will be granted and the land will increase massively in value. (If this is the case why doesn’t the company hold on to the land and profit from the supposed increase in value itself?)

The council issued a news release yesterday with information about one of these “landbankers” which has been advertising plots of land for sale on land at Blunts Farm in Theydon Bois. Sadly this is yet another potential headache for the local residents who have already put up with all sorts of problems and issues relating to the Blunts Farm site.

The council points out that:

The land is entirely within the Green Belt, and therefore the normal restrictions on development apply. The areas of land are isolated from the existing built area of Theydon Bois, and the services it provides. No means of access has been shown to the parcels of land. The land has been submitted to the District Council under the “Call for Sites” exercise, but this does not mean that there is any certainty that this land will be allocated for development purposes. The allocation of 3,500 new homes claimed by the vendors refers to the requirement in the East of England Plan for the whole District over the period 2001 to 2021