Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan
S1: SUSTAINABLE MOLE VALLEY
Sustainable Development
1. The Council will expect the development proposals and use of land to contribute positively to the social, economic and environmental enhancement of Mole Valley. Planning applications that are consistent with the policies in the Plan (and with relevant policies contained within other elements of the Mole Valley Development Plan) will be supported, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Housing Growth
2. The Council will enable the delivery of new homes to help meet the needs of Mole Valley and the wider south-east region by aiming to deliver at least 6,381 new homes over the plan period 2020-2039 (336 new homes per annum). As this is below the current housing need, the Council will undertake an early review of the plan, to be completed before the third anniversary of the adoption of the plan, to ascertain whether more housing capacity is deliverable or developable.
3. In order to achieve this target, the Council has adopted the following spatial strategy:
- Allocated town centre sites in Leatherhead and Dorking for housing-led redevelopment;
- Developed policy (Policy H2) and set indicative densities for site allocations to ensurebrownfield land sites achieve their appropriate capacity;
- Allocated outdated office complexes in Ashtead and Dorking for housing-led regeneration;
- Released sites which were modest contributors to the objectives of the Green Belt forhousing around the built up areas of Ashtead, Bookham, Dorking and Leatherhead;
- Released sites which were modest contributors to the objectives of the Green Belt forhousing within and around Hookwood to complement the economic growth point of theGatwick area;
- Developed policy and amended Green Belt boundaries to permit appropriate development inthe villages inset from the Green Belt, namely Beare Green, Brockham, Capel, Charlwood, andWestcott; and,
- Developed policy and amended village boundaries to permit limited infilling development inthe villages washed over by the Green Belt and in the Countryside Beyond the Green Belt.
4. As a result of these measures, the Council anticipates that that new housing will be delivered in the following locations in the following approximate proportions:
| Leatherhead area | 30% |
|---|---|
| Dorking area | 23% |
| Hookwood area | 15% |
| Ashtead area | 11% |
| Bookham area | 7% |
| Rest of the District | 14% |
Commercial, Industrial, Retail and Town Centre Growth
5. To ensure a sustainable and balanced District, and to limit the need to commute and travel for goods and services, the Council:
- Has safeguarded existing sizeable commercial and industrial uses within designatedcommercial industrial areas;
- Will only permit the loss of sizeable commercial and industrial floorspace to other usesoutside the designated areas provided certain criteria are met;
- Will permit new commercial and industrial uses, where appropriate;
- Has safeguarded existing sizeable town centre uses and retail uses within the shopping areas and local shopping centres;
- Will only permit the loss of sizeable town centre uses and retail uses outside the designated areas provided certain criteria are met; and,
- Will permit new town centre uses and retail uses, where appropriate
Infrastructure Provision
6. To ensure a liveable District, the Council will work with:
- Surrey County Council to deliver new education provision in the north of the District;
- Surrey Downs Health and Care to deliver new and redeveloped health provision in Ashtead,Bookham, Dorking, Leatherhead and, if required, Hookwood;
- Developers to deliver new public open space in Ashtead, Bookham and Hookwood;
- Developers to deliver new children’s play space along with new housing development inAshtead, Bookham, Dorking, Hookwood and Leatherhead;
- Surrey County Council, Surrey Downs Health and Care and developers, as necessary, todeliver redeveloped community hubs in Ashtead, Bookham, Dorking and Leatherhead;
- Developers to deliver new early years facilities in Ashtead, Bookham, Dorking, Hookwood andLeatherhead;
- Surrey County Council and developers to ensure District-wide and individual transportimprovements take place across the District;
- Flood prevention schemes target areas of flood risk; and,
- Statutory undertakers to ensure utility improvements meet existing and new demands,especially in Ashtead, Dorking, Leatherhead and Ockley
Character Protection
7. All development proposals will be expected to:
- Conserve and enhance the Surrey Hills National Landscape and the District’s Area of GreatLandscape Value;
- Minimise the impact on the integrity of the Green Belt;
- Preserve and, where required, enhance the District’s heritage and biodiversity assets; and,
- Protect other elements, designated or non-designated, which contribute to local character
8. The Council will produce design codes for the District in due course.
For more information please see the Mole Valley Local Plan