Epping Forest District Council has joined a very small list of councils that have lost their power to determine major planning applications after exceeding the government’s threshold for planning decisions overturned on appeal.

Under planning rules, developers can appeal if they believe a council has wrongly refused an application. To discourage councils from rejecting schemes without sound planning grounds, the government monitors how many refusals are later overturned.

Councils are expected to keep the proportion of successful appeals below 10% of appeals submitted. Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) has breached that threshold, prompting the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to intervene.

As a result, the council has been designated under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, meaning developers can now bypass the council and submit major planning applications directly to the Planning Inspectorate.

The designation means that developers with housing schemes larger than 10 homes or on sites larger than 0.5 hectares, those looking to build buildings over 1,000 square meters, or all other developments on land over 1 hectare no longer need to apply to Epping Forest District Council for planning permission.

Although they could still apply to the council for planning permission, they now have the option to apply instead to a government-appointed Planning Inspector, who will make planning decisions on behalf of the council.

Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council, called the move by MHCLG Secretary of State Steve Reid an attack on local democracy, and said that the council had made progress in improving its planning procedures when the decision was made to strip it of its planning authority.

According to the council, between Oct 2024-Sept 2025, they received 12 major planning applications (out of 2,673 in total), and two were refused permission. The permitted developments were for 595 new homes.

A council’s designation under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is reviewed annually and revoked when the Secretary of State accepts that planning processes have been improved.

According to the government website, the only other council currently in this situation is Lewes District Council, whose planning authority was removed in May 2024. Previous councils affected include Bristol City Council, St Albans City and District Council, and Uttlesford District Council.

The decision only affects large developments, and the council has retained the power to determine small-scale planning applications, including householder improvements.