A planning application (2024/3163) has recently been submitted to Elmbridge Borough Council and, if approved, this could have a material impact on our local area. The application is for an Environmental Impact Assessment ahead of a planning application for 300 houses on Blundel Lane. 

The proposed location is on the left as you head up Blundel Lane towards Oxshott, adjacent to Polyapes scout camp and backing onto Lodge Close. Stoke D’Abernon currently has approximately 700 homes so this development would increase the size of our community by over 40%. In addition, there are clear signs that developers want to build several hundred homes off Leatherhead Road in Oxshott, and several hundred homes near the American Community School in Cobham.

This will be the start of a lengthy and challenging process. The property developers are acting quickly following the new Government’s stated ambitions to remove swathes of Green Belt in order to build houses.  The application could also be seen as a determined attempt to influence Elmbridge Borough Council’s re-writing of the Local Plan following the Government Inspector’s rejection of the existing plan.

In any case the application (2024/3163) is clearly premature as the land in question is in Green Belt.  There has clearly been a huge amount of work undertaken by the property developers and the landowner and a 91 page Scoping Document has been submitted to Elmbridge as part of this application.

The Stoke D’Abernon Residents’ Association intends to object to this application.  We need to demonstrate local commitment to retaining our semi-rural community and send Elmbridge council the clear message that they should reflect the will of the community and therefore refuse permission. We ask you to object to this application. The deadline for comments is 31st December.

We do not underestimate the challenge we will have with this.  This area has clearly been on the radar of property developers for some time.  Once rural land is built upon it can never be undone, and will change the character of our area for ever.

We will need help and assistance so if you are keen to get involved please contact us. We ask you to submit your comments which you can do on the Elmbridge website. You can read on the website the comments and objections that have already been submitted by residents.

Thank you

Objection reasons

Some reasons you may wish to use to object are:

I strongly object to this planning application for the following reasons:

• The application is premature. The land is Green Belt which means that the potential development is inappropriate and the application should be dismissed.
• A key objective of the Green Belt is to prevent urban sprawl by providing a break between settlements, such as between Stoke D’Abernon and Oxshott.
• The potential development would damage the semi-rural character of our area.
• The Scoping study downplays a wide range of areas that it has deemed out of scope;  these areas should be in scope , for example air quality, trees, health, waste, traffic congestion and many others
• The study ignores the fact that Wisley development has just been given the green light, with 2,000 dwellings being built within 4 miles of our area. This is not even mentioned,
• The study downplays the large impact this development will have on our wildlife the ecology of the area.

Relevant links

For ease of reference here are all the relevant links:

1. The Planning Application (2024/3163)
2. Request for Scoping Opinion.pdf
3. Full Scoping Report (90 pages).pdf
4. Thames Water Comment.pdf
5. Historic Environment Planning Team Response.pdf