Redhill Aerodrome saved from Garden Village fate?

Is Redhill Aerodrome off the hook so far as building a new Garden Village on the Surrey Green Belt site?

The local council has identified another site as its recommended location for the proposed 4,000 home Garden Village.

“At this stage based on the evidence, the draft Local Plan will recommend the Garden Community is located in South Godstone,” said Keith Jecks, chair of the Planning Policy Committee of Tandridge District Council.

Among the reasons given for not selecting Redhill Aerodrome are:

• No strategic road access – a new junction with the nearby M23 would be required
• No rail access
• Site straddles two local authorities
• Winter flooding
• Would take at least 15 years before construction could start.

The fact that Redhill Aerodrome is well and truly Green Belt has also had an impact.

“I am a passionate defender of the Green Belt,” continued Cllr Jecks. “Our beautiful district is 94% Green Belt, the highest proportion of any district in the entire country and likely to remain in the top three when our Local Plan is adopted. We know our residents feel passionate about this too.”

However, Redhill Aerodrome campaigners can’t give up just yet. Local MP Crispin Blunt is reported as saying, “the aerodrome is not completely safe”. And the leader of the adjacent Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Mark Brunt, is against development of the airfield although he said, “the developers retained by the owners of Redhill Aerodrome are bound to contest this position”.

Redhill Aerodrome