ANGER is growing at a proposal to build a vast new suburb on green belt land in Reigate.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's core strategy proposes to build up to 1,400 homes in the green belt in new "urban extensions". These would be to the east of Merstham and east of Redhill, and to the south and west of Reigate.
A public consultation on the full strategy – which makes provision for at least 6,900 new homes across the borough up to 2027 – closes on February 4.
Redhill and Horley town centres, developments in north west and north east Horley, regeneration areas of Preston and Merstham, and other urban areas will be filled first, but when they are exhausted, the council believes it will need to allow bricks and mortar in the green belt, first in Redhill, then in Reigate.
That has sparked a backlash from residents in Woodhatch and South Park, who have launched a leafleting and Facebook campaign. Both areas could be bordered by a new development of between 500 and 700 homes.
Debbie Milne of Cornfield Road, Woodhatch, said: "The green belt makes this a pretty town. You can have a country walk and you don't need to get in the car to get there. It will end up attached to Redhill and Horley, they will all merge."
"No-one seems to know about this," she added. "When I told people about it they were absolutely mortified. They feel they are one step from the countryside, so this is a huge issue."
The council must indicate where new homes will be built and submit the strategy to the Government.
Councillor Mike Miller, executive member for development and planning, said officers had done a comprehensive study of available land, and areas beyond Woodhatch, and to the east of Redhill and Merstham, were not high-quality green belt.
"If we do need extra land these areas will be considered for development," he told the Mirror last month.
"We have done a full study of the whole borough, and these areas that we have chosen are areas that most people wouldn't recognise as good agricultural green belt land.
"A lot of it, to be quite honest, you wouldn't even realise is green belt."
But residents shared their anger on a Facebook page entitled Save Reigate's Green Belt.
Peter Munday wrote: "What a disgrace. The green belt must remain green. We do not need more houses in an already over-populated area and particularly on our precious countryside. Say NO."
Nicky Heron posted: "Apart from anything else, how are the (already oversubscribed) schools and local infrastructure supposed to cope? Outrageous."
But some supported the plans. Annette Saunders said: "Half of the land is not woods or tree-lined but ugly bits of land that are in the middle of current estates.... why not build houses?"
The council identified the proposed urban extensions in November, after a Government planning inspector rejected the original core strategy last spring due to a lack of detail.
Copies of the document, and response forms, are available at the town hall in Reigate, council Help Shops, on 01737 276000, or via its website.
The core strategy outlines where homes, shops and offices should be built over the next 15 years. It includes at least 6,900 new homes; 38,500 square metres of employment space; and 37,500 square metres of retail floor space. The town centres of Redhill and Horley, the new north-west and north-east sector developments in Horley (which are in progress), and the regeneration areas of Preston and Merstham, will be priority areas for new housing, before urban extensions into the green belt are allowed. A technical report on those extensions, produced in November, identifies land to the east of Redhill and to the east of Merstham – apparently including the landfill site off Cormongers Lane – as the 'most appropriate and sustainable' areas for green belt development. Sites to the south and south west of Reigate would then be released for development if necessary. The document also identified the possibility of land to the east of Salfords for future housing, but not within the current core strategy period (up to 2027).