RAGE (Residents Against Greenbelt Erosion) are a campaign group opposed to developments such as The South East Plan. The Crossoak Conservation Society and the Horley Residents Association are going to start their own chapter of the group. I will post details here as soon as they are available.

Make sure you quiz the Estate Agent thoroughly as houses in Surrey, surrounding Horley, are more than likely going to be at risk from the knock on effect of the Horley Master Plan (to recap, the authorities want to build 2600 houses on a know flood plain). The houses close to the River Mole and the Burstow Stream (Mole tributary) are going to be worst affected but, any low area, of which Horley has plenty, is going to be a high risk of flooding.

If the Horley Masterplan does in fact go ahead and coupled with the South East Plan where up to 33,00 new homes are to be built PER ANNUM, buying a house in Horley or the surrounding areas - the buyer ought to be aware that flooding could be imminent!

John Prescott rejected the concerns of the regional planning authorities and raised the house building targets above what they had said was the absolute maximum that could be anticipated without intolerable damage to the environment and the Green Belt. Read more…

I find it interesting today to discover that if you type fuc*wit (without the asterisk) into google.co.uk ’s UK only search and press the “I feel Lucky” button that John Prescott’s biography appears.

Flooding - the facts

Around 5 million people, in 2 million properties, live in flood risk areas in England and Wales. The Environment Agency has an important role in warning people about the risk of flooding, and in reducing the likelihood of flooding from rivers and the sea… more

How will climate change affect us in 30 to 100 years time? How much will flooding increase? And how should we prepare? … more

The outlook is bleak as far as I am concerned. There isn’t one authority on the subject of flooding that doesn’t predict higher rates of rainfall in the future. Proving once again the long term stupidity of building new houses on a flood plain. The Horley Master Plan seems to be nothing more than a money spinning idea that will leave innocent people out of pocket or in danger.

Britain’s insurance industry wants new homes built in the south east of England to feature innovative designs to minimise the danger posed by floodplains.
see the full version here

I will be interested to see if any innovative or otherwise designs will be used on the new housing proposed in Horley - doubtful as no one seems to be able to admit that there will BE a flooding problem. On a flood plain. OK.

New residents should be warned that they may have to have “washing machines on first floors” and electrical supply located above flood levels - how high might that be then? They also are advising testing “houses on stilts” to combat flooding - I fully expect the proposed houses in Horley that the new residents will be issued with the stilts and not the new houses.

Nothing would surprise me now.

Flooding will be a massive problem in Surrey – says the County Council!

The latest issue of “Surrey’s Environment” contains a feature article on climate change, “The temperature’s rising … but so is the water!” Based on an interview with TV Weatherman, Bill Giles, the article explains that by 2050 Surrey summers will be on average 5 deg C warmer and the North Downs could be transformed to a Mediterranean landscape of vineyards, olive groves and goats grazing on scrub. The TV Weatherman further predicts wetter winters with many more extreme storms and floods. More importantly, with 60,000 properties in Surrey currently at risk from flooding, he stresses that in Surrey, “Flooding will become a massive problem”. Stark warning indeed.

Most readers will be aware of the controversy that surrounds the Surrey Structure Plan policy to build 2600 dwellings at Horley in the Upper River Mole floodplain. They will therefore be surprisd to learn that the publisher of “Surrey’s Environment” is none other than Surrey County Council. Worse still, on the very next page is an article about how the County Council aims to address housing need in Surrey and sports a picture of Peter Shadbolt, Principal Planner, Housing & Social Policy. Those who attended the Examination in Public of the Surrey Structure Plan will remember that this is the very County Council Officer who ignored our flooding concerns and recommended that Horley’s allocation should remain. I would strongly recommend that Mr Shadbolt read his employer’s magazine. Or is this all part of Surrey’s policy to deliver more affordable housing. I.e. to allow houses to be built in or adjacent to an area known to flood, anticipating that they will be devalued by flood risk!
Is it any wonder why Horley residents are angry and in a recent referendum, 98% who voted, objected to the housing plan. No doubt Government and the planners will ignore that too. At the Examination in Public I accused Surrey County Council of an ostrich-like approach to Horley. They continue to prove that their heads are still firmly stuck in the mud.

Horley Residents Association press release

Finally someone has issued what the proposed Horley Master Plan new houses will actually look like:- Horley New Estate

I found this article on homes flooding to be of interest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/have_your_say/chertsey_flood.shtml

Councillors tell us it is time to give up the fight. Let’s be clear about one thing - the fight goes on

‘It is perverse that we have a situation where every councillor who stood up to speak agrees this housing development is fundamentally wrong, but, bar a few exceptions, is prepared to vote for it. Quite simply, this council has failed the residents of Horley.’

Thanks to all of you who turned up last night for the Full Council meeting. It was an entertaining, if highly frustrating, evening. At times it was a disgrace - particularly when Andrew Kent was barred from speaking despite meeting all the necessary conditions.

As expected, the council voted to adopt the Horley Master Plan, with just 8 councillors voting against and 3 abstaining (meaning we got about 25% of the vote). This despite every councillor who stood up to speak admitting that the proposed development is wrong. However, once again councillor after councillor pleaded that the HMP had to go through as it is or else:

1. R&BBC would lose control of the planning process. The matter would be referred to the ODPM and it would go through on appeal with all ‘planning gains’ lost.

2. R&BBC would still be on GOSE’s ‘hit list’ and subject to ongoing financial penalty.

So basically, we must suffer the consequences of the council’s failure to push through its plan, regardless of how flawed the proposals are.

All but a handful of councillors are not prepared to fight on on behalf of their electorate. They have given up (and with a hughe sigh of relief it seems).

However, this is not the end of the story.

The planning committee still has to approve the application and we must focus on this meeting in mid-March. Encouragingly Cllr Miller (who voted against the plan) is Chair of Planning and said after the vote that he would make the application’s passage very difficult.

We will discuss strategy and tactics at our future meetings, but it is clear that we have to alert anyone considering buying a house on this new development to the risks. Wates and Martin Grant will also need to see this in action.

Jon - Crossoak Conservation Society

Nick Reeves, CIWEM’s Executive Director, said:

“It is entirely wrong that at present, if the Environment Agency’s objections to developing on a floodplain are ignored it is possible for construction to proceed, giving rise to properties that may become a threat to health and life, as well as uninsurable in the longer term,” he added.

See the whole article here Blue Belt Land - Flood Plain Land