Residents asked for views on 250 new homes plan

Residents are being invited to a public event to view and comment on the plans for Oxshott

Residents are being invited to a public event to view and comment on plans for 250 new homes in a Surrey village.

Fairmile Homes is holding a consultation event on Thursday about its plans to redevelop Clouds Hill Farm in Oxshott.

The proposed development site covers 23.1 hectares of land including two residential properties, stables, a barn, grasslands, grazing pastures and woodlands, the Local Democracy Reporting Service previously reported.

The developers asked Elmbridge Borough Council's formal opinion on what information should be included in an environmental impact assessment for a future planning application on the green belt site.

Matthew Estwick, Fairmile Homes chief executive, said plans for 50% of the new homes to be affordable were "baked in".

He said for the site to be classed as a grey belt development it had to hit "golden rules", one of which is that half the homes must be affordable.

"We want to do 50% affordable because you need to be breathing new life in to areas that are really struggling to get youngsters to come in," he said.

"It's horrifically expensive as an area."

Elmbridge borough was previously labelled one of the "least affordable in the country" by a government planning inspector

Concerns raised by residents via the council's planning portal included the "very bad precedent" that the development could set in the village given the site's green belt classification.

Others mentioned the "horrendous" traffic situation in Leatherhead Road, with both the M25 and the A3 nearby, and that the new homes may "considerably worsen the situation".

Mr Estwick said he understood frustrations regarding transport and that plans would include mitigations like car clubs, cycle paths and better footpaths to the village.

Plans also include 32 acres of publicly accessible green space.

Elmbridge borough, which includes the towns of Esher, Cobham and Walton, was previously labelled one of the "least affordable in the country" by a government planning inspector.

The council was told by the inspector to rethink its local plan, setting out where and when homes will be built in the borough, including a request to provide more affordable housing.

The drop-in session will take place on Thursday between 15:30 BST and 19:30 at Oxshott Village Centre.

The developer plans to submit an outline planning application to Elmbridge Borough Council later this year.