(First Published: 01/09/2019)

● Up to 16,300 new homes in Elmbridge
● Up to 40,000 more residents
● Large areas of Green Belt threatened
● Dense development of urban & residential areas
● More crowding on Oxshott roads
● Longer waits to see a GP
● More competition for local schooling

What is Happening?

● Government has mandated that Elmbridge Council must have a Local Plan to build 9,345 houses in 15 years.
● Elmbridge Council has prepared 5 Options and is consulting residents for their input and preferences.
● 2 Options do not meet the mandated Government target.
● In these Options, everything that is not Green Belt is an “Urban Area”, even if it is a low-density residential neighbourhood.

The Consultation closes at midnight on 30th September 2019

● Option 1 - 9,345 dwellings. Intense Urban development, including on allotments and playing fields. Average 85 dwellings per hectare (“dph”) in Urban Areas. More taller buildings and flats.
● Option 2 - 6,800 dwellings: Urban “optimisation” on same areas as in Option 1, average density 65 dph, plus 1,500 dwellings on 3 large areas of Green Belt totalling 66 hectares (163 acres).
● Option 3 - 16,300 dwellings: Urban “optimisation” as in 2, plus 11,000 dwellings on 618 hectares (1,525 acres) of Green Belt - a loss of 11% of Elmbridge Green Belt.
● Option 4 - 5,300 dwellings in the same Urban Areas at 65 dph. No development on Green Belt.
● Option 5 - 9,400 dwellings: 5,300 in the same Urban Areas at 65 dph plus 4,100 dwellings on 33 small, “weakly performing” areas of Green Belt totalling 338 hectares (835 acres - 6% of Elmbridge Green Belt).

While Option 4 would appear to be the preferred Option, there are associated risks which we are working to understand.

Come to our meeting on 12th Sept 2019 at 7.30 p.m., at Oxshott Village Hall, to learn more.

This Will Affect Everyone

You can have input into the decisions. Get involved and have your say. Here’s how…

● Go to the Elmbridge Council Website and view the consultation documents. Scroll down to see them all.

• In particular, view the maps to see the impact on your area. (Advice about maps)

● Register and then you can complete the Questionnaire. (Advice about Questionnaire)
● Attend the meetings:

• Elmbridge Council briefing meetings - separate meetings for each area. You need to book to attend - the Oxshott / Cobham briefing on 2nd September is already full but you can attend one of the others. 
• FEDORA / VoX meeting - this is on 12th September in Oxshott Village Hall starting at 7.30 p.m. There is no need to book.

● Make sure your neighbours and friends know about this Consultation and participate.
● Start a petition in your neighbourhood. Petitions will be accepted by Elmbridge Council - but also complete the Questionnaire.
● Sign-Up to receive our emails so you can stay informed.

Advice about Maps

The Elmbridge map page opens with the map shown below. To zoom-in on an area of interest, you can (1) use the + / - slider
bar on the left of the map, or (2) double-click on your area of interest.

In the panel to the left of the map, click on the check-boxes for each of the 5 Options, to remove the tick marks. That way you
start with a “clean sheet”.

Then, click on the check-box for an Option that you want to view, in order to show that Option on the map, and to compare the
different Options.

NOTES:
● The yellow areas are Urban Optimisation - i.e. more dense urban development. Urban Areas include everything that is not Green Belt, including low-density residential neighbourhoods. They are all threatened.
● The Urban Areas are the same for each Option, with one exception. For Option 1, they are areas of Urban Intensification rather than Urban Optimisation. The average housing density of the Option 1 Urban Areas will be about 35% more than in the
other Options.
● The purple areas are Green Belt developments. The purple lines that surround some of the purple areas, are areas of Green Belt that would be “released” from Green Belt status, but not 100% built-on during this plan period. These areas were defined as “weakly-performing Green Belt” in the 2015/16 Ove Arup study. Of course, if these areas were removed from Green Belt they would not be protected from future development.

Advice about Questionnaire

● FEDORA will be providing advice on the individual questions. Watch this website and our e-mail communications.
● You can work on the Questionnaire a little at a time. You can start now, and edit your responses later. Your responses can be changed until midnight on September 30th, and then it is automatically submitted.
● In addition to completing the Questionnaire you can prepare a more detailed response document and upload it. You can also organise a petition and upload that.