The Kempton Park Public Meeting on 3 February left those who attended it in no doubt as to the past complicity of Spelthorne Council in The Jockey Club’s plans for a residential development on Green Belt at Kempton Park.

But what of the future. At that Public Meeting, Council officers repeatedly said that there would be no development at Kempton Park, because it was designated Green Belt. Can they be believed this time around?

Our Local Plan is under formal Review. One strand of that Review is a re-examination of the Borough’s Green Belt boundaries. The documentary evidence (primarily the “leaked” report to the Local Plan Working Party, but there are other documents in addition) indicates that serious consideration is being given to releasing land that is currently Green Belt and Protected Urban Open Space for residential use. (see Document 68 , paragraph 2.31.1 on page 6:  If you don’t want to increase residential density in a Borough such as Spelthorne, you have to release Green Belt and Protected Urban Open Space).

Another part of the Review of our Local Plan is the Local Economic Assessment. That was completed some time ago. The documentary evidence shows that developers were allowed to influence the content of that Assessment months before it was put out to public consultation. We have no idea whether this has happened again with other strands of the Review. What we do know is that local communities have not been involved in the work, as the law says they must be.

The easiest way for the Council to combat the extreme level of distrust among residents which they, by their actions, have allowed to build up, would be for them to start “working with” residents across the Borough.  But Spelthorne Council is stalling on allowing residents to be involved.

It has come to the point where we may have to resort to legal action to get Spelthorne Council to do what it should be doing. The cost will not be onerous. We require £500.

Please give generously.

If you would like to donate to the cause using PayPal, please click here  . This will take you straight through to the LOSRA website’s home page. Scroll down and click on the button on the right: “Donate to the Keep Kempton Green Fund“.

If  you would like to donate by cheque, please make your cheque payable to LOSRA and send it to:

20 Green Street, Sunbury, TW16 6RN

Alternatively, donations can be deposited directly into the LOSRA bank account set up for this purpose:

Barclays Bank

Account name: LOSRA

Sort Code: 20-46-73

Account number: 8341 3934

As you would expect, the identity of all donors will be kept confidential.

Kind regards, and thank you very much in advance for your generosity.

Keep Kempton Green