Brentwood Online is an independent news and information site for Brentwood and the Epping Forest towns. We report from public records, we link to them, and we are not connected to any of the councils involved.
Where we cover, and who runs it
Brentwood, Shenfield, Hutton and Ingatestone come under Brentwood Borough Council. Epping, Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Theydon Bois, Waltham Abbey and Ongar come under Epping Forest District Council. Two authorities, two planning registers, two sets of bin arrangements. We name the right one every time, and Essex County Council is the body behind roads, schools and social care in both.
What kind of place this is
Green belt is the constant. Almost every substantial planning application here runs into it, which is why the register is where the real arguments happen and why we spend most of our time in it. The forest itself is a separate matter again, managed by the City of London Corporation under its own arrangements, and we say so when a story touches it.
What we work from
Each council’s planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the local rivers, and company filings in The Gazette. Where a record is unclear, we say it is unclear rather than choosing the reading that makes a better story.
Reorganisation
Essex was due to be reorganised into a smaller number of unitary authorities from April 2028, with Brentwood joining Chelmsford and Maldon in a new Mid Essex council. On 7 September 2026 the government withdrew that decision and put the whole reorganisation programme into a rapid review, with no date given for it to report. Elections in May 2027 will be held on existing council boundaries. We will report what the published documents say as the detail is settled.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@brentwoodonline.co.uk with anything we should be looking at, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections go up quickly and are noted on the page.
Brentwood Online is published by the GOB Media Group.