New homes plan puts green belt at risk - campaigners

"We’re very concerned about urban sprawl and losing our green spaces," says CPRE Surrey's John Goodridge

The government’s housing targets would lead to a “completely unsustainable” increase in Surrey’s population and "inflict serious damage" on the environment, campaigners have warned.

Proposals show a large rise in the number of homes expected to be built across the area, up to more than 10,000 per year.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said Surrey is already “severely congested”, with “chronically stretched public services and infrastructure”.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said all parts of the country would need to “play their part” in building new homes.

Permission to build 216 homes on land at Milford was granted last year.

In a response to a consultation about changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, CPRE Surrey said there is a need for social housing for key workers and lower income families, rather than homes for the market.

The charity said it would mean there is a “very strong probability” that local authorities will have no option but to allow development on the green belt.

'Very rural'

John Goodridge, chairman of CPRE Surrey, said the rural landscape helps people with their mental health and allows them to take exercise.

He told BBC Radio Surrey: “Whilst we applaud the idea that we need new homes in the county, and more affordable homes…we’re very concerned about urban sprawl and losing our green spaces.

“Surrey is a very rural place; it’s full of countryside and animals and if we lose that space, we will become a suburb of London.”

CPRE Surrey has raised concerns about the loss of rural land in areas like Milford, where Waverley Borough Council approved plans for more than 200 homes in August 2023, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In September, a planning inspector told Elmbridge Borough Council to re-think its plan for 8,000 new homes.

A housing ministry spokesperson said: “We are facing a serious housing crisis so all areas of the country must play their part in building the homes that Britain badly needs.

“Our ambitious plans to provide the housing we need will not come at the expense of the environment.

"We will take a brownfield-first approach to building, so sites which people are desperate to see used will be developed first.”