Campaigners say the rejection of a massive Next distribution centre and photo studio in Waltham Abbey sends an important message for those looking to develop to close to the forest.

Last weeks councillors voted to reject a second bid from the high street fashion giant, this time at a reduced size, to build a distribution centre scaled to serve all of its stores and customers in the south east of England.

Plans would have included a massive warehouse, a multi-storey car park, a photo studio, and more than 1,000 vehicles coming and going from the 9.7 hectare site every day.

Campaign groups Say No To Next and Save our SAC say his landmark decision sends an important message that the forest should, and will be, protected.

In 2005 Epping Forest was declared as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), giving legal protection its Beech tree population, believed to be the oldest in the world, and also protection to its population of Stag Beetle and various other Lichen and plants.

A spokesperson for Say No To Next said: “Local campaigners from Say No to Next and Save our SAC feel that residents' concerns about traffic gridlocking and adverse effects on the SAC have been listened to by the majority of councillors who voted against the proposed development. They say a development of this magnitude would be completely inappropriate on the Green Belt land in Waltham Abbey.”

The spokesperson added: “There were strong legal reasons to reject and in the end the right decision was made but we have no doubt that Next will continue to pursue this harmful development. We will continue to campaign strongly against these developments on behalf of the local community and all others who believe the environment should be put ahead of corporate profits.

“We would like to thank all of those that helped the campaign (too many to mention) particularly the invaluable legal support we have received on a pro-bono basis. We are now making preparations to start crowd funding to ensure we can fight this to the end.”