No Garden Grabbers

Hot on the heels of Tandridge's Core Strategy, which will help to prevent inappropriate development in both local communities and on Green Belt land Conservatives in the House of Lords have defeated the Government on their Planning Bill to give more protection to local communities.

The law will now strengthen the powers of local councils to protect urban green space and gardens, and restricts the power of the Government to interfere in councils which want to protect the character of their neighbourhoods. Gardens will again be classed as green space (rather than brownfield land).

It is very pleasing that Conservatives in Parliament used one of the few opportunities to defeat the government to reaffirm their commitment to local decisions by local people.

New Mobile Phone Mast Proposed

Vodafone are proposing replacing their current mobile phone mast next to Hurst Green station with a ungraded version. It appears it will be similar in height, though the footprint on the ground will be bigger.

To see the plans following this link. Given it is merely replacing an exisiting mast and providing an upgraded service then the impact will be broadly neutral, but happ to hear from any residents who diagree.

The Greenway

Last night TDC's development control committee voted to allow the building of Social Housing on the Greenway. The site is an under used car park and often the site of minor anti social behaviour and therefore in my mind the devlopment will actually improve things for existing residents.

However not all local residents agreed - they were particulalrly concerned about the impact of the loss of off-street parking and green spaces, a real concern in that part of Hurst Green as many are forced currently to park on roadsides and their verges, and there was a petiton got up opposing the application and an eloquent speech from an objector.

I therefore asked committee members to consider carefully whether the loss of amenity was too much for residents to bear. I am pleased to report that members of the committee gave the matter serious consideration but concluded that the application had merit. I think that this is the right decision - the need for more affordable housing in Tandridge is proved - despite the negative impact on some, but it does unfortunately prove the maxim that you can't please all of the people all of the time.

Loss of Footpath between Hurst Green Station and Railway Footbridge

Hurst Green residents should be aware that Raven Housing trust have applied for permission to build 8 homes on what is now the Council owned garage and recycling area behind the parade of shops on Pollards Oak Road. It will also involve the loss of the green play area beside the Community Association Centre.

TDC does not have much spare land, so it makes sense to maximise the space available and balance the needs of residents. Therefore the loss of this facility, while inconveniencing some residents would, given the benefits, be acceptable but for one detail. Unfortunately the plan involves the blocking off an 'informal' footpath that runs between the the Station and the footbridge over to Nunappleton way. This access, I believe has existed for many years and a number of longstanding residents have told me it has been there ever since station was moved to its current location and is very well used.

Its loss will impact many many residents who will have to take a significant diversion to join the formal footpath. And blocking it off

I support fully the principle of building of social housing to meet the shortage in the district. I also support it on this site (and after voicing concerns over the detail voted as such in Housing Committee), but I do not support it as currently proposed.

I would like the Raven Housing Trust to reconsider blocking access to the footpath. If they do not I hope that either the Planning Officers or my colleagues on the Council's Development Control do not allow it in its current form.

Concerned residents should make their views known to TDC as soon as possible and by the 29th of May at the latest. I would also appreciate any feedback from local residents.

Planning Application for Social Housing on the Greenway

Raven Housing Trust have applied for permission to build 4 houses and 6 flats in and around the large carpark on the Greenway. This development will provide much needed housing capcity in Hurst Green. Although there will be some loss of parking provision, the car park is, in my experience, currently under used and hopefully the provision of homes in that space will help reduce the likelihood of anti-social behaviour.

However, local residents with concerns, objections or comments should contact the Council within the next 3 weeks by one of the following mechanisms.

* On the website using planning online and searching for the application you are interested in. (The application number is 2008/563)
* By e-mail separately to comaps@tandridge.gov.uk.
* By fax to 01883 732888.
* By letter to the Council Offices, Station Road East, Oxted, Surrey RH8 OBT.

I would also be interested in your comments, so please let me know your thoughts. My email address is accessible via the 'View my complete profile' link on the right hand side of this page.

Flats, Church Lane Oxted

Early last year Wren Homes made a planning application to demolish two large detached houses in Church Lane, Oxted and replace them with 19 flats. Tandridge District Council turned that application down on a number of grounds including because the development did not include any affordable housing, and that the £250,000 compensation offered as an alternative was inadequate. Wren Homes appealed and that appeal was heard last November. They lost but only on the question of the amount of compensation in place of affordable housing. They have now submitted a revised application where they have offered to pay a higher level of compensation and given the previous appeal decision the revised recommendation to members of the development control committee is to accept the application.

This is a matter of intense controversy in Oxted, so I thought I would set out my position.

In the area of planning I believe that the best decisions are taken by local people for local people. My view is that the policy of this current Government to take power from elected representatives to decide what development is suitable in a particular location and give it to planning inspectors based hundreds of miles away is fundamentally undemocratic. Decisions by the inspectorate should be based on errors made by the council not because an individual inspector's views of the merits of the case are different . However that is the system we have been given and as councillors we have limited powers to challenge central government's policies. While I agree there are instances when it might be right for the Council to take a decision which is likely to fail at appeal the hurdle must be set quite high. I do not want to prejudge the decision of the development control committee but appealing a decision where the inspectorate appears to have given a clear statement is likely to both fail and involve a costs award against the council.

Queens Speech - Plannning Reform

One of the key measures annouced in Tuesday's Queen's Speech was a Planing Reform Bill. The main purpose is to 'streamline' the procedures for gaining planning permission for major infrastucture projects (Motorways, Nuclear Power Plants etc). While it is clear that the current system can lead to a very long and drawn out process which the Government are right to target for reform, it does unfortunately appear that the role of local communities in making planning decisions will be further diminished, with Central Government taking an even tighter grip over the decisions that impact our lives.

Rockfield Road Flats - Appeal Dismissed

Local residents will be interested to know that an appeal by a developer who wished to build 20 flats on the site of West Heath on Rockfield Road has been dismissed.

While clearly the owners of West Heath will be disappointed with the result, I am sure that most of its neighbours will agree with the planning inspector's findings that the proposal was too large to be appropriate to the surrounding area and would adversely impact on quality of life of its immediate neighbours.

This is a good result, with an inappropriate back garden development being prevented form harming the character of Oxted and Hurst Green.

Housing in Tandridge Good News/Bad News

As local residents might have noticed in the press Government Inspectors have said that Tandridge will need to make provision for 2,500 new houses over the next 20 years. In one way we are very fortunate. The 125 dwellings per annum we have been told we need is the joint second lowest in the whole of the south east and is substantially below the current rate of building in the district.

However this doesn't tell the whole story.

* This is a minimum, not a target. The Council has been told it cannot ration planning permissions.

* At current rates of building, the district would meet this target on 'windfall' sites alone - a windfall site is one not identified in the Local Development Framework (currently known as the local plan) and usually these are redevelopments of existing residential and industrial sites (including the notorious back garden developments). The Labour Government have told us that we have to ignore this and provide new sites for building anyway.

*As I have mentioned before the vast majority of Tandridge is Green Belt. New building will have to take place within the urban areas Caterham/Warlingham/Whyleafe, Woldingham and Oxted/Hurst Green. This will have to be achieved by 1) more back garden development, 2) The loss of green space or commercial sites in the towns 3) Loss of Green Belt. Either way these areas are going to get more built up.

Oh, and of course Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State and Yvette Cooper the Housing Ministers, could ignore all of this and make us build far more anyway

Ajax Update

Regular readers may remember I blogged some months ago about the fire at the former Ajax Factory in Hurst Green.

While Police investigations into the fire continue, the new owners of the site have submitted a planning application to redevelop it. Instead of another factory, a mixed development is proposed with a Nursing Home, medical (dental of veterinary) facility, offices and some small light industry/warehouse units being planned. The developers also plan to re-site the access road to make it easier for lorries to access without blocking the whole of Holland Road.

My first reaction is that this is a positive development for Hurst Green as it will hopefully provide employment opportunities without a step increase in heavy goods vehicle using the Woodhurst Lane/Hurst Green Road/Holland Road route. However I would be interested in views from local residents. To view the plans see Tandridge District Council's Planning Interactive website. The application number is 2007/1142.

Mobile Mast Madness

T mobile have applied for a mobile phone mast on Hurstlands, on the bridge by Hurst Green Station. Now I don't dispute that coverage for that network needs to be improved, or that from a technical perspective that Hurstlands is a good site. But there are already three mobile phone masts (plus a Network Rail mast) on that same site.

Government policy is for mobile operators to mast share where that is practical. In this case T mobile claim it is not, but this to me shows a lack of imagination. A fourth mast will start to make that area look very congested.

Oxted South residents have until 30 August to make their views know to the Council's Planning department.

What about the Green Belt?

Most of Tandridge is Green Belt land, so yesterday's annoucement by Hazel Blears that house building will take priority over environmental concerns clearly raises the prospect of a significant change in the character of our local area, one which will be seen as negative by a majority of residents.

While Brown's spokesman has since denied that the Green Belt is at significant risk, what he cannot deny is that current government 'guidance' to planners states that they have to identify new sites for housing for the next 15 years, regardless as to whether they would actually be needed. There is no expection made for districts like ours where this will in practice mean building on the Green Belt.

Whatever the actual outcome it seems clear that Brown's Government remains as committed to imposing its own will on local areas as Blair's was. Local people are still not going to be able to take the decisions that matter most to them. Tandridge needs new housing, but local experience has shown that we are able to provide this without having to resort to green belt building.

International Exposure

Planning enforcement proceedings against unauthorised advertisments aren't necessarily the most exciting of subjects, but for once a threat of legal action by TDC has got widespread attention. The reason - the advert in question is 100,000 sq ft large and is depicting a a silhouette of a naked lap dancer. A marketing agency have painted the advert for a lap dancing website on a farmer's field under the Gatwick flight path without planning permission and TDC is now taking action to get them to remove it.

I suspect my weekly council news cuttings will be a bit thicker than normal this week as the story is being covered by newspapers as far a afield (pardon the pun) as Texas and Australia.

94% Green

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.

Think before you speak

At last night's Hurst Green Society AGM, I had my first opportunity to speak to some of my constituents and I think I just managed to confuse them all.

I made an intervention to clarify the issue regarding West Heath, but rather than clear the air I think I muddied the waters by using too much jargon (and most people not having a clue who I was and why I was there). For the facts see Tuesday's entry.

The lessons I learned were:

1 - introduce myself first
2 - don't use jargon
3 - think about what you are going to say before you speak

Lets hope I do better next time...

West Heath - Appeal

Local residents may wish to be aware that Universal Consolidated Dev Ltd, the prospective developers of West Heath on Rockfield Road, who were refused planning permission in January to turn the current converted Victorian House into two blocks totalling 20 flats, have appealed the decision to the planning inspectorate.

Tandridge District Council have a good record at appeal and there is no reason to suppose this decision will be overturned. However concerned residents can make represntations direct to the planning inspectorate in Bristol (http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/index.htm) by 7 June. The case reference is APP/M3645/A/07/2043539.