c/o West Bank,
Dorking,
Surrey
RH4 3DH
Sir Paul Beresford
House of Commons
London
SW11A 0AA
Dear Sir Paul,
As our local member of parliament we ask you to investigate and support our campaign to stop any building on 75.1 hectares (185 acres) of green belt land in the Mole Valley in this time of climate and environmental emergency as proposed in the Mole Valley District Council’s local plan ‘Future Mole Valley.’
We object to the fact that this plan was not communicated thoroughly and fully to the local community, many residents were still ignorant of the implications until very recently. Therefore a full range of objections were not expressed or recorded at the appropriate time, not because people were not interested but because of the tactics used by MVDC. Tactics such as lack of communication to all residents, lack of clarity in any and all communications to residents (burying the important information in reams and reams of paperwork and only available online), heavily persuasive language in order to present their plans as positive, suggesting that it was the only solution to an imposed dictate from central government and emphasising the amount of green belt they have not earmarked for building land rather than the amount they were dubiously re-defining as ‘built-up area’ suitable for building development.
At this time of very real climate and environmental emergency we believe that it is vital that our local community and our representatives do everything in their power to protect our green belt and think more imaginatively about how we provide the necessary new homes which are obviously much needed.
Yours sincerely
For and on behalf of West Dorking Resident’s Group
and his reply:
"Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your email of the 18th June, which I have drawn to Sir Paul’s attention.
Sir Paul very much agrees with your position. The Lib Dem Local Plan constitutes an unacceptable attack on our Green Belt – and certainly some of the tactics the Lib Dems at MVDC have used have been highly questionable.
Please rest assured that Sir Paul is currently seeking parliamentary time to raise the matter of Mole Valley’s Local Plan direct with the appropriate Minister in the Commons Chamber. Finally, if the West Dorking Residents Group are planning to hold any public meetings to discuss this crucial issue, please do let me know as I know Sir Paul would like to attend if at all possible.
Kind regards
Sam White
Senior Parliamentary Researcher
Office of Sir Paul Beresford
Member of Parliament for Mole Valley
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 2223
Fax: 020 7219 2349"