Plans to build a massive Next distribution centre in Waltham Abbey would see more than 1,000 vehicles coming and going every day.

High street fashion giant Next has applied to build a warehouse, photo studio and multi-storey car park on a 9.7 hectares site on land north of Dowding Way.

On Thursday, an extraordinary council meeting will be held to decide on the application after initial plans – which were recommended for approval by the council planning officer – were rebuffed by the District Development Management Committee.

Next PLC have returned with a scaled back scheme and promises to mitigate the environmental impact of day-to-day traffic flow.

A traffic assessment, reviewed by Highways England and Essex County Council, estimates a total of 1,049 vehicles journeying to and from the site every day. Of those, 412 are projected to be Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs).

The distribution centre, which will serve all of Next’s retail stores and customers in the southeast, is opposed by campaigning group Say No to Next and Save our SAC – a petition against the original application in 2018 gained around 2,000 signatures.

A spokesperson for the group called on councillors to “make a stand against an inappropriate, development on Green Belt land which will have far reaching effects on the area and environment.”

Campaigners say it would be hypocritical for the council to approve the development in light of plans for a potential road users fee or ‘Clean Air Zone’ from 2025 in its Interim Air Pollution Mitigation Strategy.

“Approving this application would seem hypocritical in light of the climate emergency declaration the council have made in September 2019,” the spokesperson continued.

“The reality is the SAC is a rare habitat and of recognised international importance, and this is why the planning application must be rejected as inappropriate in such a special and sensitive area which could then see the floodgates open for other such developments.”

As part of planning application documents, Next has pledged it would all commercial vehicles from routing through the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation and restrict HGVs from Honey Lane.

The company has also promised a financial contribution of £206,017 to council pollution mitigation schemes.

However, campaigners are not convinced and contend Next will be unable to prevent all related traffic from going near to the SAC.

Next PLC projects the development will create a total of 436 full-time jobs, including: 175 to 325 new jobs in distribution and 111 in the photo studio, of which 67 are new.

The company estimates it would also generate a business rate revenue of £1.3 million annually.

As part of the latest proposals, Next will also fund a Demand Responsive Transport bus service for three years, under the notion it will become self-fund by year two.

The scheme will serve the site and the surrounding areas for residents and staff to use and will operate every 30 minutes between 5am and 1am, seven days a week.

Next planning documents state: “The aim is to reduce the effects of C02 in the environment and provide better communities less reliant on private cars for all their journeys.”

Epping Forest District Council’s extraordinary meeting will be broadcast online at 7pm on Thursday.

Council meetings are currently taking place in the newly developed conference suite in the Civic Offices, which provides more space at meetings for councillors and officers to social distance.

The council is offering a maximum of 20 people the opportunity to watch the meeting from the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices in Epping. This will be the live webcast played on screens. You can book a place online.