London Plan draft policies offer strong protection to the Green Belt and MOL:
A The Green Belt should be protected from inappropriate development: 1) development proposals that would harm the Green Belt should be refused 2) the enhancement of the Green Belt to provide appropriate multi-functional uses for Londoners should be supported. B The extension of the Green Belt will be supported, where appropriate. Its de-designation will not be supported.
Policy G3 Metropolitan Open Land
A Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) should be protected from inappropriate development: 1) development proposals that would harm MOL should be refused 2) boroughs should work with partners to enhance the quality and range of uses of MOL.
However, Kingston Council wants to be able to de-designate protected land in the Borough unilaterally and at will in order to develop its massive "opportunity area", particularly in Chessington*.
This seems hugely inappropriate for our "leafy" Borough, as described by council leader, Liz Green, on LBC Radio recently. It is ironic that Royal Kingston is the first whole Borough to be designated as an "opportunity area", defined as a large brownfield site in need of regeneration
Kingston Council has proposed the following change to the London Plan policy (proposed changes in italics, original wording proposed for deletion in square brackets).
"...the Council recommends that the following policy amendments are made to remove the inconsistency:
“G2 B. The extension of the Green Belt will be supported, where appropriate. [Its] Any de-designation [will not be supported] must be supported and justified by a Green Belt assessment demonstrating the exceptional circumstances which justify the boundary modifications.”
The council has already put forward possible large sites to the GLA which will end up being developed at vastly elevated opportunity area densities (SHLAA 2017).
We already have a huge London Plan target of 30,008 homes, with an additional 16,309 homes if we get Crossrail 2 which will serve only to increase further the density of development on large sites. In addition, the council want to build premises for 46,000 jobs, many of which will be in Kingston Town or Chessington (Kingston Transport Study 2018).
It is simply not true that our housing targets have been "forced" upon us; they have been agreed by council officers with their counterparts at the GLA based on projected elevated density assumptions on large sites. And given the "opportunity area" extends to Chessington, and "opportunity areas" are priority areas for development, it seems that the GLA and the Council are hoping that the Inspectors will now grant Kingston "exceptional" dispensation to develop on some of our Borough's most precious green land.
Sites put forward by the council include 849 homes on Chessington Golf Course, over 8000 homes in the Hogsmill Valley and 740 homes at Seething Wells Filter Beds.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 25 March 2019, at 2pm the Inspectors of the London Plan will cover the proposed policies for the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land.
Please tune in and listen to what Kingston Council and other interested parties have to say:
https://www.london.gov.uk/media-centre/mayoral
You can also read my submission to the Inspectors on the Green Belt/ MOL and Opportunity Areas here:
http://bit.ly/GreenBeltMOL Scott, Caroline 2191
* "12.The development of Kingston’s Opportunity Area relies on the delivery of Crossrail 2 and Kingston’s Local Plan will need to acknowledge the further growth associated with the Opportunity Area. London Plan paragraph 2.1.24 refers to longer term growth in Kingston's Opportunity Area in line with the opening of Crossrail 2 in 2033, stating “there may be potential to accommodate growth in... Chessington”.
As set out in our Matter 14 Statement, the Royal Borough of Kingston has concerns about how growth can take place in Chessington which is constrained by Green Belt, and the implications for significant growth within the Green Belt. Policy G2 suggests that the presence of a Crossrail 2 station would not justify release of Green Belt, making it difficult to understand the additional capacity for growth following the opening of Crossrail 2. It would be difficult for the borough to plan strategically in its Local Plan, as well as approve development within the area if ‘very special circumstances’ cannot be applied and there is no scope for a review of the Green Belt boundaries through development of Kingston’s local plan."
Taken from from Kingston Council's submission on The Green Belt and the MOL to the Examination in Public of the London Plan