THE Advertiser is today backing a campaign to save areas of Mole Valley's green belt from being turned into housing.
The announcement by Mole Valley District Council last month that it could open up green belt areas for developers sparked outrage amongst scores of our readers.
It also led to the Campaign to Protect Rural England's Surrey branch launching the Save Surrey's Countryside campaign which this week received the backing of well-known conservationist Virginia McKenna and BBC presenter Chris Packham.
The countless calls and letters from angry residents to our newsdesk, as well as the backing from such prominent wildlife activists, has led to our decision to back the campaign.
It's clear that any decision to allow developers to build on our green belt area has an impact not only within the Mole Valley boundary but also nationally and internationally.
We understand the district council is under pressure from central government to earmark areas within the green belt for prospective development in a rush to find space for 2,200 new homes before 2026.Scroll down to take our poll below But these sites are the breathing spaces of our world and it is vital we do not lose even a small part of it.
The council should look to more brownfield sites before green belt spaces because, once built on, this space will be lost forever and set a scary precedent for future councils and councillors. We understand and recognise the need for more houses in our district but the environment must come first.
That is why the Advertiser is calling for the council to tear up its green belt boundary review, go back to the drawing board and explore every other possible avenue and leave our green belt alone.
The council has already made excellent progress in the pursuit of hitting its housing target with planning permission being given for nearly 400 new houses up to April last year. Since then, planning permission for around 180 further homes has also been granted by the council and the potential for another 160 on brownfield sites over the next five years has also been identified.
With such promising progress, the council should continue to concentrate efforts on our current built-up areas.
The council would surely be better off challenging the Government's decision not to count any empty homes which are brought back into use to the housing total.
As of March last year, there were as many as 229 long-term empty properties in the district and these would go a huge way to helping the council meet its target.
Along our village and town high streets, there are also a plethora of units above shops which are no longer needed by businesses for storage and could easily be converted into homes.
The consultation period on the council's review ends on March 28. We are urging you today to read the green belt boundary review on the council's website and submit your view. You can also join the campaign by sending an e-mail to cpre.surrey@btconnect.com
