|
GUILDFORD
LABOUR PARTY
|
|
|
|
For
residents in Clandon, Effingham, E. & W. Horsley, Ockham, Ripley,
Send & Wisley
|
 |
|
This
page covers local issues under the authority of Guildford Borough Council
and Surrey County Council. The villages are in the Mole Valley Parliamentary
Constituency. |
|
Wisley
Airfield - what next? |
|
|
|
The future of the
abandoned airfield surfaces in the newspaper from time to time. It has
been considered by Surrey County Council (SCC) as a possible site for
a waste incinerator. Then the idea was dropped when sites at Capel, Redhill
and Guildford were proposed. A final decision was made to build an incinerator
at Capel, but that scheme failed on appeal and SCC had to go back and
think out their plans again. More recently several potential sites were
reviewed, this time including Wisley Airfield once again, although it
did not come out high on the list of most favourable.
|
|
Support
for affordable homes needed
|
|
|
Plans
for a CHP plant located near the airfield adjacent to the Effingham railway
line at Newmarsh Farm have been submitted to the Borough and County Councils
and have yet to be determined. In view of the fact that the land in question
is in the Green Belt and the Government has recently restated its intention
to preserve the status of such land, it seems that this proposal will have
difficulties receiving approval. On this basis it appears unlikely that
any development of the airfield, which is also Green Belt land, will be
approved in the near future. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So
what is the best use for the airfield?
One thing is clear,
the airfield has neither scenic nor amenity value.
As Labour's Carol Hayton pointed out
in a letter published in the Surrey Advertiser, "in
view of the shortage of appropriate development land of any kind in Surrey,
proposals for for large scale development would at some stage come forward
for the derelict airfield".
|
 |
|
Airfield
view: A3 diagonally crossing on the left, M25 - top right corner, Ripley
village bottom left corner.
|
|
There
has been negligible support for returning it to aviation use. Local people
would, of course, favour doing nothing - the "build absolutely
nothing anywhere near anyone" principle.
You cannot blame
people for having 'nimby' views when they are the ones who directly experience
the worst aspects of a development. Nevertheless, we believe that development
is inevitable eventually and therefore it might be more sensible to plan
carefully right now. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour's
view was published in the Surrey Advertiser:
"We have always believed that the most appropriate use for the land
would be the construction of an affordable housing scheme to address
the severe shortage of affordable homes in our rural
|
|
communities.
A sensitively developed housing scheme would
have far less impact than an incinerator.
There may be other views, but if development of this site is inevitable,
and we believe it is, all options should be fully considered with full consultation
with the communities affected." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What
are the Liberal Democrat and Tory views?
It was the Tories
at County Hall that placed the airfield on the list of possible incinerator
sites. Neither
the Tories or the Lib Dems have supported Labour's campaign for an affordable
housing development. So far both have regarded the airfield, with its
extensive grey cracked runway, as a green field site to be preserved,
for . . .something!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Welcome | Contents
| Labour Briefing | Labour
in Surrey | Borough Issues | Recycling
News | The Incinerator | Government
Waste Strategy | East Guildford News |
Cranleigh & The Villages | Labour
in Europe | Hunting with Dogs | Contact
Us | Membership Information |
|
Promoted
and published by Guildford Labour Party P.O. Box 80 Guildford GU1 2BE. ©
Guildford Labour Party
|
