- Mole Valley has one of the oldest Local Plans in the country and is also one of the worst constituencies for delivering affordable housing. This has led to a problem finding key workers for care services, the NHS and many municipal roles in the area. Mole Valley District Council led by the Liberal Democrats has a new draft Local Plan which they have voted on more than once but it includes a high number of Green Belt sites for housing. They have tried to blame others for this but they have controlled the Local Plan process for 5 years and have failed to deliver a robust plan that works for current residents.
- Post COVID there is changing use of office buildings as people work from home, we also have Dorking town centre which could have areas for regeneration alongside a plan to ensure it can be a vibrant shopping centre that supports local business. More housing could be factored into a plan and this includes thinking about duplex apartments with upstairs and downstairs living for people who want to live in a town centre but don't want to be confined to boxy flats. This thinking can also be used in office re-development. It would be more attractive to those older people who may downsize and also to families who want space to have children's bedrooms or offices.
- We need to look again at brownfield sites. I recognise it is easy to keep saying this but the problem is that building on brownfield is expensive. So planning policy needs to be reviewed broadly to make it easier and faster to build on brownfield. Local authorities should be given the resources to expedite brownfield applications helping to reduce the costs of borrowing and wasting time which can the be passed onto first time and local buyers.
- In line with this, policy needs to be amended to support small scale developers who may be cash short but can deliver low density housing on smaller sites that work for the local area. A lot of our planning policy works for large scale developers seeking to put hundreds or thousands of homes on green belt rather than helping local business people build local homes.
- We need to avoid building on high quality green belt that have high biodiversity value. Only low grade Green Belt should come forward and this should only be after we have fully exhausted brownfield and urban scope.
- Where there is large scale development, the commitments to infrastructure must be met. I have seen a number of examples where the community aspects have either only been built right at the end or not built at all. Obviously we need to be sensible and think about developer cashflow but the funding for drainage, roads, doctors surgeries, schools and community buildings must all be delivered.
- A good example of where development has been done well is the Poland Trust's project in Brockham. From my understanding the land was donated by a local landowner and working with the team from the Trust planning was agreed for the provision of 12 homes that were affordable with a contribution equivalent to 60% of market rents and priority given to those people in greatest need. The development fits well into the village and has no detrimental impact on the rural nature of the surroundings.
- I have others thoughts and ideas which I will set out during the campaign or do get in touch if you would like to discuss housing and development.