GBC Asks Housing Minister to Reconsider Guildford’s Housing Target

Published on: 3 Oct, 2024
Updated on: 3 Oct, 2024

Map showing Guildford borough’s (green shaded) green belt land. Source Guildford Local Plan 2019.

By Martin Giles

Guildford Borough Council has submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

At present, Guildford’s Local Plan housing target is 562 per annum but under the Government’s new proposed method for calculating housing need this figure will almost double, rising to 1,102.

In a letter addressed to Angela Rayner MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the leader of the council, Julia McShane, and lead councillor for Planning, Fiona White, outlined the council’s position – asking the Government to reconsider Guildford’s housing target.

Angela Rayner MP

The letter confirmed the council’s support for a plan-led planning system but expressed concern about the proposed changes to the standard method for calculating housing need.

A planning system overhaul was one of the first measures announced by the Labour government in July by Ms Rayner as part of the new government’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years.

Under the plans, some “low-quality” green belt land will be freed up to be designated “grey belt” on which new homes can be be built.

The government has previously described the grey belt as “poor quality and ugly areas” on parts of the protected green belt. One example given of grey belt is previously developed land – land that, until now, has usually been referred to as brownfield which most parties, if not all, agree should be prioritised for redevelopment.

Green belt protection has been a contentious issue locally and nationally in recent years. The sign is from 2016.

Established more than 70 years ago, the green belt covers about 13 per cent of England. After the Second World War, there was a recognition of the need to control the development of land, resulting in the Labour Government’s Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which laid the foundation of the modern planning system.

A number of the local planning authorities in and around London started writing into their local plans belts of restricted development to stop the uncontrolled spread of London. And in 1955 the then Conservative Government issued a circular to all Local Planning Authorities asking them to establish green belt areas in their Development Plans to limit the growth of large built-up areas, and to stop large towns and settlements merging into one another.

Until the current Local Plan for Guildford was adopted by the outgoing Conservative administration in May 2019, 89 per cent Guildford Borough had green belt protection but the 2019 plan removed the designation from “inset” villages and specified strategic sites such as Wisley and Blackwell Farm.

Under the Labour government’s plans, if a council’s housing targets cannot be met, some existing green belt land will be re-designated as grey belt. This will free up land for the construction of new homes.

Some believe that in order to meet increased housing targets new strategic sites may have to be designated while more high rise buildings might also be regarded as necessary.

New rules will also require half the dwellings built in the grey belt to be affordable homes.

Cllr Fiona White

Cllr Fiona White said: “We fully acknowledge the Government’s commitment to increasing housing delivery. We recognise that adjustments to housing numbers are needed to meet this commitment. However, it will be incredibly challenging to accommodate the level of growth requested in our borough and stronger infrastructure plans will be needed to support it.

“There are significant constraints facing Guildford. Areas are protected beyond green belt designation. These include the Surrey Hills National Landscape, the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, and sites of conservation importance. Also included are parts of the borough prone to flooding.

“We also raised concerns about speculative development applications, and the potential release of green belt land during the update period for our Local Plan.”

Cllr White added: “While the proposed changes regarding affordable and social housing are a positive step, we believe that these powers should be further enhanced.”

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in Surrey has warned that the population of Surrey could grow by 40 per cent to over 1.7 million if the Government’s proposed new formula for calculating housing requirements is adopted. The charity says if imposed on local authorities the Government’s new mandatory housing targets will be hugely damaging to the environment and quality of life in Surrey.

The increase, says the charity, would be “completely unsustainable in what is already a severely congested county with chronically stretched public services and infrastructure. Such an increase would inflict serious damage on the natural environment, especially in terms of biodiversity, at a time when we should be working to reverse the downward trend and aid nature recovery. We also need to retain our farmland for local food production.”