Preston Farm Planning Application

Also know as: MO/2024/0096 Land north of Lower Road and west of Little Bookham St.

MVDC Planning Officer's recommendation to grant approval

26th January 2026

Content for this page was produced by John Downman. the BRA's Economics & Research expert with assistance from the BRA Planning Committee.

The application for outline planning permission is to go before the Council’s Development Management Committee at its next meeting on 5th February 2025. The Planning Officer’s recommendation is to grant approval, subject to conditions and receipt of a satisfactory legal agreement before 28th March 2025.

In the last round of consultation in December 2024, the BRA raised numerous concerns on behalf of residents. Following a short hiatus on Preston Farm, there was renewed activity with new documents being submitted in late November 2024, leading to this latest round of consultations. Residents who had submitted earlier letters of representation should have been notified by the Council.

MVDC Planning Officer's Recommendation Report pdf

Developable Area

One change which occurred through the adoption of the Local Plan in October 2024 was that the developable area reduced to 7.4ha through an area to the southwestern corner and adjoining Water Lane remaining in the Green Belt. This is the area highlighted in yellow to the right. One consequence is that the Community Centre and the Gypsy & Traveller Pitches are accommodated now within the 7.4ha designated as the developable area. This results in a housing density exceeding Policy D3 and more higher building

Country Park

A plan for the management of the Country Park, or SANG, was uploaded on 24th October 2024. The BRA raised concerns over its costings with some of the development costings being considered as low, early years watering of new trees being under-estimated with insufficient associated costs, the impact of inflation on running costs being under-estimated through a failure to compound annually and no account being taken of VAT. Also, the long-term ownership of the Country Park and the responsibility for maintenance has yet to be clarified; ultimately it will be reflected in a Section 106 Agreement with the Developer. Though a further update of the management plan has been uploaded, none of these concerns have been addressed yet.

The BRA has raised further questions as to accessibility. If the Country Park is to be accessible to all, including those with disabilities or simply concerned about slipping, surfaced paths with drainage will be required. These need to be suitable also for cyclists as the Council accepts cycling in the SANG.

December 2024 Consultation & Representation

The main areas of change through the Developer’s documents uploaded on 27th November 2024 were:

The relocation of the Gypsy & Traveller Pitches, the Community Building and its car park.
Updated access arrangements including the removal of vehicular access from Water Lane. Pedestrian and cycling access will remain.
The relocation of the Local Equipment Area of Play & the SANG car park.
A reconfiguration of residential land parcels and updated building heights.

In response to the above and to maintain pressure on the Council, the BRA submitted a letter of representation on 16th December 2024 focussing on the following. The bold/italic text references how these have been addressed in the report before the DMC.

Housing Density - If the total number of dwellings remains at 200, then the housing density will be in the region of 28 dwellings per hectare, compared to the Council’s Policy D3 of 20 per hectare for Greenfield with Built Up Edge. Aligning with policy would reduce the number of dwellings to 140-145. No re-alignment with policy is proposed.

Building Heights

Reflecting an aim to maintain the same number of dwellings within a reduced area, the latest proposals include more buildings of 2.5 storeys or higher across the site. This will have a greater impact on residents of Little Bookham Street who will suffer a loss of amenity. The building heights are shown to the left in dark orange (2.5 storeys) and fuchsia (3 storeys). Little Bookham Street runs to the right in the plan. No change to these heights is being sought by Planning.

Heritage Impact

The Community Centre (numbered 5 in the plan to the right) and the Gypsy & Traveller Pitches (numbered 8 in same plan) are proposed to be located adjacent to the Conservation Area (shown in white to the right of the plan). The buffer zone between the development area and the Conservation Area has been reduced from 10m to 5m. We believe that these changes will impact on the Conservation Area, through increased noise and visibility, and that the buffer zone should be at least 15m. No increase to the buffer zone is being sought by Planning.

Flood Risk

This has been raised as an ongoing and serious concern, notwithstanding that Council Policy states that it will work with a number of bodies to mitigate risk and prevent pollution of ground water. In addition to the representations in December, the BRA submitted on 11th January 2025 four videos taken by residents showing the extent of groundwater in gardens adjacent to the development area and along Little Bookham Street. The emphasis remains on preventing flood risk through Sustainable Drainage Systems.

Chalk Streams

The Developer has sought through one of its advisers to refute the presence of chalk streams in this area, notwithstanding their presence being validated by the South East Rivers Trust in August 2022 and the related mapping data being uploaded to Natural England last August. Surrey Wildlife Trust visited the site recently and “gives weight to SERT’s opinion that chalk streams are present on site”. For confirmation, the Council would require a hydrological study (by others). However, there is no fundamental change to the proposed development of the site.

Sewer Infrastructure

Whilst Thames Water has confirmed that it will connect the new dwellings to the existing sewer infrastructure, there has been no commitment to upgrade what residents know to be a failing infrastructure, reflected in the Local Plan requiring ‘necessary upgrades’. Some residents have reported sewage backing up into the home and there was a major failure of the pipe crossing the development area in 2023. As Thames Water does not commit to any upgrading of infrastructure, none is likely be forthcoming.

Site Access

The proposed development continues to have a single access near the Preston Cross roundabout (map to right with entrance marked in red), concentrating traffic in an already busy area. Furthermore, the swept paths used to analyse the access to the Gypsy & Traveller Pitches are based on too small vehicle/ mobile home or caravan configurations. The Council is relying on the Highways Authority acceptance of the increased traffic. These swept paths remain unchanged.

Residents’ Representations

Resulting from this consultation, which closed on 19th December 2024, 50 additional letters of representation were added to the Planning Portal. Three-quarters of these came from residents adjacent or very close to the development area, so the most directly affected. The main foci of these letters are reflected in the graph below. Within these letters:

No previous objections were withdrawn.
There was increased concern over the locations of the Community Centre and the Gypsy & Traveller Pitches, reflecting in part their proximity to the Conservation Area.
Building heights and housing density were a greater concern, especially for residents along Little Bookham Street.
There was a very detailed submission on behalf of the residents of the Saddlery setting out concerns, some of which arise specifically through their location.
There was a detailed submission on heritage and the Conservation Area by a local historian.
The increased level of traffic along the Lower Road and its feeder routes feature in many, plus the proximity of the main access to Preston Cross. Pedestrian and cyclist safety was raised also.