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The South East Plan consultation was a sham

Like 3,850 Guildford residents, last week I received a postcard from the Government Office for the South East thanking me for my response to the draft South East Plan. Unsurprisingly, this consultation has been a sham – with only cursory references in the final report made to the massive objections raised by Guildford residents.

For those who have not read the small print of the 290 pages (before annexes), the message for north and east Guildford is bleak. Green Belt protection will effectively be wiped off the map in Merrow, Burpham and Worplesdon. A so-called ‘urban extension’ of 2,000 dwellings will be dumped on the countryside – most likely at Gosden Hill Farm. This is equivalent to doubling the current area of Burpham, or a new town twice the size of the Bushy Hill estate.

Labour Ministers and would-be developers will no doubt peddle some eco-spin to justify their plans (Dunsfold Park being their case study), spinning a solar panel here, a low-flush toilet there. We should not be fooled by such little green figleaves, designed to cover their embarrassment over the environmental harm that such incursions into the countryside will inevitably cause.

There will be nothing sustainable about more traffic and congestion along the Epsom Road and London Road. The concreting over of the ‘green lung’ around Guildford will increase carbon emissions, harm biodiversity and reduce quality of life. The South East Plan represents the biggest threat in a generation to the look, character and amenity of Guildford Borough.

Cllr Sheridan Westlake

Beware urban sprawl

The prospect of a sprawling housing estate being dumped on Dunsfold has significant implications not just for that part of Guildford and Waverley. In particular, the sidelining of local objections raises the spectre of more massive housing development to come. Specifically, dumping another estate on Gosden Hill Farm near Merrow and Burpham, accompanied by a spurious ‘greenwash’ to cover up its inevitable environmental harm.

Locally and nationally, Conservatives strongly oppose both the content and the principle of the so-called South East Plan – especially its plans to rip up our Green Belt. Control of planning and housing decisions by Whitehall and regional government should be scrapped and powers given back to local people and the councillors who serve them.
 
However, Liberal Democrats seem to be changing their tune with every month. In February, Sue Doughty called on her website for the Government to “suspend” the South East Plan (note the lack of any pledge to abolish it), and used the politician’s speak of “local sustainable needs assessments and consultation with local communities”.

In March, after saying that “many residents were already angry with the government decision to impose more houses than can be absorbed in Surrey”, Liberal Democrats u-turned and backed  the massive Dunsfold development in our countryside. This is despite it being opposed by each of the local county, district and parish councils, and the residents within the local community.

Gosden Hill Farm suffers the same problems as Dunsfold Park – urban sprawl and a traffic system that is simply unable to cope. Residents should now take any pledge from Liberal Democrats to protect our countryside with a pinch of salt given their record on Dunsfold in listening to local people only when its suits their agenda.

Graham Ellwood,
Conservative County Council candidate for Merrow & Burpham

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