South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt has spoken to Greg Clark in person about the Government’s planning reforms. The Minister piloting the reforms through parliament reassured Jeremy that contrary to some of the reports in the national papers, the new plans give local communities more power not less to shape development policy in their own areas. Jeremy raised a number of concerns that had been raised with him by local residents.
Jeremy said: ""Greg Clark reassured me that the presumption in favour of sustainable development goes as soon as an area adopts a local plan. Local plans can designate anywhere (whether or not green belt) as not suitable for development and are specifically designed to allow councils to protect the special character of their areas. Of course as part of getting a local plan approved, it is necessary to make a proper assessment of local housing needs but any building programme adopted must be sustainable. I am now arranging for him to meet representatives from Waverley to go through any concerns they have in more detail.""