22 January 2019
The Green councillors in Reigate and Banstead, Green county councillor Jonathan Essex and Green MEP Keith Taylor had all been campaigning for the Green Belt to be protected in the local development management plan policies.
Local Councillor Steve McKenna said: “It’s great news that the Inspector requires the huge Redhill Aerodrome site to be completely removed from the Plan, a tremendous result for all the hard work put in by residents, Greens and Parish Councils!
“However other areas of Green Belt are still under threat of development. We have long argued that higher housing densities in the existing urban areas will reduce the case put by developers to release land for development in the Green Belt - they want to build 4/5 bedroomed houses and this will not resolve the crazy unaffordability situation we have locally. So we really need to set minimum densities for new housing in the urban areas now and communicate this to the Inspector for the next stage of the Plan”.
The Inspector has currently not supported the need for a policy on affordable homes in small developments and has supported the Horley Development Park, which would remove the green space between Gatwick Airport and Horley. The Greens have pledged to keep up the pressure on the issue.
Photo: public meeting hosted at Redhill Aerodome last April by Keith Taylor MEP with Cllrs Jonathan Essex and Steve McKenna speaking
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