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Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society
9th July 2010 Scoping Report Consultation - The Society's Submission:
Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society has now made its full response to the Epping Forest Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment Scoping Draft Report March 2010 consultation. you can download a pdf copy here. TBAG have also made a full submission and a following addendum available here.
10th June 2010 Scoping Report Consultation Now Extended:
TBAG and Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society wrote a strongly worded letter to EFDC on 28th May and asked that they extend the consultation currently being undertaken as part of the Local Development Framework (see below). This is an important report that lays the foundations for land use and development in the district for the next 20 years.
We were informed on Monday that it has in fact been extended until 9 July.
Please take five minutes to do your bit to ensure Theydon Bois, a village that is surrounded by Green Belt, is not left more vulnerable to large scale inappropriate or unsustainable development by completing the questionnaire.
29th May: EFDC Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report & Questionnaire.
You may be aware that EFDC is currently consulting on a Scoping Report that has the potential to affect our village. In the 141 page report, Theydon Bois has been highlighted as having a low to moderate sensitivity to change, Theydon Bois Rural Preservation Society and Theydon Bois Action Group both believe this to be an inappropriate characterisation and have therefore prepared a basic response to the online questionnaire to aid residents and add weight to the detailed responses that we are both preparing.
Download Scoping Report Questionnaire Guidance Notes (Word Document).
The Society and TBAG have jointly requested an extension to the present deadline, but this may not be agreed to so please try to respond by Friday 18th June to the online questionnaire on the EFDC web site.
EFDC Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report available on EFDC web site.
We urge you to make a response to this report. If the village is characterized as having a low to moderate sensitivity to change and this is adopted as part of the new Local Development Framework, it may make it difficult to oppose inappropriate development in the future. The suggested questionnaire answers in our Guidance Notes are not comprehensive but provide a basis to help residents make their own response to this very important consultation. We also have some serious reservations about this consultation process and are highlighting our concerns with this directly to EFDC.
East of England Plan Consultation updated 9th December 2009 - Click Here
The Society's Aims and Objectives:
Founded in 1943 to preserve the rural character of the countryside in and around Theydon Bois as an appropriate and natural complement to Epping Forest, the objectives of the society are:
- To resist all attempts of encroachment on the Green Belt.
- To preserve all public footpaths and right-of-way.
- To do such other things as may be incidental or conducive to the maintenance of local amenities.
Activities:
- Regular monitoring of Planning Applications (see our noticeboard on the wall beside the estate agents.)
- Organising walks from the Village Hall to explore the surrounding fields and forest.
- Two public meetings a year, in July (with AGM) and October, with illustrated talks on subjects of interest.
- A newsletter is published annually in May.
- Maintain an archive of photographs of historical interest.
- Create a photographic record of trees of interest in and around the village.
Officers of the Society for 2010 - 2011:
The following were elected at this years AGM to be the Officers of the Society for the coming year:
President: Mr. A Gillies Vice President: Mr. M R Chapman Chairman: Mr. P J Newton Vice Chairman: Mr. M Boyle Secretary: Mr. J. Watts Minutes Secretary: Mrs S. Warren Treasurer: Mr. G. Haslehurst Meetings Secretary: Mr. J. Watts At the 2010 AGM the Chairman thanked Eric Thurston, 91, the retiring secretary, for his many years of service in that post. The new Secretary is to be advised.
There are also 12 Executive Committee Member places (at present with 4 vacancies). Officers or Commitee Members can be contacted via the e-mail address below or further contact details are available on the village notice boards. The Society would be interested in hearing from people from the Village or surrounding area who would like to join the committee.
Society Membership: About 1,700 (Annual Subscription : £1.00 per person or £2.00 per household)
Wed. 6th Jan. 2010 Committee Meeting. Wed. 3rd March 2010 Committee Meeting. Wed. 5th May 2010 Committee Meeting. Wed. 1st July 2010 AGM & Free talk by Jeremy Dagley City of London Conservator of Epping Forest followed by Society's AGM. Refreshments provided. Wed. 7th July 2010 Committee Meeting. Weds. 1st Sept. 2010 Committee Meeting. Thurs 7th Oct . 2010 A FREE illustrated talk about the history and development of The Lee Valley Park - an Olympic venue by Cath Patrick (Senior Conservation Officer).
