Did you know that Tandridge is 94% Green belt land?
I knew it was high, but it was only at last night's (very good) training session on planning that I learned it was so high. Apart from making Tandridge one of the nicest parts of England to live , it has also it has also has the welcome consequence of giving the district (following some effective lobbying by the Council) the lowest housing target in the South East Region.
However it also means that our annual targets for house building (142 currently, falling to 112 for future years) need to be predominantly met in the already urban areas of the district, notably the Caterham/Warlingham and Oxted/Hurst Green centres.
Planning is a very rule based system, with apparently little discretion for local councillors to fully reflect local concerns. Over the next couple of years I will therefore have to get to grips with the various National Planning Policy Statements, Regional Planning Guidance and Local Development Frameworks. As you might guess, not all of these are consistent and some are downright contradictory. But, I am looking forward to trying to make it all work.
