Claygate Parish Council’s response to the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) draft of its Local Plan for consultation under Regulation 18.
Claygate Parish Council makes the following representations in response to the consultation on the draft Local Plan published by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The Parish Council is grateful for the opportunity to submit its views.
Claygate Parish Council strongly endorses draft policy KN6 (page 142): “All proposals will be required to preserve or enhance the openness of the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land. Proposals resulting in potential harm to the openness of the Green Belt or and [sic] Metropolitan Open Land will be strongly resisted by the Council”.
The Parish Council is however concerned by the qualification which follows, stating that “Inappropriate developments within the Green Belt or and [sic] Metropolitan Open Land will not be permitted, unless very special circumstances can be clearly demonstrated and that any potential harm resulting from the proposal is clearly outweighed by other considerations“. [emphasis supplied] Green Belt land outside Elmbridge but adjoining Claygate is as much a concern of the Parish Council as Green Belt land within Elmbridge. The Parish Council repeats its often expressed view that there are no circumstances in which new development should be allowed on Green Belt land.
The Site Assessments Update published in July 2021 included three parcels of Green Belt land on the east of the A3 which were identified as potential building sites and which, if built on, could have a serious adverse effect on Claygate. They were promoted by the landowners as residential-led development, and all three were described as available for C3 housing, but unsuitable for C3 housing because they were part of the Green Belt. In response to that consultation, Claygate Parish Council strongly supported the view that these sites were unsuitable for residential development, or indeed any development.
The Parish Council is therefore glad to see that, unlike the Site Assessments Update, the draft Site Allocations in the draft Local Plan (fig 13.2, page 171) include only one site south or East of the A3, and that is Kingston Business Park, Fullers Way South, well away from Claygate. There are no sites proposed for development anywhere near Claygate, and in particular none on Hook Park and none to the east of the A3 in the area adjoining Ruxley Crescent. The Parish Council hopes that the final draft of the Local Plan will be unchanged in this respect.
Submitted 19th January 2023
Claygate Parish Councils Response to the notice of Public Consultation under Regulation 18 of The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) on the subject and scope of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Local Plan (closes 30th September).
This is the response of Claygate Parish Council to the document Shaping Kingston Together – Further Engagement on the Local Plan.
The document seeks views on the sites so far submitted, and what the land should be used for. The use to be made of the land to the east of the A3 which adjoins Claygate (and hence Elmbridge) is a matter of great concern to the people of Claygate. It is all Green Belt land, consisting of the parcels identified as GB5, GB12, GB13, GB14 and GB15 in the Kingston Green Belt Assessment 2018. In the Site Assessments Update (July 2021 revision) three of the sites – CN01, CS04 and CS06 – form part of this area of Green Belt. All three parcels are promoted by the landowners as residential-led development, and all three are described by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames as available for C3 housing, but unsuitable for C3 housing because they are part of the Green Belt.
The Parish Council endorses in the strongest possible terms the view that these parcels of land, and indeed all five Green Belt parcels, are unsuitable for C3 housing, or indeed any housing. None of this land should be regarded as available for housing. In the Green Belt Assessment 2018 it was treated as contributing to the Green Belt by preventing urban sprawl, preventing the merger of built up areas, and assisting in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.
This is particularly the case with parcel CN01, which is almost congruent with GB15. You will be well aware that developers have ambitions to build between 1,500 and 2,500 dwellings on this site. This is not the place to explain in any detail why building on that scale would have a disastrous effect on existing communities, Claygate in particular. For the present, the Parish Council repeats its often-expressed view that there should be no development at all on any of these parcels of Green Belt land.
Submitted 7th September 2021