Very little new to report since amended plans were added to the planning application web pages. The application is not listed for discussion at this week’s Planning Committee meeting and therefore the earliest the planning application can be put before the Council’s Planning Committee is September 4^th.

I was recently reading Guidelines produced for Councillors and Planning Officers and found the following words in the introduction.

Good planning stimulates growth and promotes innovation. It helps to translate goals for healthier communities, higher employment, better housing, reduced congestion, educational attainment, safe and sustainable communities into action through well-designed medical centres, offices, universities, homes, roads and other facilities vital to achieving them.

Key words for this application are better housing, reduced congestion, educational attainment, sustainable communities and well-designed medical centres. We know that the plans will increase the level of congestion and Surrey County Council have not accepted the proposed traffic management system proposed by Cala Homes will substantially improve the problem on the Bagshot Road (A322). Everyone knows that there are inadequate primary school places in this part of Surrey and in a few years there will be significant pressure on secondary school places. If the County wanted to build new schools where is the available land to accommodate them?

In observing the Planning Committee one remedy accepted by the Council for inadequate facilities such as schools, medical services, social housing is for the developer to agree a level of payment. Given the reasons outlined above this should not be an acceptable solution in the case of this application from Cala Homes.

From the initial publication of the proposed Development Plan for the next 15 years the KRA have been very clear in our position that the proposed size of the development on Brookwood Farm is too large for that site, the road network and the services available in the area.

We will continue to monitor developments and keep the pressure on Councillors and our local MP.