Threat of 350 unwanted homes for the borough

Government Inspectors vetting Surrey's plans for the 35,400 new homes demanded by John Prescott, have recommended startling changes in a report just revealed to Councillors following their "examination in public" hearings. These include a further 350 additional homes to be built in Epsom & Ewell by 2016.

Epsom & Ewell's allocation, based on expert assessment of the space available including the former mental hospital sites, was originally 2650. This has been increased to 3000 on the basis that 350 homes are expected to be built at West Park. The original assessment was for only 2150 and Councillors believed that the 2650 figure included West Park, but evidence given at the hearings by government planning consultants Broadway Malyan seems to have persuaded the Inspectors to add another 350 for West Park.

People are already worried that the Government may impose a target that exceeds the amount of building land available. House building in Epsom & Ewell has already been heavy and local services are being overloaded, to say nothing of our road network.

With the "Barker report" recommending even higher levels of house building in the South East, our green open spaces may soon be under threat, but there is already a threat to our quality of life, with a shortage of medical facilities and school places, overcrowding in shopping centres and transport congestion in the rush hour.

At the previous 'deposit draft' stage the RA party accepted Labour Government and Tory County Council proposals, only the Liberal Democrats argued for improvements. We hope they will defend our quality of life more effectively when the final Structure Plan is voted on in October.