Draft Local Plan to be Considered for Adoption in October

Councillor Maragret Cooksey, Mole Valley District Council’s (MVDC) Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “We have today heard back from the Planning Inspector who has confirmed that the Mole Valley draft Local Plan has been found legally compliant and sound in terms of the Government’s requirements. It will now be decided by Members at a Council meeting on 15 October 2024 whether to adopt the Local Plan.

“It is important to acknowledge the vital part our local communities played in the development of this draft over the various consultation stages carried out. In the Inspector’s report available on the Future Mole Valley website*, we have been told that, subject to the recommended changes set out, Mole Valley’s Local Plan can be used for shaping development in the district until 2039 and as the basis for deciding all planning applications.

“MVDC has been commended – and I would like to take the opportunity to thank every officer involved in developing the draft Plan for their hard work and dedication – for its plan making, with the Inspector commenting that the Plan was evidence-based and its methodology robust, logical, extensive and detailed. She added that in reaching its housing target of 336 new homes per year, MVDC had “balanced local housing need with anticipated supply and the district’s constraints. Only 0.65% of the existing Green Belt in the district has been identified to be released for future development.”

The benefits of the new Local Plan are:

1. 1. a) More affordable housing, 40% for most larger sites, including truly affordable housing
   2. b) Stronger policies for the design of new buildings and ensuring it blends with the local character
   3. c) Over 230 new Locally Listed Buildings
   4. d) Over 27 parks and open spaces given extra strong protection
   5. e) Zero Carbon Homes for all new large housing developments
   6. f) Electric Vehicle Charging Points at one socket per new home
   7. g) Biodiversity replacement + 20% to compensate for new development
   8. h) Additional temporary bulge school classes as required
   9. i) New or expanded primary care
   10. j) New publicly accessible open space
   11. k) New children’s play space
   12. l) New early years’ facilities
   13. m) Refreshed and new community hubs
   14. n) Transport improvements
   15. o) Flood mitigation measures
   16. p) Water capacity improvements
   17. q) Wastewater network improvements
   18. r) New Gypsy and Traveller pitches
   19. s) Protection for shopping centres

The Inspector’s main recommended changes are:

1. 1. a) A change to the plan period (from 2037 to 2039) with a consequent change in the housing target from 353 new homes per year to 336 new homes per year
   2. b) A requirement to review the plan after three years
   3. c) Changes to the climate change policies to reflect changes in national and county policy, such as including the requirement for developments to be zero carbon ready and updating the electric vehicle charging point requirements
   4. d) Changes to the heritage policy, transport policy and flood policy to bring them into line with national policy
   5. e) The introduction of potential alternative locations for primary care in Ashtead, Dorking and Leatherhead
   6. f) A revised site boundary for the Land North West of Preston Farm allocation
   7. g) The need for the storey heights at Bull Hill and the Swan Centre in Leatherhead to be justified by a taller buildings study
   8. h) The deletion of the Sorting Office and Telephone Exchange and Land at Clare Crescent, both in Leatherhead, as they are not deliverable

“All being well next month the Plan will be adopted, but we are only too aware that our work does not stop there. The new Government is currently consulting on a new national planning policy and, with immediate effect, we need to review the Plan and shift to a housing target of building 757 homes per year. MVDC will start compiling evidence as to whether this target can be achieved and will report, as the Inspector requests, in three years.”

* To the general Examination Documents page: Examination Documents – Future Mole Valley