Mole Valley Housing & Traveller Sites Plan (Ashtead)

CONSULTATION ON ASHTEAD COMMUNITY VISION GREEN BELT BOUNDARY REVIEW AND SITE ASSESSMENTS: 9 JUNE TO 21 JULY 2014

I am writing to invite your views on the following two documents which have been prepared by Ashtead Community Vision and submitted to Mole Valley DC (MVDC) for consideration:

• Ashtead Green Belt Boundary Review February 2014; and
• Ashtead Site Assessments May 2014.

Ashtead Community Vision (ACV) is the working group for Ashtead Neighbourhood Forum, which was established in July 2013. The Neighbourhood Forum is tasked with preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the Ashtead area, under the powers created by the Localism Act 2011.

The Ashtead Neighbourhood Plan is being prepared under the strategic policy framework set out in Mole Valley’s Core Strategy adopted October 2009. The Core Strategy commits MVDC to a review of Green Belt boundaries, in order to meet the District’s housing requirements to 2026.

The decision about which areas of the Green Belt may be released to meet housing needs rests with Mole Valley DC and will be progressed through preparation of the Housing and Traveller Sites Plan. However, as part of the Neighbourhood Planning process, and in the spirit of localism, ACV took on responsibility for undertaking the Green Belt Boundary Review within the Ashtead neighbourhood area.  They have also appraised a number of specific sites which have been proposed by landowners and developers as potential housing site allocations. Council officers have been working closely with ACV to ensure that their methodology matches that followed by Mole Valley DC, elsewhere in the District.

As a consultee on planning policy issues in Mole Valley, you will have received notification of the first stage of public consultation on the Housing and Travellers Sites Plan, which took place between 10 January and 9 March 2014. However, that consultation did not cover the Ashtead area, because ACV’s work was still in progress.

ACV have now submitted their completed Green Belt Boundary Review and Site Assessments to MVDC. I am therefore writing to invite your views on both documents.  Copies are enclosed with the electronic version of this letter. You can also download them from www.molevalley.gov.uk/localplans: please click on “Neighbourhood Planning in Mole Valley” and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Comments should be forwarded by email to planning.policy@molevalley.gov.uk or by post to the Planning Policy Team, Mole Valley District Council, Pippbrook, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1SJ.

Please submit your comments by 4pm on Monday 21 July 2014.

Your comments will be considered as part of the process of integrating ACV’s work into the evidence base for the Housing and Traveller Sites Plan.  As it progresses, the Plan will cover the whole District, including Ashtead and other NDP areas.  MVDC is working towards publication of a pre-submission draft early in 2015.