Questions asked over approved plans for 144 home retirement village in Chigwell

Plans for a retirement village on land in Chigwell have been passed despite questions over how the land was ever adopted for development. Retirement Villages Group has been given permission by Epping Forest District Council for the development of a retirement village on land west of Froghall Lane, providing 144 homes for people aged 65 and over. But the plans have also been criticised for its impact on the character and appearance of the area and the pressure the facility will place on healthcare services.

Epping Forest District Council has also been questioned over processes that led to the land being adopted for 105 homes in the local plan. Chigwell Parish Council said in its representations that without an assessment from consultancy firm ARUP for the site, it is impossible to validate the existing capacity of 105 units, not least for 144. It said: “For the parish council to reasonably assess and determine compliance with Policy H1, sufficient information needs to be available as to how the original capacity was assessed by ARUP and on what basis ARUP subsequently proposed it for inclusion in the local plan.”

Ward councillor Lisa Morgan said: "Our planners do not why or how it was selected for the local plan. That is not good enough." She added: "I'm here on behalf of our residents, and the residents of Chigwell have already been let down by planners due to their failure to follow the due process. There's no evidence this site can support 105 new homes, let alone the extra 37 per cent for the 144.”

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The council said: “The provision of new housing on this site is in accordance with both local and national policy. The development is located within a predominantly residential area close to local amenities and a London Underground station and other modes of public transport, and therefore, it is considered to be a sustainable location for new housing within the district. As discussed above the site is allocated within the council’s adopted Local Plan 2023 for specialist housing. A retirement village would fall under this category. Moreover, as discussed above most of the site is no longer within the Metropolitan Green Belt. It is noted that the site allocation recommends an approximate 105 units, and the proposal in this case would be for 144 units.

"However, the site allocation figure is an approximate one and the number of units that may be acceptable as part of a comprehensive redevelopment may exceed the site allocation if it can be demonstrated that there is a viability requirement to exceed that number. This requirement must also be balanced against other policy requirements contained within the council’s local plan and the aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). “

Planning committee member Councillor Tim Matthews said: "There are many things in there that everyone doesn't like. However, we have to follow policy. The reason we have policy is to take the emotion out of the situation, and when looking at this application, it's conforming with the policies. The how it got there, the when got there, whether it should have been in or shouldn't have been in, I don't believe is relative to the discussion."