ePetition details

Remove Green Belt from the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council Local Plan

We the undersigned petition the council to remove all Green Belt sites for house building from the Local Plan (with the exception of previously developed land, for instance at West Park Hospital), and submit it to examination by early January 2025.

The houses and dwellings that Epsom and Ewell needs should, instead, be built on brownfield sites and previously developed land, already identified by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC).

There is clear evidence that residents of Epsom and Ewell are against development of the Green Belt. Over 1,700 Epsom and Ewell residents responded to the consultation survey in 2023, with 87% saying they do not support the EEBC policy to develop the Green Belt.

The Government’s current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), paragraph 145 and 146, state that the green belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances, and only after suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land have been fully used.

The new NPPF, which will take effect in January 2025, will require meeting even greater government targets for house building, which would decimate the borough's green spaces in a generation.

Started by: Yvonne Grunwald

On reaching 1500 signatures this issue will be reported to and discussed at an ordinary meeting of the full Council or at a policy committee.

This ePetition ran from 21/10/2024 to 02/12/2024 and has now finished.

1632 people signed this ePetition.