Fighting the Surrey Minerals Plan

The Minerals Plan is a threat to the Green Belt and the local environment. This is an essential part of what makes Surrey such a great place to live and work – it's something we all care about, and something I'm determined to do my best to protect. Having HGVs smashing through our towns and villages isn't on, so it was great that we finally got the chance to put forward our evidence to the Inspector at the Plan's hearing on Thursday 20th January 2011.There is strong opposition in East Surrey against the Plan, and I did my best to put this across as forcefully as possible. This view was powerfully supported by the presence of seven residents groups at the hearing, many of whom were there even though the specific site being discussed on the day wasn't directly relevant to them.

The groups who attended the hearing were: the Chalkpit Residents; the Oxted and Limpsfield Residents Group (www.oxtedlimpsfieldresidents.co.uk); Nutfield Marsh Residents Group (www.nutfieldmarsh.org.uk); Nutfield Conservation Society; the Quarry Observation Group (www.qog.org.uk); White Hill Residents Association; and the Godstone Village Association.

The huge amount of time and effort these groups have put into highlighting the opposition of residents to the Plan is to be commended. Without them the Plan wouldn't have received anywhere near the level of scrutiny it deserves – it's been great working with them over the past year. We won't know the outcome for a couple of months, but I hope the Inspector makes the right decision for East Surrey and rejects the Plan. That's what we've been fighting for.

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