A giant blueprint for all development in Epping Forest will have its first public viewing next month – more than six years after planners started work.

The draft Local Plan containing 260 pages of text, maps and diagrams, will be released ahead of a full meeting of Epping Forest District Council on October 18.

The document, which was started “well back before 2010” according to councillor John Philip, highlights areas of land in the district which could be built on up until 2033.

A public consultation is expected to run on the plan between October 31 and December 12.

A previous consultation saw an angry backlash after the council failed to make clear that land highlighted on maps was simply available for development, not certain to be built on.

Circular labels also failed to accurately show which areas could be built on.

“We put blobs over vast swathes of countryside,” admitted Cllr Philip.

He also said that a “horrendous” online questionnaire had put many people off responding.

“It was a huge, long questionnaire that we had previously and you had to go through each question to get to the end.

“We have made that significantly shorter.”

The council hopes the Local Plan will be adopted by October 2018, after central government set a deadline of 2017.

A new website was launched last week, which will be complemented by public exhibitions and information points to raise awareness.

Wyn Marshall, chairman of the district Tenants and Residents Association, said: “It is important because it is going to affect every aspect of housing within the area and it’s going to affect tenants more so than others.

“And therefore it’s important they get the knowledge that the local plan contains – how many [houses] are going to be built, where they are going to be built, what type are going to be built.”

As well as housing, the plan will designate spaces for other facilities and protecting the environment.

Cllr Philip said: “We want to keep this place somewhere green.

“Therefore we want to make sure the development goes in the places that we want it to go.

“If we don’t have a Local Plan, development could go almost anywhere in the district.

“So look at this as a case of protecting our district for the future, for us and for our children to enjoy.”

For more information, visit http://eppingforest.consultationonline.co.uk/.