Foot Path Walks: The Society Organises a number of guided footpath walks each year to explore the fields and forest surrounding Theydon Bois. These are free and are mainly on the 1st Sunday of April, May, June, July and September starting at 2pm from the Village Hall. Dogs are welcome must be on leads for times on some of the walks. Stout footware is advisable as the ground can be uneven and sometimes is muddy. Walks last from 2 to 21/2 hours and cover a distance of about 4 miles, the September walk is slightly longer but can be left at a number of convienient places.
April 11th 2010 Tracks – past and present.* May 2nd 2010 Earthworks – ancient and modern. June 6th 2010 Country Estates – then and now. July 4th 2010 Trees – old and new.* Sept. 5th 2010 Around the village boundary. * These walks have stiles to be negotiated. Other Walking Links:
Loughton & District Historical Society - For Epping Forest Walks go to the walks page)
Walking in Essex - John Harris's site of waks in Essex.
Threats to our Village and the Green Belt:
The Committee of the Society is alive to the threats faced by Theydon Bois from various plans for development in Essex. In addition to monitoring all the weekly Planning Applications for our village and the surrounding Green Belt we have responded to: -
1) The Essex County Council's "Shaping the future of Essex and Southend",
2) The Southeast Region Airports Study,
3) The Harlow Development Options Study and
4) The Stansted/M11 Corridor Development Options Study.
5) The East of England Plan.
6) The Stansted Airport Expansion.
In each case we have expressed, on behalf of the membership, our alarm at the possible despoliation of our rural setting; endeavoring to cite and object to those aspects that seem ill considered, or not considered at all, more particularly the lack of resources of water, health provision, transport infrastructure and the likely ending of oil resources by 2040 - as attested to by the UK Petroleum Industry Association.
We have stressed the need for preserving the Green Belt, especially between Epping Forest and the open country to the east, both north and south of Theydon Bois.The East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England (RSS14) otherwise known as the East of England Plan includes a sub-regional strategy for the London to Cambridge Corridor, which includes the Harlow and Lee Valley areas - and of course Theydon Bois. It takes into account all the above studies.
East of England Plan Response: The date for submissions onthe East of England Plan closed on the 16th March 2005 and The Enquiry in Public started in November 2005 and is ongoing. The enquiry will look at the area covering Theydon Bois on the 14th & 15th February 2006. Both the Rural Preservation Society and the Parish Council made detailed responses to the proposals in the plan, but are not being allowed to give evidence at the enquiry. The East of England Regional Assembley (EERA) had a hugh response and had recieved more than 26,000 replies by the closing date. They commented that "All responses will be studied and form part of the Assembly's final analysis of the public consultation." Well we hope they REALLY take onboard what people are saying. We spoke to many village residents who took time to comment on the proposals in the plan and none could find good words to say for the proposals to build 478,000 houses in the East of England and the 11,000 in Epping Forest District. The destruction of the Green Belt and the affects on our Quality of Life were major concerns for our villagers. The body text of the Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society's Response is now on the Society's East of England Plan page. This was entered under the Plan's various chapter headings with summaries and conclusions added.
N.B. The East of England Regional Assembly covers the six counties of Essex, Hertfordshire,
Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Bedfordshire. It is unelected, but the Leader of Epping Forest District Council is one of its fifty members.
The Society is a member of The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Essex and have made contributions to edition of their journal, "The Essex Protector". We also belong to the The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England that deals with Country wide protection issues
Theydon Bois Millennium Memories
The Society has a DVD that runs for 35 minutes entitled "Theydon Bois Millennium Memories". This DVD was produced by Class 5W of Theydon Bois Primary School in a joint project with the Preservation Society. The project was funded by a Millennium Festival Awards for All Lottery Grant.
The video comprises extracts from over 5 hours of interviews with Jim Axon, Kate Coulson, Bob Day, Jeremy Dibble, Pam Dibble, Jean Elderton, Doug Gooch, Doreen Grimwald, Anthony Purkiss, Queenie Strickland, and Eric Thurston. The interviews were carried out by the pupils. The video is in nine sections: Schools, World War 2, Houses, Farming, Retreats, Shops, Police, Events and The Village.
We are grateful to the interviewees, staff of the School and members of the Society for their help in making the video.
The project was developed and coordinated by Hugh Meteyard, Head of Waltham Forest Schools Media Resources Unit.
The original production run of the DVD has now sold out but further copies may be available from the Society at a cost of £7.00 plus postage & packing.
For further information about The Theydon Bois Village Preservation Society or its events: Telephone 01992 813708
or E-mail: Jim Watts
Last Updated: 25th August 2010