Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is consulting on its Development Management Plan for the final time.

Despite widespread objection to the idea of removing land from the Green Belt to build hundreds of new homes, the final draft Development Plan still allows for:

• 1400 new homes on Green Belt adjacent to Redhill, Reigate and Merstham
• 200 homes on greenfield sites around Horley.

And it now includes longer-term plans for up to 8,000 homes on and around the Redhill Aerodrome site – 6,000 within Tandridge and 2,000 within Reigate and Banstead. This is a completely new proposal since the Plan was previously consulted on and approved by a government inspector.

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Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s draft Development Management Plan is out for consultation – and threatens to allow a house-building boom in the Green Belt to meet high developer demand.

We have fought the idea of housing in the Green Belt throughout the long process of writing and rewriting this draft Plan.

Our detailed response to the last consultation suggested extra sites in the urban area where houses could be built instead of in the countryside (see pages 19-23). The Council appears not to have considered all of these. 

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I am writing this on a train and I’ve just written to Crispin Blunt MP and Vic Broad, Leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.

I emailed them as I left Redhill on my way to Victoria. Unfortunately there is no longer a fast train service to Victoria from Redhill, it was removed as part of the improvements introduced this year.

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Surrey County Council has agreed changes to its multi-million pound property investment policy to ensure that it is environmentally sustainable and will help address the affordable homes crisis – thanks to a Motion tabled by Green County Councillor Jonathan Essex at a Council meeting on Tuesday 5th December.

The Motion won the backing of Councillors from across the Council chamber, following minor amendments proposed by Conservative Councillor Tim Oliver.

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• Would you put a bit of effort into separating out your recycling if it meant less need for incineration?
• Do doorstep collections work best or should residents be asked to take recycling to centres?
• Do you agree that we might need to build a new waste facility on the Green Belt?

Choices we make now will have a real impact on what happens in Surrey for years to come.

Surrey County Council is consulting on its new waste plan. But the consultation is a nightmare in terms of not saying what it means and being totally impenetrable.

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At its meeting next Thursday, 9 November 2017, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s Executive will discuss the latest draft of the Council’s Local Plan and whether to send it for consultation and submission to the Secretary of State.

Since the previous version of the Local Plan was consulted on, the Council has added a new Proposed Policy Approach: ‘MLS2 Safeguarding Land for Development Beyond the Plan Period’.

The Council is earmarking Redhill Aerodrome for housing development after 2027.

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Locally we are facing a potential deluge of new large-scale housing proposals over the next few years as a requirement of the Government’s drive for greater housing numbers in the South East,  inevitably in London’s Green Belt.

These could include the proposals for a Garden Village at Redhill Aerodrome or another large site currently being considered in the emerging Tandridge Local Plan.

It is important to remember that in future years, planning applications will be submitted for these developments and once the Green Belt is removed from a Local Plan then it may be virtually impossible to resist them.

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Join us on Friday 6 October for a party at Reigate’s liveliest new venue, The Yard at Reigate Station. This is a fabulously  atmospheric and quirky new venue just ONE MINUTE from Reigate station.

There will be live music from Ian Machecek and Rebecca Riedtmann.  You can buy drinks at the cash bar – and feel free to bring your own food.*

This is a chance to have fun, thank everyone who has helped with our campaigns this year, and to raise some funds to continue working for a Greener and Fairer East Surrey.

When: 7.30-11pm, Friday 6 October 2017
Where: The Yard, 3a Holmesdale Road, Reigate, RH2 9QN

Tickets: £5 on the door or book via Eventbrite and secure your place

*There are plenty of excellent takeaways in Reigate – including a fish and chip shop and Chinese restaurant very nearby. For vegans, Monsoon in Woodhatch deliver and are happy to prepare vegan options and Pizza Express now has a vegan cheese available.

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