As a Loughton resident for many years, I find it very easy to answer the question “Why do you live in Loughton?“. In this article, I would like to share my thoughts about the town where I live and persuade those, who are thinking of moving to Loughton, to do so.

I find it very easy to travel everywhere from Louhgton because of Loughton’s strategical location. It has two underground stations - Loughton and Debden. It takes about 20 minutes to get from Loughton to Stratford and 40 minutes to get from Loughton to Oxford Street. Inner London buses 20 and 167 go from Loughton to Walthamstow (where there’s a big market on all days except Sunday) and Ilford where there’s a big shopping centre. Bus 397 goes to Chingford. Essex bus 250 goes to Waltham Cross.

It’s very easy to get on the motorways M25 and M11 from Loughton. If travelling to London, M11 is the obvious choice with Junction 5 located to the east of Debden underground station. One cannot travel northbound directly from Junction 5 of M11 because there are no southbound exits, which is a pain. In order to travel to Bishops Stortford, Stansted Airport and further north, one needs to drive through Epping Forest to M25 and then join M11 at Junction 27. On M25 it’s possible to get to Heathrow Airport from Loughton in under 50 minutes if there are no delays.

One of the main advantages of Loughton is that it is very close to Epping Forest. The forest is huge - people can hike, ride bicycles, walk their dog and play games there. There are a lot of nice views from the hills in the forest. There is even a place with the perfect view of London City but it’s difficult to find. There are couple of pubs in the middle of Epping Forest, which can become useful if a person plans to spend a good part of the day in the forest.

There are several small lakes in Epping Forest where fishing is forbidden but some people do it. There are also many open spaces where people play ball games and take sun baths. In short, everyone can find something useful for himself or herself there.

I’ve always wanted to live in an area with the clean air. Loughton has an excellent air quality. That is because there are no big roads crossing the town and there are no air polluting factories nearby. Don’t forget the Epping Forest on the west of Loughton and fields on the east. M25 and M11 are located nearby but in my view they don’t affect the Loughton air quality because they are quite far away and the prevailing winds come from the east.

Recently my mate has told me that Loughton schools are high-rated. I cannot confirm this information at the time of writing this article but I believe it to be true because my mate has two kids and wants to get them into the best school in the region.

Loughton doesn’t have a shopping centre but there are lots of quality shops in Loughton where a person can technically buy everything. There are three supermarkets in the centre of Loughton: Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer. In Debden, there are smaller Sainsbury’s and Iceland. There are many shops that sell clothes and their number has increased over the last couple of years. There are well-known Halfords and Holland & Barrett, the branches of the following banks: Barclays, Halifax, Natwest and Nationwide (Lloyds TSB and Abbey in Debden). There are garden shops, barber’s and hairdresser’s, video renal shop and many more. That’s not including restaurants, cafes and fast food outlets. By the way, there’s no McDonald’s and Burger King in Loughton (I should add: at the moment - February 2009).

Loughton is a sport’s heaven because of its location and available outdoor facilities. That’s why there are a lot of clubs, schools and societies in Loughton. I knew a couple of them but typing “Loughton club” into Google has found so many in so many areas I simply felt proud of Loughton. These are Loughton Cricket Club, Loughton Gymnastics Club, Loughton Football Club, Loughton Golf Club, Loughton Camera Club, Loughton Mountaineering Club, simply Loughton Club and many-many more. In addition council’s Loughton Health Centre, which is now privately run, has a swimming pool, gym and various classes to keep Loughton residents feet if they wish to be fit.

Loughton is a good place to live in - and that’s a fact, not an advertisement. So if you’re thinking about moving to Loughton, come and see the town for yourself.

The green spaces in Loughton are very important for the Loughton residents. They allow children to be active outside of their homes and in the same time to be monitored by their parants. They allow adults to be active too by doing some jogging and excercises on the fresh air away from the cars and buses. They allow the dog owners to walk their dogs there and to play with them.

The green spaces were wisely put in our town to bring the joy to those who live nearby. This is not concrete London and not even Athens where in some areas for miles around there are no green spaces at all. We love Loughton because of its greenness and areas free from cars and houses.

And now our “much-loved” Epping Forest District Council decided to deprive the Loughton people of their pride and joy because the government don’t have enough houses to give to the immigrants who come to the UK, claim benefits and live in houses that are given to them by the government itself. That is the only reason for Gordon Brown’s government to build millions of new houses around London and that’s why councils are obliged to find the space to build them.

But that’s the subject for another much wider discussion. Here, I want to focus on the protection of green spaces in Loughton. They are mentioned on the Loughton Residents Association website here and are not just some derelict overgrown areas – these are spaces that are well looked-after and used by people. (Click here for the related Loughton Council news.) Maybe except the little wood alongside Oakwood Hill, all of the green spaces in Loughton are there for a reason. And even the wooden area is there to shield the town from the motorway M11.

All the green spaces in town need to be preserved at any cost because they are there for our children and children of our children. How can we do that? That’s a good question. Do what you can: sign the LRA petition, send a letter to Loughton and Epping Forest councils arguing agains the concrete jungles in Loughton, put a banner on your car or in the window of your house, spread the word by telling everyone about the problem.

Indeed, in addition to the reasons for the green spaces, there are plenty of reasons against Loughton expansion and more and more residents. The town’s infrastructure is not capable of supporting more and more cars on the roads. The capacity of schools in Loughton cannot expand forever. The surgeries are full. The supermarkets are overcrowded. Why do Loughton people have to suffer because of the stupid policies carried out by the government of this country in the name of people who oppose these policies?

Say “Yes” to preserve the existing green spaces in Loughton!

Say “No” to more houses in Loughton!

Save Loughton’s authenticity, stop it becoming just another London suburb!