Kingston upon Thames has listed a staggering 40 protected sites in its Local Plan consultation. Please object to building on protected Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land in Kingston – it will only take 2 minutes… just email localplan@kingston.gov.uk CPRE-London has provided some suggested wording below, which you can cut and paste into an email. Remember to add your name and address/ postcode. The full CPRE response can be seen here. Please do this before the deadline 31 July.
Suggested wording to respond to the Kingston Local Plan consultation
Email Subject: Response to Local Plan Early Engagement consultation
Dear Sirs,
I am writing in response to the Local Plan Early Engagement consultation
Q.1 Opportunity Area boundary
The Opportunity Areas should not include Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) or Green Belt. These should be excluded from the boundaries of the area/s. By including them it puts these spaces at risk of development. MOL and Green Belt are critical assets for all Londoners, not just residents of the borough. They ensure London does not sprawl into countryside and that Londoners do not have to suffer the devastating social and environmental consequences of urban sprawl, which include isolation, transport poverty, congestion and pollution. Also, in terms of MOL, these assets provide critical eco-system services for all of London including flood and water management, urban cooling and providing habitat for biodiversity.
Site Assessments Early Engagement (Regulation 18) May 2019
No specific question is asked about sites, however, there are a very large number of sites listed where the strategic constraints box states that “Green Belt” or “Metropolitan Open Land” (MOL). I strongly object to any Green Belt or MOL sites being allocated for development. Green Belt and MOL are meant to have the ‘strongest protection’ for the good reasons stated. Moreover, even giving the slightest indication that protected land might be released gives rise to speculation and opportunism, land starts to change hands and new owners apply further pressure to councils and communities to release it. So it is vital that the council indicates as early as possible that protected land will not be released for development.
There is plenty of Previously Developed Land in the borough which can and should be redeployed or intensified for housing and commercial development. As such none of the protected Green Belt or MOL sites listed in the Site Assessments should be allocated for development. They should be ruled out as being sites which could be developed and removed from the next stage consultation.
Q.3 Housing targets and Green Belt/MOL
No, Green Belt and MOL should not be built on to deliver housing targets. Green Belt is vital to ensure London does not sprawl into open countryside and so Londoners do not have to live with the devastating impact of urban sprawl i.e. high transport and energy costs, congestion and pollution. MOL is a strategic asset for all of London, not just Kingston residents. It is vital to ensure Londoners have access to open space and as an ecological asset delivering ecosystem services like urban cooling and water management; as well as providing vital habitat for diverse species. Instead, the council should allocate land which is currently inefficiently used.
Yours Faithfully
NAME AND ADDRESS/ POSTCODE