Letter: Surely There Are More Suitable Areas to Develop

Published on: 13 Aug, 2025
Updated on: 13 Aug, 2025

From Charlie Wood

In response to: Normandy Housing Plan Reignites Concerns Over ‘Damage To Our Community’

While fully understanding the need and demand for new build housing, the proposed 1,000+ homes will bring upwards of 3,000 people, with an estimate of 2,000 private cars.

This combined with the additional infrastructure – school, shops etc) – the toll on local roads will be immense.

Traffic would also increase hugely on main routes like the Hog’s Back, which is already not a particularly safe road to enter and exit.

The carbon footprint (that Guildford Council often mentions) would be heavily impacted here in this area of wild flower meadows and woodlands.

I understand it may come across as “not in my back yard” but there must be other areas on which to build that would not have the damaging effect this would create. Military land near Aldershot comes to mind.

Responses to Letter: Surely There Are More Suitable Areas to Develop

Peta Malthouse Reply

August 13, 2025 at 6:34 pm

Taylor Wimpey bought this land back at the time of the last local plan (10 years). Their plans to remove this from the green belt for 1,700 homes and an unneeded school were turned down then but they are having another go now.

The reality is they bought this land at farmland prices in the hope they could maximise their profit. It is good farmland which has supported sheep etc. It has ancient woodland supporting wildlife and is next to other highly protected land.

Access to the site would be from two residential roads which could not support more traffic.