Surrey Heath Local Plan: Residents Deserved Accountability, Community and Transparency

Surrey Heath Local Plan: Residents Deserved Accountability, Community and Transparency

The recent Surrey Heath Local Plan Main Modifications consultation that completed on 9th July should concern residents across the Borough.

Surrey Heath Conservative Association supports appropriate new housing. We recognise that Surrey Heath needs more homes, including affordable homes, and that Camberley town centre in particular needs investment, renewal and regeneration.

But supporting appropriate development is not the same as accepting over development. Nor does it mean accepting major planning changes being buried in technical documents that most residents would never realistically read, understand or even know they needed to look for.

The consultation was not just a technical planning exercise. It included significant changes affecting Camberley, Frimley, Bagshot, Chobham, Frimley Green, Deepcut and other communities across Surrey Heath.

The Liberal Democrats promised a council culture based on “accountability, community and transparency”. On this important issue, they have fallen well short of that standard.

A consultation can be published and still not be transparent

Surrey Heath Borough Council did publish the consultation. It ran from noon on 28 May 2026 to noon on 9 July 2026 and was described as a consultation on the “Main Modifications” to the Surrey Heath Local Plan 2019–2038.

The Council’s consultation page also made clear that residents were only able to comment on the proposed Main Modifications, not on other parts of the Local Plan. It asked respondents to identify the specific Main Modification reference number, explain why the modification was unsound and set out what change was needed to make it sound.

That may be normal planning process, but it is not meaningful community engagement.

Ordinary residents should not have to decode planning terminology, cross-reference “MM” numbers, understand legal soundness tests and read through a long technical schedule to discover what is being proposed for their town, village or neighbourhood.

A council that truly believes in accountability, community and transparency should do more than publish a technical consultation and wait for people to find it. It should explain plainly what is changing, where it is changing and why it matters.

What was in the Surrey Heath Local Plan Main Modifications?

The Schedule of Main Modifications sets an overall borough housing requirement of at least 5,578 new homes over the plan period, with an annualised requirement of 280 homes per year from 2019 to 2032 and 321 homes per year from 2032 to 2038.

That is significant in itself. But the bigger concern is how the implications for specific communities were presented.

In Camberley town centre, the modifications include very substantial additional development. The London Road Block Camberley site is allocated for approximately 550 new homes, with the wording referring to predominantly flatted development. The same policy allows buildings of 4–7 storeys and up to two “landmark buildings” with a maximum height of 15 storeys.

That is not a minor technical detail. Two buildings of up to 15 storeys would represent a dramatic change to the character and skyline of Camberley. Residents should have been directly alerted to that possibility in plain English.

Land East of Knoll Road is allocated for approximately 340 new homes, with flatted development across the site comprising 4–7 storeys. Camberley Station is increased from 150 to 200 homes, with the reason given that a higher number of dwellings is justified.

Taken together with other nearby allocations, this represents a very large concentration of additional housing in Camberley town centre, much of it flatted development.

Again, the issue is not that Camberley should have no new homes. It is that development of this scale needs to be carefully justified, properly planned and clearly explained to the people who will live with the consequences.

Camberley parking safeguards have been weakened

One of the most concerning changes is the wording on parking.

For the London Road Block Camberley site, the policy now refers to “suitable, well integrated parking provision having regard to Surrey County Council’s parking standards”. The supporting text changes the wording from parking provision needing to be “in accordance with” Surrey County Council’s parking standards to merely “have regard to” those standards.

The same weakening appears for Land East of Knoll Road, where the wording changes from parking provision being “in accordance with” Surrey County Council’s parking standards to “having regard to” those standards.

That may sound like a small drafting change. It is not.

“In accordance with” is a stronger requirement. “Having regard to” gives developers greater scope to argue for lower parking provision, particularly by pointing to the town-centre location.

This weakening is not confined to individual Camberley sites. MM38 makes a similar change to the wider transportation policy, replacing “in accordance with” the Council’s standards with “having regard to” those standards for vehicular and cycle parking.

Camberley is not central London. Many residents will still need cars for work, family commitments, caring responsibilities, school journeys and access to services outside the town. Future developments will also need realistic provision for visitors, disabled residents, carers, tradespeople, deliveries, servicing and electric vehicle charging.

If parking is underprovided, the problem does not disappear. It is displaced onto surrounding residential streets, existing public car parks and other parts of the town centre. That affects existing residents, local businesses and the accessibility of Camberley itself.

