The Chobham Society Fairoaks Petition
Date:
Surrey Heath Borough Council welcomed members of The Chobham Society and local residents to debate a petition presented to a meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday 26 July.
The petition, which collected enough signatures to trigger a debate at Full Council, was signed by 992 residents in the Borough, 605 of whom live in Chobham.
The petition asked SHBC not to promote or support housing development at Fairoaks Airport, a privately owned site in Chobham, but to retain it in the Greenbelt, including committing to not making a second bid for a Fairoaks Garden Village, and to encourage airport operations at Fairoaks with associated employment opportunities.
Mr Darren Rees of The Chobham Society made a presentation setting out reasons for objections to redevelopment of the site with reference to the Local Plan.
Councillor Moira Gibson, Leader of Surrey Heath Borough Council, said: “With no planning application submitted for the Fairoaks site it is too early for Members to comment on future plans for the site, but the background information and concerns presented by The Chobham Society and local residents is an important part of the process.”
The petition had been accepted by the Council for a public debate as a valid petition in March 2017, and had run for three months.
SHBC Chief Executive Karen Whelan added: “Members of the public have a right to be heard on a host of topics which are important to them, which is why the petition process exists. When issues also affect decisions councillors might have to take in the future, it is naturally important for councillors to be made aware of local opinion, whilst keeping an open mind to any potential development proposals in the borough.”
August 1, 2017
As a former resident of Chobham if horrifies me to think that Fairoaks could be made into a Garden Village. It would virtually join Chobham to Ottershaw. Isn’t it bad enough that through the development on the FVRDE site will now join Longross to the back of Virginia Water/Trumps Green. We need a green lung around our village and to protect us from over development. The facilities we now enjoy will be overloaded, crowded roads, most of which in that area are narrow lanes, need for extra school places, doctors surgeries, shops etc. which are always promised when there is development but which never come to pass. I.e. Development on old WRAC college in Camberley. We were promised extra lane on an old already overcrowded A325. This didn’t happen. How much more can we take in an overloaded south east? There are vast areas and brown infill sites to be used in the north east and west.