Letter: West Surrey Council, Once In Power, Will Be Able to Overturn GBC Decisions on the New Local Plan

Published on: 6 Nov, 2026
Updated on: 6 Nov, 2026

From Jim Allen

In response to: Conservatives Should Not Take All the Blame

It appears that the proposal to discuss the green belt overlooks the complexities of the 2016 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which necessitated providing land beyond the life of the Local Plan and lacked provisions for green belt land swapping, a nuance that was perhaps not fully understood or addressed during Cllr Spooner’s tenure.

While much of this discourse must be considered past grievances, the current situation involves a new NPPF and the introduction of the grey belt designation, which is subject to serious misinterpretation.

There is a concern that an urgent desire to comply with government directives, coupled with a lack of thorough review of the relevant documents, has led to the incremental erosion of the green belt through individual plots rather than comprehensive planning.

It would be beneficial for all councillors to carefully review the statutes and technical details, or alternatively, to engage advisors who can provide a practical understanding of the implications of their political decisions.

Guildford Borough Council, which ceases to exist in six months time, is in denial, wasting money by giving instructions to officers to write any plan as this work could be binned by councillors of Waverley or Spelthorne once they are all part of the new West Surrey Council.

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