MAYFORD VILLAGE SOCIETY Established 27 years representing 700+ local residents Chairman: Mrs Elaine Evans

Mr E Amaoko 17th December 2018 Planning Policy Manager Borough Council [email protected]

DPD Regulation 19 (GB7) Dear Sir The Mayford Village Society was formed 27 years ago, its aim is to promote, maintain and protect the status of Mayford as a village, it currently represents 700+ local residents

The Green Belt in Mayford plays a very important part in maintaining the separation of Woking, Mayford and , during the last few years there have been significant incursions into it with the development of a secondary school, sports centre, international sized running track and gymnastics club across various sites.

Woking Borough council described Mayford in the local plan of 1999 as an area that lies in the south of the Borough. The area is generally rural and open in character. The majority of the area is designated as green belt to ensure there is a significant gap between the built-up areas of Woking and Guildford. The Green Belt contains a variety of rural land uses, including agriculture, open recreation (golf courses), ecological and environmental sites with isolated and low-density housing.

The focus of the Local Plan for this area is on protecting the environment and ensuring that any new development is in keeping with the existing character and Green Belt status of the area. Only very limited types of building will be permitted in the small non-green area. Important ecological, environmental and heritage sites will be protected. A number of special policies are included to protect the landscape of the Hook Heath escarpment.

In short, the village has seen a disproportionate amount of large-scaled development in recent years, whereas other similar areas of Woking Borough have had no development on their Green Belt and are seriously lacking in the sports facilities that Mayford has in abundance.

The Character of the village has been seriously undermined by continued Green Belt development and as such what is left and in particular the sites that serve a critical purpose are very important to the residents and the future character of the village. Site GB7 in Mayford is a critical and highly valued section of Green Belt.

The primary highly valued function of GB7 is to provide a visual green break between the historic rural village of Mayford and the urban sprawl of Woking.

The North end of the site features a significant topographical rise from Egley road in the east towards Hook Heath’s Allen House Park in the west. This natural feature forms part of the Hook Heath escarpment and an area of rising land.

Policy CS24 of the adopted core strategy states that these KEY landscapes features (escarpments) should be maintained, enhanced and restored.

Not only is this site subject to protection/ conservation and enhancement due to its escarpment in Policy CS24 of the core strategy, the same adopted policy tells us that we must respect the setting of, and the relationship between, settlements.

The site contains significant biodiversity in the form of wildlife habitats and heavily wooded areas. Policy CS7 of the adopted core strategy tell us the commitment the council has given to protect and preserve these biodiversity assets.

The Biodiversity on this site is a significant asset to the village of Mayford, especially due to the loss of much wildlife and habitats due to development on Green Belt. Mayford Village society does not feel that enough assurances where written into the regulation 19 document to assure that all trees and habitats on the site will be preserved.

The site has always been protected by its well-deserved green belt status as it performs four of the five Green Belt functions. • it checks the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas • it prevents neighbouring towns/settlements merging into one another • it assists in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment • it preserves the setting and special character of historic towns/settlements

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror gave the church and manor of Woking to the Norman, Osbern and Mayford to William Malet. The Village has been separated from Woking since before the Doomsday Book. The important of the separation between Mayford and Woking has been identified by all including the independent consultant, however the importance of the Hook Heath escarpment on the site and area of rising ground has not been given in our opinion enough weight and this escarpment has one of the largest topographical rises in the borough, so therefore must be recognised by policy CS24 of the core strategy.

The North End of GB7 also contains an area of high archaeological importance, one of the few that exist in the entire borough.

We do not consider, ‘It has excellent accessibility to local services, both in the Town Centre and the Mayford Neighbourhood Centre’ to be accurate Hourly bus service until 19.20

A small, one man Post Office, (the only one on south side of Woking, small car park, newspapers and a small stock grocery items) and a barber is the extent of the Mayford shops.

Linking the areas of Woking, Mayford and Guildford is the A320, which is arguably the busiest road in the borough and which at peak times is gridlocked, this has increased with the opening of the school and sports centre and will be exacerbated with the opening of the running track (2019) and later the Woking Gymnastics Club. The amount of traffic has already increased on the network of narrow roads in the area. These roads are narrow, unlit with few footpaths, there are four single line bridges, two with traffic lights, Smarts Heath Road and Hook Hill Lane, the other two Prey Heath Road and Kemishford service Station none of these roads could handle additional traffic.

The village has seen a dramatic increase in traffic, light, noise pollution from the facilities that are used late into the night.

Air pollution is already a significant problem along the A320 with the gridlocked traffic being a daily occurrence and already set to rise with the opening on the running track in 2019.

The Village Society is indeed happy that the Woking Borough Council have recognised the importance of the green gap between Mayford and Woking. We see no appropriate reason to remove the Green Belt status of GB7 as it is protected by the recognised purposes of the site.

Yours faithfully

Elaine Evans, Chairman

Points of Reference used

Woking Borough Councils Adopted Core Strategy. (October 2012)

CS24: Woking’s landscape and townscape • All development proposals will provide a positive benefit in terms of landscape and townscape character, and local distinctiveness and will have regard to landscape character areas. • To protect local landscape and townscape character, development will be expected to: conserve, and where possible enhance existing character, especially key landscapes such as heathlands, escarpments and the canal/river network and settlement characteristics; maintain locally valued features, and enhance or restore deteriorating features • respect the setting of, and relationship between, settlements and individual buildings in the landscape • conserve, and where possible, enhance townscape character, including structure and land form, landscape features, views and landmarks, and appropriate building styles and materials • support land management practices that have no adverse impact on characteristic landscape patterns and local biodiversity. • Protect and encourage the planting of new trees where it is relevant to do so.

CS7: Biodiversity and nature conservation The Council is committed to conserving and protecting existing biodiversity assets within the Borough. It will require development proposals to contribute to the enhancement of existing biodiversity and geodiversity features and also explore opportunities to create and manage new ones where it is appropriate. This will include those habitats and species listed in the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Any development that will be anticipated to have a potentially harmful effect or lead to a loss of features of interest for biodiversity will be refused. The Council will pay particular consideration to the following hierarchy of important sites and habitats in the Borough. 1. Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) (European). 2. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and National Nature Reserves (National). 3. Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI), Local Nature Reserves (LNR), and other Ancient Woodland not identified in 1 and 2 above (Local). These sites are identified on the Proposals Map. Within locally designated sites development will not be permitted unless it is necessary for appropriate on-site management measures and can demonstrate no adverse impacts to the integrity of the nature conservation interest. Development adjacent to locally designated sites will not be permitted where it has an adverse impact on the integrity of the nature conservation interest that cannot be mitigated. The Council will encourage new development to make positive contribution to biodiversity through the creation of green spaces, where appropriate, and the creation of linkages between sites to create a local and regional biodiversity network of wildlife corridors and green infrastructure. It will seek to retain and encourage the enhancement of significant features of nature conservation value on development sites. Any development with potential impact on the SPA or the SAC will be subject to a Habitats Regulations Assessment to determine the need for Appropriate Assessment.