Claygate Parish Council is concerned about Elmbridge Borough Council’s decision to sell the Oaken Lane playing field site which was approved at the EBC Cabinet meeting on 16 September.
The Parish Council agrees that the waste must be removed and supports the continued use of the land for sport and leisure but is concerned that there are currently insufficient safeguards to guarantee that it will remain in leisure use in the longer term. If that use ceased in future, there is a risk that a subsequent owner could seek to develop the site for housing.
We believe this is an important area of Green Belt separating Claygate and Esher from Hinchley Wood and that its long-term protection matters to our community.
The Parish Council has therefore raised with Elmbridge ways in which stronger protection could be provided, including retaining the freehold and granting a long lease restricted to leisure use, or ensuring that any sale is subject to robust and enforceable restrictive covenants.
Our priority is simple: to ensure that the Oaken Lane site remains protected from housing development for future generations.
Residents wishing to make their views known to Elmbridge Council should write to the Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Commercial Strategy, Councillor Simon Waugh (swaugh@elmbridge.gov.uk).
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This is the news statement issued by Elmbridge Council on 17 September 2026 together the EBC Cabinet Meeting paper (with appendices) that was approved.