Epping Forest District

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Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox settlement Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London, including the suburban towns of Epping, Loughton, Waltham Abbey, Chigwell, and Buckhurst Hill, as well as rural areas beyond it. The district is situated in the west of the county, bordering north-eastern Greater London.

The administrative headquarters of Epping Forest District Council are in the town of Epping. Neighbouring districts are Brentwood, Broxbourne, Chelmsford, East Hertfordshire, Enfield, Harlow, Havering, Redbridge, Uttlesford and Waltham Forest. In 2021 it had a population of 134,909.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of three former districts and most of a fourth, all of which were abolished at the same time:<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The new district was named Epping Forest after the ancient woodland of that name, much of which falls within the district. The woodland is in turn named after the town of Epping.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Since 1974 there have been some changes to the district's boundary with Greater London:

In August 2025, the district council was granted an interim injunction preventing the housing of Asylum seekers in the Bell hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The decision was reversed on appeal later that month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Governance

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Epping Forest District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council. The district is also entirely covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political control

The council has been under Conservative control since 2006.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "Epping Forest" in search box to see specific results.)</ref><ref name=glance>Template:Cite news</ref>

Party in control Years
Template:Party name with colour 1974–1994
Template:Party name with colour 1994–2006
Template:Party name with colour 2006–2025
Template:Party name with colour 2025–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2003 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Maggie McEwen<ref name=24Feb2003/> Template:Party name with colour 18 Feb 2003
Michael Heavens<ref name=24Feb2003>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Party name with colour 24 Feb 2003 24 Jun 2004
John Knapman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 24 Jun 2004 May 2006
Diana Collins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=24May2011/> Template:Party name with colour 18 May 2006 18 May 2011
Lesley Wagland<ref name=24May2011>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=22May2012/> Template:Party name with colour 24 May 2011 22 May 2012
Chris Whitbread<ref name=22May2012>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Party name with colour 22 May 2012

Composition

Following the 2024 election,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and subsequent changes of allegiance up to September 2025, the composition of the council was:<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Party Councillors
Template:Party name with colour 26
Template:Party name with colour 13
Template:Party name with colour 7
Template:Party name with colour 5
Template:Party name with colour 1
Template:Party name with colour 1
Template:Party name with colour 1
Total 54

Two of the five independent councillors sit together as the "Epping Forest Independent Group".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The next election is due in 2026, although this may be affected by plans to reorganise local government within the county of Essex.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elections

Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of offices. Essex County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The district straddles three parliamentary constituencies of Epping Forest, Brentwood and Ongar, and Harlow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Premises

Epping Forest District Council is based at the Civic Offices at 323 High Street, Epping.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When the council was first created it inherited four sets of offices from its predecessors and functions were initially divided between them:<ref>South West Essex Telephone Directory, 1978, page 149: Chief Executive etc. 323 High Street, Epping / Recreation department Hemnall Street, Epping / Area offices Old Station Road, Loughton and Town Hall, Waltham Abbey</ref>

  • Council Offices, Old Station Road, Loughton from Chigwell Urban District Council.
  • 25 Hemnall Street, Epping from Epping Urban District Council.
  • 323 High Street, Epping from Epping and Ongar Rural District Council.
  • Town Hall, Highbridge Street, Waltham Abbey from Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Council.

The council subsequently built a large new building, Epping Civic Offices, adjoining the original converted house at 323 High Street in Epping. The new building was designed by Richard Reid and built between 1987 and 1992. It was designated a Grade II listed building in 2017.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

Geography

File:'Church of St Andrew' Greensted, Ongar, Essex England - from the south-west.JPG
Greensted Church, a wooden church dating back to the mid-9th century<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>

The north-east of the district is rural and sparsely populated for an area so close to London; this area includes Chipping Ongar and surrounding villages. The south-west of the district closer to the boundary with Greater London is more suburban and is dominated by Loughton, the largest town in the district. Most of the district has a wide range of architectural styles and periods.<ref>Loughton has 19 listed buildings [1]Ordnance Survey map, courtesy of English Heritage Template:Webarchive</ref> Loughton adjoins the woodland of Epping Forest to the west and is separated by farms, rivers and golf courses from other settlements in other directions. As an example of conserved physical geographic landscapes, the Roding Valley and Three Forests Way (one end of the Stort Valley Way and the other end connecting to the Harcamlow Way in Hatfield Forest and National Nature Reserve, Essex which is north of Epping Forest District.

