Planning Matters #1 of 2025

21 March 2025

Dear NAG Follower

Our thanks to both Normandy Parish Council and Surrey County Council for continuing their support to NAG through grants of £150 each; this allows us to go on providing you with a free information service through these newsletters and our website.

In this edition:

·         Major initiatives on national planning and devolution in England
·         Implications for local government and local planning
·         Possible impact on the Green Belt in Normandy
·         Normandy Village Assembly 28 March

A welter of initiatives covering changes to the national planning system and local government reorganisation could have a major impact on our lives in Normandy. We have summarised these below, but please visit our website for a more detailed article with links to the relevant documents.

National Planning Changes

The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), results in a significant increase in local housing targets and, with the introduction of the concept of ‘Grey Belt’, a more permissive approach to building on Green Belt land. Guildford Borough’s target goes up from 562 to 1102 per year, while 82% of its land is Green Belt. Further guidance makes clear that many previous barriers to development in the Green Belt will no longer apply.

On the plus side, further measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will speed up the process for considering planning applications, and introduce a more strategic approach to planning across the larger areas of local government that will flow from separate plans for greater devolution in England (see below).

English Devolution

The Government has announced plans to merge District and County Councils to form new Unitary Authorities and, ultimately, to create Strategic Mayoral Authorities akin to those already in place in e.g. London and Manchester. Surrey is a pilot area for this new approach, and it is already happening here, at pace (see below).

Local Impact

In Surrey, the 11 District Councils (including Guildford Borough Council - GBC) and Surrey County Council will merge to form two or three Unitary Authorities. The latter option would merge Woking, Guildford, and Waverley into a new Unitary for West or South-West Surrey. The process will unfold over the next two or three years.

GBC is also updating its Local Plan. This must ensure an adequate housing supply, which will now need to reflect the much higher targets GBC has been given. GBC Councillors have agreed a timetable for agreeing a new Plan, including opportunities for public consultation. This is currently estimated to conclude by mid-2029. More on our website. 

The Local Plan and Normandy

There has been much recent surveying activity in and around the open fields between Glaziers Lane and Westwood Lane, the area including the much-contested site for 1100 houses that was in earlier versions of the Local Plan. From the changes outlined above it is easy to see how this site could come back into the frame. The article on our website explores this in greater detail.  

The Green Belt in Normandy and Wanborough is already vulnerable. The continuing eyesore at Wanborough Fields, the unauthorised mobile homes on the road to Ash, the burning of mixed waste at the bottom of Elmgrove Lane, all illustrate the challenges faced by GBC in ensuring that regulations are complied with. (For updates on Wanborough Fields, we strongly recommend the Wanborough Parish Council website, where you can sign up for their newsletter or visit their enforcement page to read the latest information, plus details of where to report waste-burning or other unlawful activity.)

This means that as a community, and at a time of great change that is designed to achieve outcomes that few would quarrel with (more, and more affordable, homes for more people; more effective local services; improved local government accountability), it is really important that we keep our eye on the ball, take advantage of opportunities to be involved through public consultation, and stand ready to defend the things that are precious to us.

Normandy Village Assembly

This leads nicely into a reminder that the Normandy Village Assembly, an opportunity to hear from Parish, Borough and County Councillors and our MP about matters of local importance, will take place next Friday, 28 March, from 1900-2030 at Normandy Village School. Full details are on the Parish Council website; please email the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.if you plan to attend. Questions may also be submitted in advance by email.

We hope you have found the information in this newsletter helpful. Please keep emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to make us aware of local and other issues. And please do try to recruit new followers so that they too can read our regular updates! They can do so very easily by completing the form on our website.