Decision due on new homes plan for Epsom and Ewell

Land at Hook Road Arena is one of the places which could be taken out of the green belt to build new homes.

A Surrey council is due to decide its next steps on plans to build nearly 5,000 new homes, including on the green belt.

As part of its long term housing blueprint, Epsom and Ewell would set a target of 261 homes a year by 2040.

Protected green belt land would be reclassified at certain sites, including Horton Farm and Hook Road Arena, to allow for development.

The council says it needs a strategy "that meets the current challenges the borough faces".

The campaign group, Save Epsom's Green Belt, said there should be a focus on brownfield sites instead and claimed the plan "would destroy all the green belt between Epsom and West Ewell".

A spokesperson said: "When surveyed, 90% of local residents don't want to lose this green belt.

"They rightly fear the extra traffic, the strain on public services, the increased flooding and the mental health impacts.

"They want clean air, somewhere to walk, somewhere to run."

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council said it had already reviewed previous feedback from the public and reduced the number of homes proposed to be built on green belt sites.

"We need a local plan for the borough that meets the current challenges the borough faces and shapes future development," a spokesperson said.

"Every council is legally required to review their local plan at least every five years and as the borough's current local plan is more than five years old, we need a new one.

"Not having an up-to-date local plan may leave the borough at increased risk of unplanned and speculative development."

Councillors will be asked to endorse the local plan at a meeting on Tuesday and to approve a six-week public consultation, ahead of submitting it to a planning inspector.