"YET another" housing development could push the Caterham Hill area to breaking point, residents claim.
And the latest plan – for 27 new homes off Whyteleafe Road – would "create carnage", according to one critic.
Caterham on the Hill Parish Council has come out fighting against the contentious scheme.
Village Developments – based in Outwood – has applied to Tandridge District Council to construct homes on land behind numbers 176 and 186.
But the parish council's clerk Helen Broughton believes the proposal could have dire consequences for the area.
In a letter to the district council, she said: "The local road network is overcrowded, drains have overflowed and school places will soon be oversubscribed.
"Further significant development would worsen an already deteriorating local environment."
The impact of the 161-home Oaklands development – currently under construction half a mile away, off Coulsdon Road – had yet to be felt on the area, she added.
Near-neighbours have also voiced concern.
David Mogridge, of Whyteleafe Road, added: "This area around Salmons Lane Green has changed almost beyond recognition over the past few years, with one or two dwellings being demolished only to be replaced by numerous estates built in the gardens.
"We are being targeted more than other areas."
But Nigel Greenhalgh, managing director of Village Developments, said: "There are three developments of approximately 30 houses within 200 metres on the opposite side of the road – Cedar Walk, The Hawthorns and on the corner of Whyteleafe Road and Salmons Lane West.
"There is no highway evidence to support the argument that it will have any detrimental effect on highway safety.
"The targets that Tandridge are working to have been superseded by the National Policy Planning Framework.
"This requires them to meet objectively assessed housing needs. Currently there are 1,946 households on the waiting list."
