Welcome to our public consultation event to set out our plans to develop the site Land Between Canons Lane and Doric Drive, Kingswood for up to 130 new homes.
We want to ensure that local communities have their voices heard in the evolution of our proposals. In the coming weeks we intend to submit a planning application to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council for outline planning permission to establish the acceptability of the principle of development.
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A framework plan will show illustratively how the layout could evolve. We welcome your comments on this plan.
Canons Lane & Doric Drive, Kingswood
Land between
The Site
The Site consists of c. 13.09 ha of flat, arable agricultural land in private ownership, just north of the settlement of Kingswood, and south of Burgh Heath.
The Site comprises 2 parcels of land, roughly rectangular in shape with field boundaries defined by hedgerows and residential curtilages to the south, west and northwest of the Site. The wider Site is further bounded to the west by the A217 public highway.
Housing Delivery
In order to bolster the government’s objective to deliver more homes, the updated National Planning Policy Framework provides for development to come forward on ‘Grey Belt’ sites.
The adopted Local Plan plans for the delivery of at least 6,900 homes between 2012 and 2027, equating to an annual average provision of 460 homes per year. Although the Council undertook reviews of its Local Plan in 2019 and 2024, it decided not to update this figure. The Council predicts that by April 2026, it will only be able to demonstrate a supply of 4.51 years’ worth of housing against this figure.
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However, the housing target set at the national level through the National Planning Policy Framework December 2024 update (under ‘the standard method’), imposes a minimum annual housing for the Borough of 1285 dwellings per annum, representing c. 280% of the Core Strategy figure. Using the Council’s own housing supply trajectory and the current standard method as the basis for the housing need, the current housing land supply is 1.15 years.
Whilst the Council expect to do their utmost to find the additional land for this, it is likely to be 4+ years until a new Local Plan is adopted, and there will be a need to deliver 5,140 homes within this interim period. Therefore planning applications will need to come forward to bridge this gap.
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Grey Belt is land which is located within the established Green Belt, but which is not considered to contribute strongly to its purposes. Typically, these will be edge of settlement locations which are devoid of special landscape characteristics or designations.
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For development to be considered appropriate in the Green Belt, applications must demonstrate that the location is sustainable, that specific infrastructure requirements will be met (including the provision of an enhanced quantum of affordable housing and the delivery of good quality public open space), and that there is an unmet need for the development.
