Hi All,

A critical milestone in the Local Plan process is due this week.

This Wednesday, 24 Jan 2024, the local plan development sites are expected to be submitted to Surrey County Council to enable SCC to prepare the required infrastructure plans to support delivery of the plan.

The Greenbelt sites, which residents are strongly objected to develop, are being decided in a most extraordinary and controversial way. Councilors were invited to a private meeting, advised by Derek Stebbing, and asked to vote anonymously. Cllr Steve McCormick will then collect all feedback and submit the final decision this Wednesday.

The submitted plan then requires months of work based on the sites chosen. Therefore, it is highly unlikely the secret decision can be revised by public consultation in early 2025, without restarting the costly process again.

We are not sure if every councilor had the opportunity to exam the evidence fully, or was kept informed throughout the process. After all, it is challenging to ensure the decision will be a fair and transparent one, if it is done in a private meeting only attended by 50% of cllrs who also voted anonymously.

So far we heard these are the cllrs who are yet to vote on this issue:

Arthur Abdulin    aabdulin@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Christine cleveland   ccleveland@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Hannah dalton  hdalton@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Rober geilleit   rgeleit@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Graham jones   grahamjones@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Jan mason   jmason@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Lucy McIntyre   lmcintyre@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Peter O’Donovan po'donovan@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Chris Watson   cWatson@epsom-ewell.gov.uk
Alan Williamson   awilliamson@epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Could you please email these cllrs, together with Chair Steven McCormick(smccormick@epsom-ewell.gov.uk) to call for them truly listen to residents, focus on Brownfield, which government has confirmed can result in a ‘sound plan’ under the revised NPPF?

Thank you