Elmbridge Borough Council's
Local Plan Consultation
GET INVOLVED if you want a say in how our area develops over the next 15 yrs!
Elmbridge Borough Council is required to prepare a new Local Plan, outlining where development will take place over the next 15 years. The Government has calculated we should build 623 homes per year (9,345 homes in total). However, this can only be achieved by intensive residential development and/or building on Green Belt, worsening the pressure we already face on schools, doctors' surgeries, hospitals, roads etc.
The Council can argue for a lower figure when it submits its Local Plan for Government approval, but this must be backed up by evidence. An important part of that evidence is residents' views. The consultation seeks your opinion on how you'd like to see your area evolve, and on which of five general development options (detailed below) you'd prefer for Elmbridge over the next 15 years.
We strongly urge you to have your say in the Consultation.
The deadline is 30th September 2019.
Click here to download the consultation document, view interactive maps and submit your views via a questionnaire.
Or phone 01372 474 474 if you'd prefer paper copies.
Consultation Options
Option 1 – Intensify Urban Area This would facilitate building 9,345 new homes over the next 15 years, hugely increasing urban densities and utilising allotments and playing fields which would be relocated to Green Belt sites.
Option 2 – Optimise Urban Area and Build on Three Areas of Green Belt This would seek to deliver 6,800 new homes, at the expense of sacrificing three Green Belt Areas in Elmbridge including ‘Area 58’ land at Long Ditton. It would challenge the Government’s target number.
Option 3 – Optimise Urban Area and Large Green Belt Release This would deliver 16,300 new homes, way in excess of the Government’s target number, by re-designating up to 12 areas of Green Belt (including 'Area 58' in Long Ditton) and creating an urban sprawl in some areas.
Option 4 – Optimise Urban Area This would facilitate building 5,300 new homes in urban areas without high-density development or any changes to Green Belt boundaries. It challenges the Government’s target and is the option favoured by the RA Executive Committee.
Option 5 – Optimise Urban Area and Small Areas of Green Belt Release This would deliver 9,400 new homes at the expense of sacrificing many smaller Green Belt areas in Elmbridge, and also including ‘Area 58’ land at Long Ditton.
The above options are described in greater detail in the Consultation document on the council's website (see overleaf) and also in the Autumn edition of our magazine, Thames Ditton Today.
If you'd like to discuss the consultation and its options, come to our Open Meeting at Vera Fletcher Hall, 4 Embercourt Road, Thames Ditton at 8pm on Tuesday 24th September.
If you care about Elmbridge - have your say before 30th September