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2 Introduction

2.1 What is an NDP?

The Localism Act 2011 provides communities with an opportunity to create an NDP for their area. An NDP establishes planning policies for the development and use of land in the defined area, enhancing or modifying the existing local planning policies. This use of land may be for housing, shops, business, recreation or other community facilities. The plan can also contain policies dealing with other matters important to local residents, such as health and education provision, the environment, green space, roads, drainage and other infrastructure concerns. An NDP therefore allows local residents to specify the right type of development for their own community. However, it cannot be used simply to prevent development.

An NDP must be in “general conformity” with government planning guidance and the latest Local Plan and policies adopted by the Local Planning Authority, MVDC in our case. The latest Local Plan covering Ashtead is the Core Strategy adopted by MVDC in 2009, together with the saved policies of the Mole Valley Local Plan, adopted in 2000. The Ashtead NDP cannot be in conflict with the strategic policies of the Core Strategy, but can be more specific to take into account the needs of our community. Any requirements that we include in the plan must be supported by evidence.

This document has been prepared in consultation with residents and will be agreed or otherwise by the community through a referendum. If the community approves the plan at a referendum, MVDC is obliged to use these policies when deciding on future planning applications that are made in Ashtead.

A number of reports provide the basis and evidence for the policies proposed in this document. These are available on the Forum’s website and are listed at Appendix 7, together with references to relevant MVDC documents. Some of these reports were produced months before this document and where appropriate, more current data has been quoted in this NDP. Further sources of information are shown in Appendix 6.

2.2 Ashtead and the Local District

Ashtead is located in Surrey, about fifteen miles south-west of Central London and consists of three Wards in the District of Mole Valley. Mole Valley is an economically prosperous district benefiting from its location close to the economic generators of London, the international airports Gatwick and Heathrow and access to the national motorway network via the M25 at Leatherhead. Unemployment rates are historically amongst the lowest both regionally and nationally.

Ashtead is separated from Epsom to the east by areas of woodland and from Leatherhead to the west by a small strip of grazing land and the embankments of the M25 motorway: it is bounded to the north by the strong landscape setting of Ashtead Common and to the south by a rolling landscape of pasture, hedgerows and woodland.

Figure 1 Ashtead Boundaries

Figure 1 Ashtead Boundaries

Figure 2 Ashtead within Mole Valley

Figure 2 Ashtead within Mole Valley

The built-up area of Mole Valley is concentrated in the North of the District, comprising Dorking, Bookham, Fetcham, Leatherhead and Ashtead.





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