On Wednesday last week, Walton Conservative Councillors Andrew Kelly and Christine Elmer and local resident Mick Flannigan, went to County Hall to hand in the petition against the application for a new industrial estate on Green Belt land behind the Lyon Road/Weylands industrial estate near Hersham Station. The petiton, started in April, has now reached 2,500 signatures - and is still growing as more and more people get to learn of the extra HGVs that this application would bring to local roads. Andrew, Christine and Mick handed the petition to Walton's two County Councillors Rachael Lake and Tony Samuels and the Assistant Chief Executive of Surrey County Council Susie Kemp.
The following day it was announced that the decision on this application has been delayed again - from 11 December to the Surrey Planning & Regulatory Committee on 26 February. The additional information requested by Surrey County Council is due to be provided in mid-December and should be online on the Elmbridge planning portal, for the public to examine, before Christmas. With the decision being taken in late February, there will be plenty of time for all to scrutinize and comment on the new information.
Andrew commented "Although we've got 2,500 signatures, this is by no means the end of our campaign. Just hours after we handed these in, I was handed further petition sheets and we've now got another few months to get more and more. We will continue to do all we can to get this application refused once and for all."
Christine added "This application as it stands is clearly unacceptable to Surrey County Council. It is not clear what the additional information requested by SCC is and what exactly SCC are waiting for. I would urge people to continue to write in with objections if not already done so, and once we see the additional information, scrutinise this with the utmost care, and if necessary write again."