Local MPs Anne Milton, Sir Paul Beresford and Jonathan Lord, and Cllr Stephen Mansbridge, Leader of Guildford Borough Council, have met with the Planning Minister, Nick Boles MP, in Westminster to discuss planning.
There was a welcome for the reassurance the Planning Minister was able to give on the Local Plan process.
The Minister clarified the following points:
• The Government is reviewing and revising guidance on the National Planning Policy Framework
• Student accommodation will count towards overall housing numbers
• Windfalls will count towards housing numbers for the whole Plan period
• The Green Belt protections will be paramount in particular where land is fulfilling its special and original purpose
• It is only in very special circumstances that Green Belt land can be developed and the justification for this will be a combination of factors which will have to be both rigorously justified and set in balance with the protection afforded to land designation.
The Minister urged the Council not to delay the Local Plan process but assured all those present that from what he has heard Guildford Borough Council was on the right track and following the clear guidance set out by Government policy.