The River Roding runs through the eastern portion of the district, with the Lea Valley in the west.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Waltham Abbey and Loughton, although they are not within Greater London, are included in the Office for National Statistics definition of the Greater London Built-up Area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Epping Forest district is bounded by the Harlow, Uttlesford, Chelmsford and Brentwood districts of Essex, the East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne districts of Hertfordshire, and the London boroughs of Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Enfield.<ref name=":0" />

Transport

Rail

Roydon railway station on the West Anglia Main Line is the only National Rail station within the district, which lies on the district boundary with East Hertfordshire. Sawbridgeworth railway station on the same line lies directly west of the district, within Hertfordshire, as does Waltham Cross railway station, which serves the district's town of Waltham Abbey. These stations are served by Greater Anglia trains either between London Liverpool Street and Ely, and London Stratford and Bishop's Stortford, with direct connections to destinations such as Broxbourne, Tottenham Hale, Audley End and Cambridge.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The London Underground Central line passes through the southern portion of Epping Forest. Epping, Theydon Bois, Debden and Loughton stations in the borough fall in London fare zone 6, with Buckhurst Hill in zone 5 and Roding Valley, Chigwell and Grange Hill in zone 4.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Central line provides the district with direct connections with East London, The City, the West End, and West London. Transport for London manages the London Underground network.<ref name=":2" />

A former portion of the Central line between Epping and Chipping Ongar, via North Weald and Blake Hall, is part of the Epping Ongar Railway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Road

Two motorways meet in the district - the M25 London Orbital motorway and the M11 motorway.

The M25 motorway runs eastbound (clockwise) towards Brentwood and the Dartford Crossing. The motorway runs westbound (anticlockwise) towards Enfield, Watford and Heathrow Airport. The M11 motorway runs northbound towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge, and southbound towards East London. Junctions 5 (A1168, Loughton and Chigwell), 6 (M25), 7 (A414, Harlow) and 7A (A1025, Harlow) fall within Epping Forest.<ref name=":0" />

Other main routes in the district include:

Most public highways in the district are managed by Essex County Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The M11 and M25 motorways are managed by National Highways.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Local bus services in the south of the district (Buckhurst Hill, Loughton, Chigwell, Debden and Stapleford Abbotts) are red London buses operated by Transport for London. Elsewhere services are run by private operators on a commercial basis, or with subsidy from the county council.

Cycling

National Cycle Network Route 1 passes along the eastern boundary of the district near Broxbourne, through Harlow, and east-west through the district via High Laver, Moreton and Fyfield.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A shared-use path runs alongside the Rivers Lee and Stort, which connect the district with other cycle routes in Hertfordshire and London.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Epping Forest features a network of shared-use forest trails, managed by the City of London Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Aviation

North Weald Airfield is owned by Epping Forest District Council and is open to general aviation. Flying out of North Weald began in 1916, during the First World War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stapleford Aerodrome is home to a flight training centre within the district.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stansted Airport, an international passenger and freight airport, lies in the neighbouring district of Uttlesford, north of the district.<ref name=":0" />

Rivers

The Lee Navigation and River Stort are navigable rivers which form the district's eastern boundary. They are managed by the Canal and River Trust, and connect with the Regent's Canal in London via Hertford Union Canal.<ref name=":3" />

Media

In terms of television, the area is served by BBC London and ITV London with television signals received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BBC East and ITV Anglia can also be received from Sandy Heath TV transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio stations for the area are:

The Epping Forest Guardian is the local newspaper.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nature reserves

A green forest with a path through the middle
The Lower Forest, Epping Forest

Epping Forest District Council has nine nature local nature reserves (LNRs):

Roding Valley Meadows Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is the district's oldest nature reserve, designated in 1986, and the largest at 56 hectares.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Seven Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the Natural England register fall within Epping Forest. These are:

Essex Wildlife Trust manages sites at:

The woodland of Epping Forest partially falls within the Epping Forest district. It has been owned and conserved by the City of London Corporation - the local authority which governs the Square Mile - since the Epping Forest Act 1878.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parishes

File:Civil Parishes in Epping Forest District.png
Civil parishes in Epping Forest District. The forest itself today spans from Epping Upland to the Greater London border
File:Waltham Abbey Church.jpg
Waltham Abbey Church

The district is divided into 28 civil parishes. The parish councils of Epping, Loughton, Ongar and Waltham Abbey take the style "town council". The five parishes of Bobbingworth, High Laver, Little Laver, Magdalen Laver and Moreton share a grouped parish council called Moreton, Bobbingworth and the Lavers Parish Council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Arms

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References

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