Planning Matters #13 of 2025

23 October 2025

In this edition:

• Survey reveals unambiguous opposition to TW proposals
• NAG response to EIA Scoping Request
• Request to host banners
• Our AGM 12 November

Survey reveals unambiguous opposition to TW proposals  

As you know, over the course of September we asked you for your views about the prospect of several hundred homes being built by Taylor Wimpey (TW) on Green Belt land in Normandy. This was before we knew (in their EIA Scoping Request - see below) of TW’s intention to build ‘up to 950 dwellings’, some up to four storeys high, with construction taking place over at least a ten-year period.  

We have put the detailed results of the survey on our website; they have also been covered in an article in the Guildford Dragon. The buttons below take you to both. In a nutshell, the vote was: 1 for; 18 undecided; 317 against. There were also hundreds of detailed comments, which we have attempted to summarise on the website, and some of which are quoted in the Dragon article. 

Many thanks to everyone who took the trouble to respond (sorry we couldn’t include every comment in our summary). Not only do the results give us confidence that our position of being completely opposed to this disproportionate, opportunistic, and inappropriate development reflects the views of the vast majority of our followers, they also provide a helpful context for the forthcoming second round of public engagement by TW (in the Village Hall on 4 November from 1400-1930). We hope people will be as forthright in their views there as they have been in the survey.

Please note that our poll is not a substitute for the household survey that the Parish Council will be  conducting once further details of Taylor Wimpey's proposals have been given at the 4 November event.

NAG response to EIA Scoping Request 25/S/00006 

We mentioned in our last newsletter that more details of the TW proposal were emerging in the EIA Scoping Request received by Guildford Borough Council (GBC). There is no obligation on a local planning authority to consult on such a document, but given its importance to the whole process leading up to a formal planning application, we very much wanted to contest some of the claims it contained and we were pleased that Guildford Borough Council (GBC) allowed us to do so. 

With input from those of our followers with relevant professional expertise who had volunteered their help, we put together a detailed critique of the document prepared by Savills on behalf of TW. You can see it on the GBC website alongside the input from statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency and the Surrey County Archaeologist. We have additionally put our response on the NAG website as the GBC site can from time to time be a little temperamental! See links in the buttons below. 

Our submission concludes with the following remarks: “In our view, the approach that the developer has taken to this Scoping Request illustrates that they have not listened to the people of Normandy during the initial consultation process that they have run as part of their 'stakeholder engagement'. Their report shows that the developer does not understand the wider local area, the heritage and history of Normandy, nor the significant disruption and damage that the construction works and their outcome would inevitably cause. This in turn leads to further unease and a lack of trust around surveys being paid for by the developer, their timing, and how the findings will be shared and interpreted.” 

We now await GBC’s response to the Scoping Request, which will specify what the developer needs to include in its eventual planning application.

Request to host banners   

We recently drove through Oxshott, and were impressed by the large banners displayed in the village saying: “NO to over-development of Oxshott” (or similar). We thought we might need something like this in Normandy over the next few months. This would depend on individuals being willing to display such banners on their own property, in prominent locations, where they could be seen by passing traffic without causing any kind of obstruction. If you would be willing to do this, please click on the button below and let us know. 

Our AGM 12 November 

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 12 November, at 8pm in Normandy Village Hall, by kind permission of the Trustees. This will be a good opportunity to take stock following the TW drop-in event the previous week. (Again, it is not meant to be a substitute for the village meeting the Parish Council will be holding on 30 November.) We will also be approving a new Constitution for NAG, and reviewing our finances in the light of our successful call for donations in the summer. All are welcome, but it would help if you could let us know if you are planning to attend so we can put out the right number of chairs.