The letter below has been sent to Matthew Pennycook MP the Minister for Housing and Planning from our local MP, Dr Ben Spencer, and our local Elmbridge and Surrey Councillors. It shines the spotlight on the specific challenges that Elmbridge BC is facing and the risks to residents as a result of not having a Local Plan. It highlights that “uncoordinated and unsupported development” through building houses without the necessary infrastructure will negatively impact existing communities.

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23 December 2025

Dear Minister,

We write regarding the significant risk to communities in Elmbridge arising from inappropriate development due to the absence of a strategic Local Plan.

We all recognise the need for more housing to ensure all generations can live and work in the local area, but this must be delivered in a way which supports and protects local communities and our natural environment. This means development must be sustainable and accompanied by investment and improvements in local infrastructure.

The usual approach to deliver this is through the adoption of a Local Plan, however as you are aware Elmbridge Borough Council has to date failed to deliver a suitable plan and the latest efforts to progress this work were rejected by your Department. Elmbridge Borough Council’s (the LPA) Draft Local Plan 2037 was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination in August 2023. This submission was made after many years of delay by the incumbent Liberal Democrat led Administration. The Interim Findings Report found the Draft Plan ‘unsound’ as submitted.

In July 2024 a six-month time limit was imposed by Government for completion of the draft plan, which given the scale of work and engagement required was recognised by local stakeholders as an unrealistic and unreasonable timeframe. Requests in October 2024 for a 12 month extension to the examination of its local plan were rejected, and as a result Elmbridge Borough Council has had to abandon the work which has been ongoing since 2018 and begin work on the production of a new Local Plan for the Borough.

The Local Development Scheme now sets out a timetable for the production of a New Local Plan for Elmbridge Borough over the period 2025 to 2028. This means that for the sake of an additional 6 month extension, residents now face up to a further 3 years without the protections a Local Plan can provide, including from inappropriate and speculative development. Due to Government changes to housing allocation figures, Elmbridge Borough now also faces one of the UK’s highest percentage increases in the number of homes required to be built.

This situation is further complicated by the ongoing process of Local Government reform. On 27 November you announced long stop dates for when plan-making must now commence. LPA’s covered by NPPF transitional arrangements must commence formal plan making by 31 October 2026. In the case of Elmbridge, it fails to have regard for Local Government Reorganisation.

Given the upcoming abolition of local borough councils, the role of Local Planning Authority during this time will move to the new East Surrey Unitary Authority. This process will entail a change in staffing, structures and geographical responsibility, which may easily result in further delays, greater local risk and create uncertainty regarding transitional arrangements.

In future, allowing the East Surrey Unitary to shape its own Plan better distributes housing across the new Authority area and creates further opportunities for more efficient infrastructure delivery. However, residents in Elmbridge cannot and should not be left at risk of unsustainable, uncoordinated and unsupported development which could seriously harm local communities.

Without action to address this situation, there is a real risk that the Government’s desire to meet its 1.5 million housing target this parliament may create houses, but not homes, unsupported by essential infrastructure, and which cause considerable damage to existing communities.

We ask that you consider the inequity currently faced by Elmbridge residents and constructively engage with ourselves due to the consequences of Local Government Reorganisation given the failings of Elmbridge Borough Council’s leadership. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss what action can be taken to prevent uncoordinated and unsupported development in Elmbridge until a Local Plan can be adopted.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Spencer

Dr Ben Spencer MP Runnymede and Weybridge, Cllr Andrew Burley EBC, Oxshott & Stoke D’Abernon ward, Cllr Hilary Butler EBC, Oatlands ward, Cllr David Lewis SCC, Cobham Division, Cllr Katerina Lusk EBC, Cobham and Downside ward, Cllr Alistair Mann EBC, Cobham and Downside ward, Cllr Colin McFarlane EBC, St George’s Hill ward, Cllr Tim Oliver SCC, Weybridge Division, Cllr Alan Parker CBE EBC, Oxshott & Stoke D’Abernon ward, Cllr Corinne Sterry EBC, Oxshott & Stoke D’Abernon ward