This change should have been clearly highlighted. Instead, it was buried in technical wording deep inside the schedule.

Affordable housing also deserves scrutiny

Surrey Heath needs more affordable housing. That is why residents are entitled to understand not only how many homes are being proposed, but what kind of homes they are and who they are likely to serve.

The general affordable housing policy in the modifications refers to 40% affordable housing on qualifying sites. However, for fully flatted development in Camberley Town Centre, the requirement is reduced to 25% where there is no site-specific allocation setting a different figure.

For the London Road Block, the site-specific minimum is even lower, at 20% affordable housing.

There may be viability arguments for this. But if so, they should be communicated openly and clearly. Residents should not have to discover through technical policy wording that large flatted town-centre schemes may be subject to a lower affordable housing expectation than the general borough standard.

If the administration believes this is justified, it should explain that case to residents plainly. That is what accountability looks like.

Local Plan changes across Surrey Heath, not only Camberley

Although Camberley town centre contains some of the most striking examples, this is not only a Camberley issue.

The Surrey Heath Local Plan Main Modifications include significant site-specific changes and allocations across the Borough.

In Bagshot, the Bagshot Depot and Archaeology Centre site is allocated for 50 homes, while a requirement to provide improved pedestrian and cycle access to Bagshot District Centre is removed on the basis that no specific improvements are envisaged as necessary.

In Frimley, Sir William Siemens Square is allocated for 170 homes, with requirements relating to design, landscaping, pedestrian and cycle links and the relationship with Frimley District Centre and the station.

In Chobham, Chobham Rugby Club is allocated for 91 homes, with re-provision of existing community and recreational uses to be secured elsewhere in the Borough through a Section 106 agreement.

In Frimley Green, Land off Spencer Close is allocated for 60 homes, with changes relating to railway proximity, noise impact and landscaping buffers.

In Deepcut, Mindenhurst remains one of the largest strategic sites in the Borough. The Main Modifications continue to allocate the former Princess Royal Barracks for 1,200 new dwellings, a care home and associated infrastructure, with changes relating to infrastructure, affordable housing, design, transport, drainage, education, health, sports facilities and countryside gaps.

Residents in each of these communities deserved clear local explanations of what was changing. A consultation labelled “Main Modifications” does not tell people in Bagshot, Frimley, Chobham, Frimley Green, Deepcut or Camberley what the practical implications are for them.

Regeneration must not become overdevelopment

Camberley needs regeneration. Surrey Heath needs housing. But that does not give the Council a blank cheque to support disproportionate density, weakened parking safeguards or development that is out of keeping with the existing character of an area.

The London Road Block Camberley example is particularly stark. A policy allowing up to two landmark buildings of up to 15 storeys is a major change for Camberley. It should have been a headline point in public communication, not something residents had to find in a technical table.

The same applies to parking. Weakening the wording from “in accordance with” to “having regard to” parking standards is a practical change with real-world consequences. It should have been explained openly.

The same applies to affordable housing. If large fully flatted town-centre developments are to be subject to a lower affordable housing requirement than the general borough policy, residents should be told clearly.

Where was the accountability, community and transparency?

Accountability means being clear with residents about decisions that will shape their communities for years.

Community means engaging people in language they can understand, not relying on specialist planning processes that exclude all but the most determined or technically informed.

Transparency means highlighting the important points, not leaving them buried in a lengthy document full of strike-throughs, underlining, policy references and planning terminology.

On this consultation, the Liberal Democrat administration has not met the standard it set for itself.

The issue is not whether a consultation page existed. It did.

The issue is whether residents were given a fair, clear and accessible explanation of the major local implications. In our view, they were not.

Surrey Heath residents deserved the full picture

Surrey Heath Conservative Association will continue to support appropriate, well-designed development that provides homes, improves places and respects local communities.

But we will also challenge overdevelopment, poor communication and weak scrutiny.

Residents deserved to know that the Surrey Heath Local Plan Main Modifications included major housing allocations across the Borough, very substantial flatted development in Camberley town centre, potential 15-storey buildings on the London Road Block, weakened parking wording and a reduced affordable housing expectation for some Camberley town-centre flatted development.

They deserved that information in plain English, promoted clearly and locally.

A technically compliant consultation is not the same as a genuinely transparent one.

Surrey Heath residents were promised accountability, community and transparency. On this occasion, they deserved much better.

Key Main Modifications residents may have missed