Tomorrow evening, Surrey Heath Borough Council will consider adoption of the “Regulation 19” Local Plan. This is the final stage before submission of the Local Plan to the Government for approval.
There has been a lot in the media recently around the new Labour government’s approach to development, housing and the green belt. It is therefore unclear currently whether the new Government will place additional obligations on boroughs such as Surrey Heath.
The Local Plan, if approved, will provide a planning framework for future development in our Borough up to 2038. I have sat on the Local Plan Working Group and in my view this is the most consequential piece of work the Council will do during my current term, having the potential to shape what our Borough will look like over the next two decades.
Those interested can review the full draft plan on the Council’s website below are a quick few points answering some of the questions I have been asked on this over the last year. I won’t analyse the whole plan here (as it is 300 pages long!) but if residents to have any questions, do let me know.
𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈
Potential sites to deliver up to 6,012 new homes for the period 2019-2038 to meet our assessed housing need. This includes some homes that have already been built including at Mindenhurst. A significant proportion of these potential sites will be located within Camberley town centre.
𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔
The Council is obliged to assess and plan for the housing needs of Gypsy and Traveller sites within the Borough. Despite best efforts, the Council has been unable to identify sites for the number of new pitches assessed as required (32). This is due to a lack of suitable sites within the Borough. The Council will therefore seek to argue that it has done all it can on this.
𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒕
No greenbelt sites are allocated for residential development in the Local Plan.
