Dear Residents,
We need one more objection from you to The Paddocks (2025/1097) by Friday 31 October. Even if you commented before, please comment again: the proposal has changed, councillors will count fresh comments, and this is likely to be our last opportunity.
What has changed
Until this month the application had a formal objection from Surrey County Council Highways, the statutory body that advises Elmbridge on roads. In March Surrey Highways recommended refusal because there is no safe walking route over the railway bridge to Oxshott’s school and surgery, and said that without one the development would prejudice highway safety. On 9 October Surrey withdrew that objection, in return for the developer agreeing to build a footpath over the bridge, subject to a long list of conditions. That removes the last statutory objector, which is why the application is now heading to committee.
In short: 150 metres of single-lane traffic over the railway bridge controlled by lights, queues of 70 to 100 metres at peak times, and a 1.8-metre fence along a bridge that Network Rail has not yet agreed to alter. And none of it has to be built until 100 of the 250 homes are occupied.
Also:
- a two-lane widening at the Blundel Lane/Stoke Road junction beside the Field of Hope, whose effect on the giant sequoia tree has not been assessed
- relocated bus stops on Stoke Road and new ones on Blundel Lane
- no assessment of traffic diverting via Littleheath Lane and Water Lane
Some are suggesting residents will welcome this. We do not believe that is so.
Four example objections
Please use your own words, as identical comments may not count.
1. A footpath does not make this a sustainable place to put 250 homes
Please include this one: it is the point only residents can make.
I object to application 2025/1097. The site is Green Belt between Stoke D’Abernon and Oxshott, about two kilometres from the nearest primary school and GP surgery. The developer’s own Transport Assessment forecasts 122 car trips from the site in the morning peak hour against just 7 by bus or train, and that more of those car trips will go to Oxshott than anywhere else. A footpath over the bridge does not change how 250 households will travel, and it does not make this a sustainable location.
2. Surrey’s own experts doubted the design, and nobody has answered them
I object to application 2025/1097. The plan makes the railway bridge single-lane for 150 metres, with traffic lights letting one direction through at a time. Last year Surrey’s own road-safety and traffic-light engineers said they did not believe this could work as it was then designed. Their reason was simple: the longest set of lights like this anywhere in Surrey is also 150 metres, and it allows up to 52 seconds for the road to clear before the other side gets a green light — this design allows only 36. Nothing on the planning file shows that anyone has answered them. The only traffic model is from October 2024 and still uses 36 seconds, and there is nothing to show Surrey’s engineers have looked at it again. Nor is there anything to show that Network Rail, which owns the bridge, has agreed to the works. The Council should not approve 250 homes on the strength of a scheme Surrey’s own experts doubted and nobody has re-checked.
3. The impact on the rest of the village has not been assessed
I object to application 2025/1097. Nobody has assessed what 150 metres of one-way working and queues of 70 to 100 metres will do to ambulance and fire-engine access between Stoke D’Abernon and Oxshott. Surrey says diverted traffic “would be minimal”, but there is no assessment of Littleheath Lane or Water Lane on the file. The developer’s own figures put the wait at the lights at around 50 seconds per vehicle, rising to 75 to 80 seconds whenever a cyclist is in the section — and those figures assume the signal timings Surrey’s own teams questioned last year. The Council should not approve a scheme whose effects on the surrounding roads have not been looked at.
4. The footpath is not secured, and the Council should not rely on it
I object to application 2025/1097. The footpath over the railway bridge is the only thing offered to make Oxshott’s school and surgery walkable from this site. In March Surrey Highways said it had to be built before the first home was occupied, and the developer agreed to that in August; the plan now allows 100 homes to be occupied before it exists, and nothing on the file explains why. Even built on day one, it does not change where the school, surgery and shops are. The Council should not approve 250 homes on the strength of a footpath that is neither secured nor sufficient.
Add your own experience
Remember to add some of your own experience: for example where you live, where you drive your children to school or go to the doctor or shops, and why you drive rather than walk or take the bus. That lived evidence is what councillors and inspectors give weight to.
Ask yourself: would you walk 2km to school with your child every morning, 2km back, and the same again in the afternoon? The developer’s own transport report says it is “unlikely” parents would. If that is true for you, say so, and say what you do instead.
How to object (2 minutes)
Email tplan@elmbridge.gov.uk quoting 2025/1097 and saying you object, or comment on the application online.
Tuesday 10 November, 7pm, Civic Centre, Esher
Please pencil in Tuesday 10 November, 7pm, at the Civic Centre, Esher. The council has not yet published the agenda, but Surrey’s objection was the last obstacle and the next Planning Committee is 10 November, so we expect the application to be decided then. We will confirm as soon as the agenda appears (about a week before).
Only one objector is allowed to speak, so a full public gallery is how councillors see the strength of feeling in our community. Please come if you can, and arrive by 6.30pm.
Thank you for your continued support.
Stoke D’Abernon Residents’ Association