DLBP Director of Planning, Matthew Johnson, attended a really interesting roundtable discussion this morning (hosted by SP Broadway) with Cllr Cooksey, Cabinet Member for Planning at Mole Valley District Council.
Councillor Cooksey spoke about the Council’s emerging Local Plan, which is targeted for adoption in October this year after more than two years in examination, and the pressure between green belt release and meeting housing need. She also spoke about the related issues from the national level - how, in her view, The Labour Party’s plan for the ‘grey belt’ will not make a significant impact in Mole Valley and indeed how the Liberal Democrats manifesto pledge of 380,000 new homes a year will not mean that places like Mole Valley will need to meet its housing need.
DLBP has extensive experience in Mole Valley, including maximising previously development sites in the green belt such as in Bookham (photographed; currently operated by Care UK); in Leatherhead (for Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF); and indeed most recent in Councillor Cooksey’s ward in Dorking for Hamberley Development and Hamberley Care Homes.