Overdevelopment seriously threatens the character and sustainability of local market towns and villages. Local MP Jeremy Hunt today spoke about the problem: “The threat of Overdevelopment concerns many people in South West Surrey. I have already held very well attended public meetings in Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere which clearly demonstrated how important this issues is to local communities.” “One of the key areas of concern is that front and back gardens are classified in planning terms as the equivalent of brownfield sites. In other words, they are treated the same as an old gasworks or a disused railway site, making it almost impossible to refuse planning application from developers. However, I will be offering my full support to my colleague Greg Clark, Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells, who recently introduced a Bill to protect private gardens from housing development which is out of character with the surrounding area..”