Local MPs Speak Out on Surrey Hills Expansion and Grey Belt Designation

Published on: 15 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 15 Sep, 2026

By Martin Giles

Sir Jeremy Hunt, the MP for Godalming & Ash, has added his support to requests for the Government to approve the proposed boundary change to the Surrey Hills National Landscape area.

The review, which has taken several years to complete, is recommending extending the boundaries in numerous areas, including the north side of the Hog’s Back and would result in an overall increase of 30 per cent.

The proposals are now with Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for a final decision. Some supporters of the proposals fear that any delay to the decision might allow developers to put forward plans for the affected areas before protection is in place.

Sir Jeremy told The Dragon: “[This] is something I have championed for many years and would bring some truly exceptional countryside into the National Landscape, including important areas within my Godalming and Ash constituency.

“A huge amount of work has gone into reaching this point and I am enormously grateful to everyone who has helped make it happen.”

The Godalming and Ash MP’s letter to the Secretary of State.

Guildford’s MP challenges Rayner on grey belt issue

Last week Guildford’s MP and Lib Dem spokesperson for Local Government spoke in Parliament on the Government’s controversial “grey belt” policy.

Guildford’s MP, Zöe Franklin

Zöe Franklin questioned Secretary of State Angela Rayner, pointing out that a recent review commissioned by Guildford Borough Council had concluded more than 90 per cent of Guildford’s green belt meets Government’s “grey belt” definition.

In addition to grey belt designation, changes to the planning system introduced by the Government include:

a presumption in favour of approval for developments over 250 homes within a 10-minute walk of a station
changes removing the need for certain planning decisions to go to a local planning committee
substantially increased housing targets, in Guildford it doubled
reduction of the ability of local authorities to shape development according to local circumstances.

Guildford’s 90 per cent “grey belt” according to the GBC-commissioned AECOM Study.

Following the debate, Ms Franklin said: “I demanded answers from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“I… told her the Labour Government’s plans will have an impact across the entire constituency and that so many of us are very concerned about the potential loss of green spaces, unsustainable development without appropriate infrastructure, and about the loss of the historic character of villages in Guildford constituency.

“I asked for details of the steps the Government will take to protect green spaces for our communities, and to ensure that developers are directed to brownfield sites first, not the land surrounding Guildford and our villages that had been protected by the green belt.”

“While we must be aware that a designation of ‘grey belt’ does not automatically mean the land will be built on, and the Government simply does not have answers for the questions and alarm their plans have prompted.”

The Secretary of State told Franklin the Government is “strengthening and clarifying the rules around the release of grey belt, but brownfield has to be first.”

Rayner also said that she was strengthening policy provisions to ensure that green space is available.

Not reassured by The Secretary of State’s response, Guildford’s MP said: “Yes, she reiterated that brownfield had to be first but the Government have not provided a mechanism to councils to ensure this. I am also not satisfied at all that the Government has a clear strategy and that the consequences of its plans have been rigorously thought through.

“I will not be deterred by hollow answers and badly thought-out policy.”

Cllr Paula Moss

Paula Moss, founder of the “Rural Roar” campaign and Effingham parish councillor, commented in a reader’s letter to The Dragon: “The Government says, ‘brownfield first’, but its grey belt test does not ask whether land is brownfield. It does not look for derelict buildings, abandoned petrol stations or disused car parks.

“It does not consider whether development would encroach into the countryside. It assesses the merging of towns but turns a blind eye to villages.

“Perhaps I am being old-fashioned, but if Angela Rayner genuinely wants councils to identify brownfield land first, the test might usefully ask: “Does this site contain
features consistent with brownfield development?”

“Instead, we have a test that is better at identifying high-performing green belt land for possible development than it is at identifying the brownfield land ministers claim to want…

“The first major party to ditch this policy, respect the countryside and return meaningful planning power to communities will win rural England at the next election.”