Now that Mole Valley District Council have submitted their Local Plan to HM Governement Inspectors for approval it is important that we continue to campaign in whatever way we can to resist the council's plans to take green belt land and allow it to be built on by developers. The council have used every means possible to manipulate the assessments of these green areas in order to allow them to be included in the plan and re-designate them as 'Built Up Area.'
Apart from the general principle that we all hold dear, that green spaces are there for everyone to enjoy and experience, the fact that we are facing an emergency of epic proportions unless we act to stop destroying our countryside and our wildlife habitats should dictate that this decision is unacceptable. The climate emergency we all face surely should be a guiding principle in whatever developments are planned over the next 20 years in our local area and yet this administration have totally ignored this and gone ahead to include green belt spaces in their local plan for housing development.
The MVDC initial assessment of the land to the north and south of the A25 classified the areas as making a 'moderate' contribution to the green belt which would have protected them from any development. The council then applied 'exceptional circumstances' to these two areas and downgraded them in two of the four categories as making a 'minimal' contribution to the green belt. This downgrading allowed them to change the classification from green belt to built up area. The application of exceptional circumstances to these two areas was flawed, it clearly states that one of these areas is built up on three sides, anyone can see that this is not the case, one side on the west is completely open, bordered by a hedgerow, the other, the northern side is bordered by a hedgerow, a wide verge, a mature avenue of trees and the A25 which cannot be described as being a 'built up' border.
The council also uses the justification that if the field to the south of the A25 was developed for housing, a coach drop off/pick up area could be included for the Priory School, for those children attending the school travelling from the west of the area i.e. Westcott. The transport plan produced by Surrey County Council in 2018 when the school applied for permission to build ten new classrooms clearly identified the fact that very few children who attend this school travel from the west, (approx 30) most of them come in by coach from the east and the south, there are NO coaches travelling from the west i.e. Westcott. To use this area as a drop off/pick up area would necessitate coaches travelling down Vincent Lane adding to the already congested junction with the Westcott Road, increasing air pollution and adding to the frustration already experienced by motorists using this one way system.
Gleeson Land Proposals:
