Embedded Files
Protecting Epping District’s Green Belt Through Evidence, Transparency, and Community Action
Keep Epping District Green are a volunteer-run community group protecting the local green belt from inappropriate and unsustainable development. We 'Keepers' raise awareness and fund independent professional evidence so that local people can engage effectively and lawfully with the planning system.
Why this matters
Epping District is already experiencing severe pressure on its road network, essential services, and environment. Traffic congestion and gridlock are now regular occurrences, access to healthcare and schools is increasingly constrained, and flooding and road deterioration are becoming more frequent.
These conditions exist now, before more approved green belt developments are built. Decisions about releasing more green belt land must therefore be grounded in reality, not in optimistic assumptions.
The challenges facing Epping District are complex and cumulative. We set these issues out in detail, based on observable conditions and planning considerations.
What we do
What we do
Keep Epping District Green (KEDG) focuses on practical, evidence-based work:
Work with like-minded organisations to monitor planning proposals affecting the green belt
Raise funds to commission independent consultants’ reports on urban developments
Share robust evidence that residents and community groups can use
Promote informed and constructive engagement with planners and the planning process
We are independent, non-party-political, and non-commercial
Our First Campaign
Stewards Green Fields (SGF), land adjacent to The Orchards and Stewards Green Road in South Epping, is KEDG's first funded campaign. It represents one of the largest proposed green belt releases in the district - 600 homes on land already surrounded by infrastructure and services under severe strain.
Our planning consultants will assess not just SGF in isolation, but its cumulative impact alongside:
Sites already approved for development, including 400+ homes on the SEMPA land (South Epping Masterplan Area: Stewards Green and Ivy Chimneys roads); and, new submitted and pending applications for many hundred more houses including Old Pastures, Fluxs Lane, Mill Mound Fields, Theydon Bois Station and many other sites.
When these developments are stacked together, the impact on traffic, roads, schools, nature and healthcare alone will be devastating for all the district. Cumulative assessment is exactly what developer-commissioned transport studies routinely fail to provide - and exactly what KEDG exists to fund.
What happens afterwards?
Once the SGF report is commissioned, KEDG will turn its attention to other active applications across the district. If you are concerned about a different site, signing up for newsletter updates is the best way to know when we are mobilising.
He's a Keeper
Support our work and become a 'Keeper'
Commissioning independent professional evidence to stop malign planning applications is essential but costly.
All work is overseen by local volunteers who have made financial contributions to KEDG. The Keepers are concerned about their community and have 'skin in the game'.
No volunteer in the group is paid. 'Keepers' are encouraged to share and discuss their own professional expertise and/or local insight with the wider group.
We are seeking 50 founding Keepers - donors of £200 each - to fund an independent planning and transport consultants' reports on Stewards Green Fields: technical work required to protect our Green Belt and all district residents' quality of life.
You can donate using a BACS transfer. Details for Keep Epping District Green's bank account are shown after completing the Donate form (button below).
Donations are voluntary and non-refundable. They do not buy influence over the group’s priorities and are ringfenced to fund only our mission.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse