Public meeting on Local Plan dominated by greenbelters.

Can Epsom and Ewell get more dense?

Possible pause to Plan pondered ……

Epsom and Ewell last in Local Planning

MP’s housing solution for Epsom and Ewell

Dementia Hub serving Epsom and Ewell

17 March 2023

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council have renamed their Dementia Daycare Service the Dementia
Hub – and are using the opportunity to remind those living locally about the fantastic service
the Hub offers for the community.

The Dementia Hub, situated in Sefton Road in Epsom, offers specialist respite daycare for
people living with memory loss and dementia. It offers a safe, friendly environment where
clients can enjoy activities, social interaction and develop skills to improve their quality of life.
The Dementia Hub is part of the Community & Wellbeing Centre, a support hub which offers
social and recreational activities for over 55s. The Community & Wellbeing Centre also
provides services including assisted bathing, a community alarm service, foot clinic, meals at
home, a shopping service and transport from home.

The Dementia Hub’s new name and logo will make it easier for people to find information
about the facility online, as well as helping create a stronger identity for the service.
Councillor Alex Coley, Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Committee, said: “We’re
incredibly proud of the work that the Dementia Hub does to help enrich the lives of people
living with memory loss and dementia, and the lives of their carers too.

Alex Coley — ^{Cllr Coley RA Ruxley Ward Chair Community and Wellbeing Committee}

“The specialist team at the Dementia Hub provide a home-from-home environment where
people can take part in memory therapies, gentle exercise, art therapy and more – whilst also
making friends. “Caring for a loved one with dementia or memory loss can be challenging at times. The
Dementia Hub also enables carers to take precious time to rest and recharge – or simply catch
up with essential tasks.”

People who are interested in finding out more about the Dementia Hub or who’d like to book a
free assessment can call 01372 727583 or visit: www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk/dementia-hub

^{The Dementia Hub is a service offered by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council at the Community & Wellbeing Centre, on Sefton Road in Epsom.
Full and half day sessions are available for people aged 50+ living with memory loss, dementia, confusion due to medical conditions such as a stroke, conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, and more.
For more information on services offered by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, visit: https://epsom-ewell.gov.uk/residents/communities-health-and-wellbeing}

From custody to caring – new plans for Epsom’s old nick.

17 March 2023

Epsom Police Station has been closed since 2012 along with its several cells for detainees. The Surrey Police are situated in offices in The Town Hall, The Parade, Epsom, where there are no custody facilities for arrested suspects. LDRS reports on the latest plans for the old building.

A former Surrey police station and the neighbouring ambulance station could be turned into a 96-bed care home.
Plans for the Church Street site, in Epsom, include a basement car park, croquet lawns and specialist care for people with dementia.

But the The Epsom Civic Society has raised concerns about “the proliferation of specialist elderly accommodation within the borough” while there is an “outstanding need” for housing, especially affordable homes. A letter to the council regarding the application also highlighted the “importance of supporting the vitality and viability of Epsom town centre”.

Image. Left: Old station – Google street view. Right: Plans for former Epsom Police Station in Church Street. Credit: Hunters

The society also raised concerns about protecting trees on the site, necessary measures being put in place for demolition works which may involve asbestos removal, and a possible flooding risk associated with the basement car park.

The police station part of the site was granted planning permission in 2020 for a residential development with 29 apartments located in two blocks, but this excluded the ambulance station. While a since withdrawn application was also made in 2019 for a 60 apartment extra care scheme, which saw some local opposition but no objections from the statutory or council consultees, according to documents submitted by the applicant.

The 1960s police station building has been empty since 2012, and could now be replaced with the three to five-storey blocks of a CQC registered residential care home which would offer 24-hour care.

According to planning documents, the 96 bedrooms would provide nursing, residential and dedicated dementia care, and would have an ensuite wet room.

The applicant said: “The care home will be capable of caring for residents of all dependency levels, including those who require dementia care within a specialist unit.”

The Church Street Conservation Area, which contains contains 20 listed buildings including the grade II St Martin’s Church, The Cedars and Ebbisham House, wraps around the south and west ends of the site.

Plans show the home would include gardens with trees planted and “activity lawns” for residents to include bowling, croquet, gardening.

Breaking the mould for Ukrainian refugees

17 March 2023

Councillor Paul Potter. Image credit: Surrey Live - Grahame Larter

Families fleeing war-torn countries such as Ukraine should not be placed in “derelict” and “mouldy” homes run by a Surrey council’s housing association partner, a councillor has claimed.

Mole Valley District Council’s scrutiny committee met to discuss the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities £500million funding for local authorities to provide homes to Ukrainian and Afghan families via the resettlement and relocation schemes.

Councillor Paul Potter. Image credit: Surrey Live – Grahame Larter

If fully progressed, the council would receive about £1.5m to help deliver up to nine properties for families seeking refuge. These would then become part of the area’s long-term affordable housing stock – available on a rental basis of 80 per cent market value.

The move was widely supported by members at the March 7 meeting but the council’s main social housing provider, Clarion was criticised by councillors.

The housing association said it was investing £5m and “hiring 100 new staff” to tackle the problem.

Councillor Paul Potter (LD, Brockham, Betchworth and Buckland) said: “Great that we are helping people less fortunate than ourselves but I did have a couple of concerns, the first was that affordable rent was not actually affordable. My bigger concern is Clarion, if you are going to pick someone to do houses we should be doing it ourselves because my dealings with Clarion over the last God knows how many years has been a nightmare. It has got better, the chap they got now he’s done more in seven days than they have in 10 years – so something is happening there. But to put someone in the houses I’ve seen, in the state they’re in.

“I had a family actually move into Tanners Meadow from a house that was quite frankly derelict, mouldy, the kids area all on inhalers. These people have come from a war zone. They really don’t want to be going into a damp house, like that young kid last year. So I do have a big concern that Clarion is taking over.”

Cllr Potter was referencing the decision reached at Rochdale Coroner’s Court which said two-year-old boy Awaab Ishak died following prolonged exposure to mould – three years after his parents first complained about damp in their one-bed Rochdale Boroughwide Housing association flat.

It also follows a statement issued in December 2022 when district leader, Cllr Stephen Cooksey, said he would write to Clarion Housing to address “widespread issues of mould and damp problems” and urged the association to give the problem “higher priority”.

He said he was “fully supportive” of the Housing Ombudsman’s report – where Clarion Housing was one of the six housing associations highlighted for multiple failings of damp and mould, complaint handling and record-keeping.

Cllr Caroline Salmon who presented the local authority housing fund report to the committee agreed that there has been an issue with damp and that efforts were underway to remedy the situation in Mole Valley.

The Lib Dem member for Beare Green said: “Clarion have been trying to improve damp, and we’ve been working with them too. There have been some really good changes.”

The meeting was wound up with the select committee chairperson, Cllr Joanna Slater, recommending that cabinet moves forward with the proposals with a preference for freehold housing and a discussion over the choice of partners.

A Clarion Housing spokesperson said: “Members of our senior management team recently met with cabinet members of Mole Valley District Council to outline Clarion’s strategy to address the conditions of a small number of our properties in the region, including issues with leaks, damp, condensation, and mould. Housing for refugees was part of the discussion and we look forward to working closely with the council to provide essential housing for those in need. We at Clarion are determined to resolve condensation, damp and mould in our homes promptly and effectively.

“As part of this effort, we have increased the ways residents can get in touch with us to report it and are investing an additional £5 million annually to tackle the issue, including hiring 100 new staff – which will include specialist surveyors and new Resident Liaison Officers to deal specifically with leaks, condensation, damp and mould cases.”

Final Call to public meeting on Draft Local Plan

17 March 2023

Monday 13th March at 7pm at Wallace Fields Junior School Dorling Drive, Ewell, Epsom KT17 3BH, Epsom and Ewell Times will chair a public meeting on the Draft Local Plan. The meeting will feature a panel of experts. Tim Murphy CPRE, Margaret Hollings Epsom Civic Society and Chair Licensing Planning and Policy Committee Cllr Steven McCormick (Council officers invited). Questions and view points from the public attending will be allowed. We will confirm if the meeting can be followed online in the next few days.

Registration to attend is not required but it would be helpful to us if you did inform us of your intention to attend. This will help some planning. Also it would help the chair of the meeting if you submitted questions in advance.

You can tell us if you are attending the Epsom and Ewell Times Local Plan Public Meeting and suggest a question by filling in:

_{Local Plan meeting attendance and question form.}

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan.

Green-belters seeing red on Local Plan?

Hook Road Arena plans and links to many other related reports.

Why planning matters at Hobbledown

17 March 2023

A parent fought back tears as he told a Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s planning committee he thought someone was going “to be injured or killed” as councillors approved a series of applications for a family attraction. Hobbledown Farm in Epsom made five planning applications to its local council, some for works that had already been carried out.

Councillors called the attraction “a great asset” to the borough but also voiced frustrations that applications were coming to them for things that had already been done.

When the applications were last brought to Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s planning committee in October, councillors deferred their decision and asked Hobbledown representatives to come back with a flood assessment for the site.

The meeting heard council officers were “content” with answers that had come back on the flooding risk after two rounds of consultation with the Environment Agency and with the lead local flood flood authority. But as well as concerns around an increased risk of flooding for neighbours, the vice chair of Clarendon Park Residents’ Association spoke at the meeting on behalf of residents in the estate next to the farm.

Alex Duval had been told he could not speak on all five applications at once, and was not able to stay for the whole meeting because he needed to get his nine-year-old child home for bed. But speaking as part of the consideration on a new overflow car park, and before an item on lorry deliveries on McKenzie Way, which he said residents were “most worried about”, Mr Duval set out the issues.

He claimed his car had been nearly hit by a reversing lorry there recently and that a two metre high fence that had just been approved by councillors retrospectively meant lorries coming out could not see as they exited. Clearly emotional, he said: “I’ll just say it as it is: completely unacceptable. My son has had to go out into the road, I’m going to try not to be really upset about it, to go round lorries coming out from that site into oncoming traffic and it’s not acceptable. It is not acceptable for anyone living on Clarendon Park.”

He paused, saying he could not even read his prepared notes any more. Again having to cut short his speech and close to tears, the father said: “Some resident, or a resident’s child, is going to be injured or killed, when [deliveries] could have been controlled on the other side [of the site].”

Cllr Jan Mason (Residents’ Association, Ruxley) said she had been talking to residents who had raised concerns about lorries using the McKenzie way entrance. She had also previously said an application for a gas tank holder on the site was “an accident waiting to happen” though councillors were reminded that this would be a matter for the Health and Safety Executive and not for planning.

The planning applications put in for the site, which is in the green belt and next to Horton Country Park, were:

A retrospective application for timber and netting outdoor play structures, three bounce pillows and a lorikeet enclosure.
Putting in a new “shepherd’s hut” toilet block.
A retrospective application for timber fencing around the farm, the relocation of entrance gates and the installation of a gas tank holder.
A variation of a condition on previously granted planning permission to allow part of the site to be used for over-flow car parking at the busiest times.
A variation of a condition to let deliveries to the farm shop and cafe enter the site via McKenzie Way.

All the applications were approved, with the chair using a casting vote on a second attempt to approve the gas tank holder.

Councillors were told by officers that the fact applications were retrospective was not material consideration, despite many expressing their frustrations on them.

A representative for Hobbledown said management changes at the attraction had been made and they were working to “resolve any planning breaches at the site”. Bob Neville said meetings had been held between the applicant and senior planning officers at the council to try and respond to concerns.

He told the meeting: “We hold our hands up. There have been planning breaches that have occurred on the site. What we’re doing now is working pro-actively to resolve those issues going forward.”

After the overflow car park was approved, Cllr Mason was heard to say: “They’ve won again.”

Speaking on that item she had previously said: “We’re not Chessington World of Adventures. This is on a local nature reserve and I think we should remember that.”

Surrey Youth Games getting starting pistol

17 March 2023

The Specsavers Surrey Youth Games is kicking off next month, with a wide range of activities available in Epsom & Ewell. The Games are the largest multi-sport youth programme of their kind in the South East, offering FREE local training for 7-16 year olds across Surrey, leading to a final celebratory event for the whole family.

The Games are for beginners who may not get the opportunity to attend clubs, or are put off by the thought of initially competing against others. Supportive coaches will help participants join in, have fun, learn new skills and boost their confidence.

Registration is now open for the free training sessions across a range of activities, which start after Easter and are aimed at those who live or go to school in the borough. All teams then unite for a family-friendly event at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford on Saturday 17 June.

Councillor Alex Coley, Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Committee, said “This is a wonderful initiative that provides a great opportunity for young people who are still building their confidence in sport to access training free of charge, as well as gain a feeling of belonging in their local setting. I encourage all those who might benefit from the training to take a look at what’s on offer”

You can find out what’s on offer in the Epsom & Ewell borough and register for a place by visiting www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk/syg

Your Council Needs You – to bin your litter

17 March 2023

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council has launched an anti-littering campaign, aimed at reducing litter throughout the borough. The campaign will focus on hotspots including Epsom train station, Epsom and Ewell town centres, and the borough’s parks.

The Council’s team of Environmental Enforcement Officers, who work in partnership with Surrey Police, will patrol the borough on foot or in a marked council vehicle and may warn people at risk of being fined or issue a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100.

The latest virtual recruit to the Council’s Environmental Enforcement team is the famous image of Lord Kitchener, created by British graphic artist Alfred Leete. Posters will be displayed around the borough and used on social media, instructing potential litterlouts to bin their litter or take it home – or risk a penalty fine.

Littering is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sections 87/88.

A Fixed Penalty Notice will be issued to any person who is witnessed littering, including:

• Throwing away food wrappers or uneaten food

• Dropping chewing gum

• Discarding cigarette butts

Councillor John Beckett, Chair of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee, said: “Dropping litter is an issue for several reasons. It can take years to degrade, causing harm to wildlife and habitats. Food which is discarded by people attracts vermin such as rats and feral pigeons.

“Research has also shown that people can feel less safe in areas that are littered. Poor levels of cleanliness have been found to be associated with an increase in social disorder and crime.

“Epsom & Ewell Borough Council is committed to reducing incidents of littering within the borough, to ensure that Epsom & Ewell is a pleasant place to live and to visit, that feels safe.”

Possible pause to Plan pondered ……

17 March 2023

Epsom and Ewell’s Local Plan is at risk of even further delay after councillors from the ruling Residents’ Association (RA) proposed pausing the process in the face of fierce opposition to proposed Green Belt development.

Seven RA councillors are proposing that development of the Local Plan is paused and have triggered an extraordinary council meeting, which is due to take place on 22 March. The meeting was arranged a few days after a protest against Green Belt development in Epsom town centre, which organisers have said involved over 200 demonstrators.

The Plan is currently subject to public consultation, which is set to run until 19 March.

Local elections will take place on 4 May.

Councillor Eber Kington (Residents’ Association, Ewell Court Ward), who will propose the motion, said: “My view is that a pause will enable the Borough Council to assess the responses from residents to the public consultation and review any new information on brownfield sites.”

However, it is not clear what impact the “pause” would have. Assessing responses to a consultation is part of the normal process for developing a Local Plan and the motion expressly states that this should continue.

Cllr Kington added that a pause would also allow the council to re-examine brownfield sites previously designated as non-viable.

The council did not include the Longmead Industrial Estate or the Kiln Lane area brownfield sites that Chris Grayling (MP) has suggested could be used to meet housing need, in its list of sites for potential development.

You can find out more about the opposing positions and viewpoints, ask your own questions at a Public Meeting on the Draft Local Plan to be chaired by Epsom and Ewell Times on Monday 13th March at7pm at Wallace Fields Junior School, Dorling Drive, Ewell, Epsom. Registration and advance questions optional Click HERE for details.

Councillor Kate Chinn (Leader of the Labour Group, Court Ward) said: “It is unbelievable that this RA council has spent years formulating a Local Plan; bringing in consultants to give advice and briefings; tasking officers to spend hours to formulate the plan; spending thousands of pounds and now there are several of their own members deciding it isn’t what they wanted. It would be expected they would have agreed more of a consensus before reaching this late stage.”

Councillor Julie Morris (Leader of the Liberal Democrats Group, College Ward) accused the RA of overturning “its own decisions very quickly but particularly when there’s an election looming”. She also said that last December, she had asked Cllr Steven McCormick (Residents Association, Woodcote Ward), chair of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee, to put a “short delay” to the public consultation on a meeting agenda, but the suggestion was not taken up. “They plodded on”, she said, “and tried to keep the whole thing secret”.

In January, the council voted unanimously to launch the public consultation on the Plan. Cllr Morris said: “The reason that I voted for public consultation was that it [the Local Plan] needed to be out there. The RA has gone to such lengths to keep everything quiet.”

The Draft Local Plan sets out nine sites for potential development in the borough; five are on Green
Belt land. Green Belt land includes areas of countryside that are protected from development in
order to prevent urban sprawl and encourage development within existing built-up areas.

Cllr Kington also said: “Crucially we need to understand the Government’s new legislative proposals,
which are due to be published in May, so that we can factor the new Government’s new approach
into our own plans.”

The proposals set to be published in May are undergoing consultation, including on a revision that
states that “Green Belt boundaries are not required to be reviewed and altered if this would be the
only means of meeting the objectively assessed need for housing over the plan period”.

After Mole Valley District Council wrote to the planning inspectorate asking to remove all Green Belt
sites from its own Local Plan, the inspector agreed to delay hearings until May.

Cllr Kington added: “Finally, we have to continue to campaign against the Government’s continuing
requirement for councils to use 2014 data to develop a 2023 Local Plan. If 2018 data were used, the
number of required homes could be met by the use of brown field sites alone.”

Currently, the Local Plan is due to be adopted in Spring 2025. This would see it miss the government
target of all local authorities having an up-to-date Plan by the end of 2023 – and make it the last
local council in Surrey to adopt a new Plan.

Related Reports

Public meeting on Local Plan

Can Epsom and Ewell get more dense?

Residents aroused by “sleeping” residents?

Public meeting on Local Plan

17 March 2023

On Monday 13th March at 7pm at Wallace Fields Junior School Dorling Drive, Ewell, Epsom KT17 3BH, Epsom and Ewell Times will chair a public meeting on the Draft Local Plan. The meeting will feature a panel of experts. Tim Murphy CPRE, Margaret Hollings Epsom Civic Society and Chair Licensing Planning and Policy Committee Cllr Steven McCormick (Council officers invited). Questions and view points from the public attending will be allowed. We will confirm if the meeting can be followed online in the next few days.

The Epsom and Ewell Borough Council is holding an extraordinary meeting on 22nd March at 7.30pm at The Town Hall, The Parade, Epsom to discuss a motion about the Draft Local Plan. Only 11 councillors approved the Draft Local Plan going forward at a meeting of the Licensing Planning and Policy Committee of 30th January. The Full Council meeting of the 22nd March will be the first public opportunity for all Councillors to speak on the Local Plan.

You can tell us if you are attending the Epsom and Ewell Times Local Plan Public Meeting and suggest a question by filling in:

_{Local Plan meeting attendance and question form.}

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan.

Green-belters seeing red on Local Plan?

Hook Road Arena plans and links to many other related reports.

Surrey’s get greener update

17 March 2023

Surrey County Council and the Greener Futures Partnership are on a mission to make Surrey carbon free and greener by 2050. Here are links to the latest updates from Surrey County Council:

Use the new Energy Advice Tool to help save money: Find out more

“I finally took the plunge and sold my car” Read Becky’s story and also find out how you could win an e-bike. Read more

Seven tips to save £70. How being savvy with your food could save you money and play your part to reduce waste in Surrey. Read more

Celebrating World Wildlife Day. What we’re doing to enhance and protect wildlife in Surrey as we tackle climate change. Read more

Growing verges wild for bees and flowers. Wondering why our grass is getting longer in some areas? Read more

M25 junction 10/A3 Wisley improvement scheme. National Highways traffic improvements which will include improvements for local habitats and safer journeys. Read more

Surrey County Council ask you to share this information with your friends and all are encouraged to sign-up to its bi-monthly newsletter.

Mole Valley Local Plan paused: official

17 March 2023

Inspectors have agreed to pause the examination of Mole Valley’s 6,000 home blueprint amid attempts to remove all green belt sites for development.

Mole Valley District Council had written to the Planning Inspectorate asking to remove all green belt sites from its draft local plan in anticipation of government changes to the planning system. But these hopes have been dashed by the inspector on the grounds it could not prejudge any prospective changes. Despite the setback, the inspector said they would be happy to delay hearings until May – when any new rule changes become clearer- and that is where things stand.

Local plans are the basis for planning decisions in an area. They outline the type, location and density of development that is likely to be permitted. Without one, developers have much freer range to chance their arms.
The council also does not have a five year housing land supply, which again tips the favour towards developers and increases the urgency with which Mole Valley District Council needs to get its local plan signed off.

Mole Valley District Council’s leader member for planning, Councillor Margaret Cooksey, said that, while disappointed the local plan has been delayed yet again it is a better outcome than having to start the process from scratch. She said: “I am disappointed we are having to pause and delay. The longer we are without an adopted plan the more at risk our green sites are. If we carry on we have to work on current National Planning Policy Framework rules and greenfield sites we have in the plan. That is what we are trying to prevent. But if we just abandon the current plan we would have to start from scratch and that would take a lot longer. We don’t want to lose the good parts of the draft plan.”

She said they have already received an application to build on one of the green belt sites they are trying to remove from the local plan.

The planning inspector agreed to delay examination of the local plan until May 25 at which time there should be greater clarity around future national planning policy and will also accommodate the implications of the council’s all out local elections in May.

How Green is My Mole Valley?

Can Epsom and Ewell get more dense?

Hook Road Arena plans

17 March 2023

This is the last of nine reports on the BIG PLANS for Epsom and Ewell proposed in the DRAFT LOCAL PLAN that is out for public consultation till 17th March. We do not intend to state any support or opposition but may ask some questions.

Hook Road Arena is owned by the Council and has for many years been the home of car boot sales, funfairs and annual firework nights. The plan is for residential and sports and recreation development, comprising:

A new sports hub for the borough to include playing pitches (grass and artificial) a new pavilion and changing facilities on 9.5ha of the site that will be retained within the Green Belt.
At least 150 net zero carbon homes on the eastern part of the site that will be inset from the Green Belt

The reasons given include the site has the potential to deliver recreational sports facilities and playing pitches. The allocation of this site will mitigate any losses of playing pitches (rugby) resulting from the allocation of the adjoining Ewell East Station (see our report HERE) . It may also help to meet additional playing pitch needs for ‘secure provision’ (i.e. community use protected through a legal agreement) both now and in the future.

The site will contribute towards meeting the need for housing in the borough.

When will the site be developed?

It expected that a planning application will be submitted early in the plan period, with development likely to start in 2027.

Planning officers note that any development proposal will need to incorporate mitigation relating to surface water flooding for those parts of the site that are susceptible. Also, the site could deliver playing pitches and potentially other supporting infrastructure such as changing facilities and a club house.

Related reports:

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.

Depot Road plans

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan. Details how to submit your views.

Local Plan battle heating up? and other related reports.

Land at Chantilly Way

17 March 2023

This is the eighth of nine reports on the nine BIG PLANS for Epsom and Ewell proposed in the DRAFT LOCAL PLAN that is out for public consultation till 17th March. We do not intend to state any support or opposition but may ask some questions.

This 0.7 hectare grazing land is earmarked for residential development. The reasons given include:The site will contribute towards meeting the need for housing in the borough and lies adjacent to the Strategic Allocation at Horton Farm (Policy SA6).

The site has well defined boundaries and lies on a transport corridor adjacent to existing residential area, creating a suitable context for residential development. The site is also in relatively close proximity to local services and facilities and to public transport connections.

Planning officers note that the development should not adversely affect any protected trees near the boundary of the site. Any development proposal will need to incorporate mitigation relating to surface water flooding for those parts of the site that are susceptible.

The council is working with key infrastructure providers, including Surrey County Council as the Highway Authority and Education Authority, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Utility providers to determine exactly what infrastructure is required to support the proposed development.

When will the site be developed?

It expected that a planning application will be submitted in the early part of the plan period with development likely to start by 2028.

Related Reports:

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan. Details how to submit your views.

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.

MP’s housing solution for Epsom and Ewell

Local Plan battle heating up? and other related reports.

Residents aroused by “sleeping” residents?

17 March 2023

Protest in Epsom against green belt plans

Amid claims of the Residents Association Councillors being “asleep at the wheel” one of the biggest residents’ protests ever held in Epsom took place yesterday. Over 200 demonstrators waved banners, wore green or green belts, and chanted “Green not Greed” in the town centre on Saturday (February 25).

Fury was directed at not only the EEBC planners’ Draft Local Plan containing proposals to build 2,175 homes on Green Belt sites, but also the controlling Residents Association councillors group, which, it is claimed, “were asleep at the wheel” in voting Green Belt inclusion through. Over 40% of the total 5,400 Local Plan homes are destined for the Green Belt, the majority of which will be market-priced and unaffordable to those starting out on the property ladder, protestors argue.

Of nine “preferred options” for housing sites earmarked by the Council in the Local Plan, five are on Green Belt sites, which include Horton Farm (1,500 homes proposed) and Ewell East playing fields (350 homes, up to six storeys high).

Despite a “brownfield first” brief, planning officers have not proactively engaged with developers on central urban rejuvenation possibilities, near facilities, preferring instead to accept opportunistic bids from selected Green Belt landowners and developers, protestors claim.

In a display of some cross party support, the protestors were joined by representatives from political parties standing in forthcoming local elections in Epsom & Ewell, including two RA councillors who had voted against their colleagues on Green Belt inclusion. Cllr Eber Kington (RA Ewell Court Ward) and Cllr Christine Howells (RA Nonsuch Ward). They were joined by Cllr Bernie Muir (Conservative – Stamford) and Mark Todd Chair of the Epsom and Ewell Labour Party.

Demonstration organiser, Kathy Mingo, from the Epsom & Ewell Green Belt Group, said “It was heartening to see everyone uniting beyond party political lines against these unjustified Green Belt destruction plans, given new emerging Government guidelines that puts the focus squarely on brownfield development to meet only advisory, not mandatory, housing targets”

Alex Duval, vice-chairman of Clarendon Park Residents Association, which adjoins the Horton Farm Green Belt site said “ The data does not add up. The Council’s own reports show that the site contains a critical drainage area with high flood risk; their transport analysis recommends not taking the site forward; and reliance on outdated ONS 2014 population figures – rather than the lower 2018 and official 2021 Census figures – means Epsom’s housing needs are significantly overstated. The real housing need can be accommodated on brownfield alone, without any Green Belt destruction.Their own evidence is clear – the Council should save our Green Belt”

Tim Murphy, a vice president of CPRE Surrey and chair of Epsom’s CPRE group, said “CPRE’s experience is that, once sites are listed in a Council’s Local Plan as a “preferred option” for development, then, in 99% of cases, they eventually get developed. So EEBC has already put a number of Green Belt sites at real, permanent risk by identifying them for housing in its Draft Local Plan, which may not be justified as current Government policy on Green Belt evolves”

“Many RA councillors’ seats may now be at risk in May if they do not join the minority of their colleagues in clearly stating their policy objection to unjustified Green Belt destruction” said Jenny Coleman, chair, Ewell Downs Residents Association. “It is clear, not least from a residents petition signed by over 7,000, but also from this impactful, united residents protest, that many think the RA councillors have been rather asleep at the wheel. They must listen to the voice of the people”.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan. Details how to submit your views.

A petition is available at epsomgreenbelt.org

Related reports:

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.

Land adjoining Ewell East Station

Land at West Park Hospital

The really BIG one: Horton Farm

Local Plan battle heating up? and other related reports.

Local Planning Matters – Tim Murphy’s opinion piece for Epsom and Ewell Times

Land adjoining Ewell East Station

17 March 2023

This is the seventh of nine reports on the BIG PLANS for Epsom and Ewell proposed in the DRAFT LOCAL PLAN that is out for public consultation till 17th March. We do not intend to state any support or opposition but may ask some questions.

This 8.3 hectare sports pitches and open space is earmarked for residential development with the following justifications:

At least 350 net zero carbon dwellings
Building heights up to 6 storeys
New local retail provision at ground floor
The re-provision of the playing pitches at Hook Road Arena

The site will contribute towards meeting the need for housing in the borough and ancillary community infrastructure.

The site has well defined boundaries and lies adjacent to existing residential areas and adjoining Ewell East railway station, creating a suitable context for residential development and lowering the risk of adverse landscape impacts. The site is also in relatively close proximity to local services and facilities and to bus and rail transport connections. Vehicular access can be achieved without detriment to the character of the local area.

When will the site be developed?

It expected that a planning application will be submitted in the middle of the plan period with development likely to start by 2031 once new sports pitches have been provided.

Planning officers note:

Development proposals must identify ways of improving pedestrian access to Ewell East Station and maximise the linkages between the site and surrounding area, and provide opportunities for walking and cycling.

The design of development would need to minimise impacts on Priest Hill Nature Reserve (Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) located on the Southern Boundary of the site.

Part of the site to the east along Cheam Road is within Flood Zone 3. Any development proposal will need to take this into account.

The development proposal will need to work with the topography of the site to ensure that visual impacts of development are minimised

Infrastructure requirements include:

Provision of new retail unit(s) to provide convenience retail to meet local needs.

The loss of playing pitches will require reprovision at the Hook Road Arena site (Policy SA9). The developer will be expected to re-provide the playing pitches off site prior to development commencing to ensure that the scheme is acceptable in planning terms.

Related reports:

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan. Details how to submit your views.

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.

Local Plan battle heating up? and other related reports.

Land at West Park Hospital

17 March 2023

This is the sixth of nine reports on the BIG PLANS for Epsom and Ewell proposed in the DRAFT LOCAL PLAN that is out for public consultation till 19th March. We do not intend to state any support or opposition but may ask some questions.

The plan is for residential development, comprising:

approximately 150 dwellings
A target of 5% of homes to be provided through the provision of serviced plots of land for self-build and/or custom-build homes
Floorspace to support NHS services (if required)

The reasons given include:

The site will contribute towards meeting the need for housing in the borough.

The site comprises of two parcels north and south of existing West Park Hospital residential area. The areas are currently previously developed land within the Green Belt, consisting of buildings that are currently in use as part of the original West Park Hospital operation which are no longer fit for purpose.

The site lies adjacent to existing residential creating a suitable context for residential development and lowering the risk of adverse landscape impacts.

When will the site be developed?

It expected that a planning application will be submitted in the early part of the plan period with development likely to start by 2027.

Site Constraints and mitigation

Northern parcel is adjacent West Park Conservation Area and Southern parcel is within the Conservation Area therefore any proposal should ensure it is sensitively designed to reflect the parkland setting
Maximise the linkages between the site and surrounding area; and provide opportunities for walking and cycling.
Development should not adversely affect the Protected Trees within and on the boundaries of the of the site.
Work with the topography of the site to ensure that visual impacts of development are minimised.
Development proposal to focus the built form to the north of the site to preserve the undeveloped (open) land to the south.
Any development proposal will need to incorporate mitigation relating to surface water flooding for those parts of the site that are susceptible.

The NHS may require the provision of some floorspace for healthcare needs, however there is currently no certainty as to whether there will be a need for such floorspace.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council Draft Local Plan. Details how to submit your views.

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.

Depot Road plans

Local Plan battle heating up? and other related reports.

The really BIG one: Horton Farm

17 March 2023

This is the fifth of nine reports on the BIG PLANS for Epsom and Ewell proposed in the DRAFT LOCAL PLAN that is out for public consultation till 19th March. We do not intend to state any support or opposition but may ask some questions.

This near 100 acre site is a farm, a riding school and “open space” and the plan is to build 1500 + “zero carbon” dwellings on the site.

A target of 5% of homes to be provided through the provision of serviced plots of land for self-build and/or custom-build homes
A minimum of 10 serviced gypsy and traveller pitches
Public open space
Green corridor / habitat enhancements

And the reasons given for the plan include:

The site will contribute towards meeting the need for housing in the borough, including making a significant contribution towards the delivery of affordable housing and in meeting the needs of the boroughs Gypsy and Traveller population to create a new community.

The site has well defined boundaries and lies adjacent to existing residential areas, creating a suitable context for residential development and lowering the risk of adverse landscape impacts. The site is also located close to local services and facilities and to bus and rail transport connections. Vehicular access can be achieved without detriment to the character of the local area.

[Epsom and Ewell Times notes that it is also adjacent to the 5 acre Horton Cemetery where 9000 bodies are buried. See www.hortoncemetery.org for details.]

When will the site be developed?

The site is expected to be developed from 2028/29.

The planners note a number of issues:

The majority of the site is bordered by existing residential areas. New access points should maximise the opportunities for improved connectivity and linkages in and around the area, in particular for walking and cycling.
Development should not adversely affect any protected trees within and on the boundaries of the site.
The design of development would need to minimise impacts on the Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) located to the north-west of the site.
Any development proposal will need to incorporate mitigation relating to surface water flooding for those parts of the site that are susceptible.
Development should work with the topography of the site to ensure that visual impacts of development are minimised.
Horton Farm House is a listed building in the south-east of the site. Therefore, sympathetic design is required.

The development of the site will require: New highways access to the West and East and Improved pedestrian and cycle infrastructure.

Epsom and Ewell Times can report Horton Farm is owned by The Church Commissioners and is leased to a farmer who has farmed the area for many years. The Council state that a developer has an option on the land.

Related reports:

The BIG plans for Epsom and Ewell – reports on Hook Road Car Park and SGN site plan.