Since this article was published we have provided a comment for an article on the same subject in the Guildford Dragon, here. Now read on!

In recent months local residents have watched with dismay as the once pristine field in the Area of Great Landscape Value to the right of Westwood Lane as it bends left at Wanborough Fields has seen extensive offloading of ballast, the erection of fencing, and the open storage of building materials, including containers. Aerial photos showing just some of the damage done can be seen here. Following determined lobbying by residents and local Councillors alike Guildford Borough Council (GBC) has finally issued an Enforcement Notice and a Stop Notice on the owners of the plot in question and their agents.

Normandy Action Group to hold Annual General Meeting, Tuesday 15 October 2019 at Normandy Village Hall, 8.00pm. There will be a review of the past year's activity and a look forward to the forthcoming year. 

Preview the Meeting Agenda and the Draft Minutes of the 2018 AGM

Local Surrey County Councillor Keith Witham on Nextdoor Normandy and Normandy Parish Council in their parish newsletter The Villager have provided timely information on the Thames Water sewer works to be carried out in Glaziers Lane. The major part of the work will see Glaziers Lane closed from 21 October 2019 though to late December 2019.

Cllr Witham also reports in respect of the 520 bus service that "Stagecoach have advised that while Glaziers Lane is closed, the 520 bus will run from Guildford or Aldershot down Westwood Lane to Flexford Road and then back via Christmaspie Avenue and Culls Road, then back to the main road the same way".

Public consultation on the 'Main Modifications' to the Local Plan, which include a proposed site, A64, for 105 houses on Green Belt in Normandy, closes at noon on Tuesday, 23 October. Here are the details of how to respond; at first sight it looks impenetrable but it is actually not. Visit the consultation homepage and you will see that you can respond in three ways:

A proposed major new housing development threatens the rural character of Normandy. Should you intend to comment on the proposal as part of the consultation you may wish to consider the following points:

Normandy Parish Council has objected to proposals for six 2-bedroom dwellings located near the junction of Wyke Lane and the Guildford Road. The site is located within the Green Belt, beyond the settlement boundary and within the 400 metre exclusion zone of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

Planning application 17/P/01451 has attracted significant opposition among residents. Over 70 letters of objection have been submitted and a residents association formed to combat the proposal.

The planning application is for 25 dwellings and their associated infrastructure needs and accommodation for over 50 vehicles. The land was previously included in the Regulation 18 version of the Guildford Local Plan draft but withdrawn from the Regulation 19 draft.

The application [SCC 2017/0118 and GBC 17/P/01585] for the change of use to waste paper and waste cardboard recovery and transfer facility, plus overnight HGV parking at Cobbett Hill Earth Station, Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, Guildford, Surrey GU3 2AA is due to be considered by the Surrey County Council Planning Committee on 15 November 2017.

More than 20 residents have submitted comments to Guildford Borough Council and some to Surrey County Council Waste & Minerals Planning team on this proposal, the majority in opposition.

At an EGM of the full council on 27 Oct 2017, it was announced that a further restricted Regulation 19 consultation on the proposed Guildford Local Plan will take place in 2017, delaying the plan process by a further 10 months.

In an article in the Sunday Times newspaper, 23 October 2016, it is revealed that "about 32,000 comments" were received in reply to the July 2016 draft Guildford Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation; this is a substantial increase over the reported 20,000+ received in reply to the July 2014 Regulation 18 consultation. This volume is among the highest in the country in response to a local plan consultation.

Surrey County Council [SCC] are considering a new planning application [SCC 2016/0149; GBC 16/S/00009] from TGM Environmental for a waste licence to use 0.53 hectares of land at Cobbett Hill Business Park (formerly the Earth Station site) for the processing of waste paper. SCC have assessed the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA] and have found it unnecessary.

On 10 October 2014, Guildford Borough Council [GBC] issued its decision in respect of planning application 14/P/00779, an outline application for 90 houses and 3 retail units at North Wyke Farm, Wyke, Normandy. The decision was to refuse.

Interestingly, rather than have this application heard in front of the full council Planning Committee, it was delegated to the case officer.  This might well not be the end of the matter, as the opportunity to appeal is available to the applicant.  Any appeal would be considered by the Planning Inspectorate and, should it arise, residents that registered their objection to the initial application might wish to submit their comments to the inspector dealing with the appeal.

As a result of increasing concern among ministers, in the run-up to the general election, that councils are permitting swathes of new housing on Green Belt land in order to meet the 5-year land supply and housing targets demanded by the NPPF, Eric Pickles MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has issued new guidance.

Almost immediately, leader of Guildford Borough Coucil, Cllr. Stephan Mansbridge, announced that the green belt will be considered as a ‘stronger constraint’ in the local plan process.

Local press editorial suggests "A policy U-turn by Guildford Borough Council (GBC) may lift the threat to villages at risk of losing their green belt status in Guildford’s local plan". However, the residents of all villages around the borough threatened with large-scale housing development now and in the future have become wary of any statements by local politicians surrounding the Local Plan process in the borough in the last few months and will adopt a 'wait-and-see' attitude.

Keith Witham, the County Councillor for Normandy reports, "Surrey County Council has enormous pressures on its funding.  Increased demands for essential services, that it must legally provide, such as adult and childrens social services and school places, coupled with reduced Government funding, means Surrey must review its  spending on all the services provided for the county’s residents that are "non-statutory" in other words for which there is either no legal obligation to provide, or which are currently being provided higher than the minimum level. Surrey receives the lowest Government grant of any County Council in the UK".

"One of those services is local transport where the council currently spends around £18 million a year. This includes subsidising public buses, Community Transport and concessionary fares".

"There is a review is to make savings while maintaining the services that residents rely on the most, such as services that get people to work, hospitals and schools. To help achieve this, SCC has launched a public consultation, running from now until 14th January 2015".

You can have your say by 

• taking part in the online survey, or
• emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or
• searching the Surrey County Council web site for "online survey"