Public Meeting - Please Attend

FOR RESIDENTS OF ABINGER HAMMER AND ABINGER COMMON – PLEASE COME – WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

“MODEST EXPANSION OF EXISTING VILLAGES” - PUBLIC MEETING arranged by ABINGER PARISH COUNCIL: Monday 17th September 2018 at Abinger Hammer Village Hall at 8.00pm

Many Abinger residents were at the Evelyn Hall in February to hear a presentation by Mole Valley planners, as part of working up the new Local Plan, on possible changes in village boundaries, changes that may allow new development by way of infilling in the villages affected. Mole Valley planners have recently given Abinger Parish Council details of what they call “MODEST EXPANSION OF EXISTING VILLAGES” and this meeting has been arranged to explain Mole Valley’s thinking and to ask residents for their views.

Mole Valley planners, and the Government, start from the position that there is a substantial unmet housing need in our district as well as in the country at large, and they consider that individual villages should, in appropriate cases, make a (small) contribution to meeting that need.

At present the five villages in Abinger Parish do not have, for planning purposes, a defined boundary. That means that new housing development is only possible on what are called “rural exception sites”, that is small groups of affordable housing for local people. If a village has a defined boundary, then new housing development is permissible by way of infilling along road frontages within the boundary. Where a village remains within the Green Belt, then no development in depth is permissible.

It seems that where a village boundary is in place it is not possible to lay down in the Local Plan what sort of new housing – eg in terms of size – can be provided by way of infill; controls on size etc can only be dealt with on any planning application. Controls of that sort can only be set out in the Local Plan in relation to specific sites allocated for development, and so far as the Parish Council knows no specific sites have been put forward in any of the villages in the Parish.

Mole Valley planners are proposing that boundaries should be drawn round the core of Abinger Hammer and Abinger Common, both villages remaining in the Green Belt. (No boundaries are proposed for Forest Green, Okewood Hill, or Walliswood). Plans showing the proposed boundaries can be seen at http://futuremolevalley.org/, and will also be available at the meeting. The boundary for Abinger Hammer goes round the centre of the village along the A25 and a short way down Felday Road. At Abinger Common two boundaries are proposed – one round the area containing the church and the Abinger Hatch, and the other round the houses at the southern end. No changes to any Conservation Area are proposed.

The Parish Council would in principle be glad to see a small amount of affordable housing in the Parish, but new development by way of infilling within a defined boundary would not necessarily be small or affordable. Accordingly, the Parish Council told Mole Valley planners earlier this year that in its view village boundaries are not appropriate or desirable.

Mole Valley planners have now asked Abinger Parish Council:
1) Whether we agree to the principle of boundaries for Abinger Hammer and Abinger Common, and
2) Whether the boundaries proposed are correct.

We are accordingly asking residents for their views on these two questions. Mole Valley want residents at this stage to give their comments to us rather then to Mole Valley. We will then give our response to Mole Valley. Mole Valley, having considered the views they have received, will publish a “Preferred Options Local Plan” for public consultation, probably in the early part of next year.

Trevor Haylett
Clerk to Abinger Parish Council
Rose Cottage, 11 Cotmandene, Dorking RH42BL
E-mail: abingerpc@hotmail.com