Editorial Policy

Planning Applications

• As of 16th June 2025, this website will no longer track run-of-the-mill planning applications, for the following reasons:
  1. There is no evidence that Elmbridge planning officers are taking any notice of the conclusions of the Parish Council's planning committee on each application. Indeed where the opinions of the Parish Council and Elmbridge planning officers differ on any application, the current impulse of the Parish Council is not to seek to overturn Elmbridge's decision but to try to change its viewpoint so that on the next round of applications, its thinking will be closer to Elmbridge's. All in all, it seems an extraordinary and unnecessary duplication of effort, and a waste of both time and money.
  2. It is considerable effort to put the details of each application onto this website.
  3. Parish Councillors should ask themselves why they want to peruse the planning applications of other residents, and question what value they are adding to the process.
  4. As a voluntary unfunded website, we have no desire to get into any privacy issues arising from the long-term archiving of planning applications on each street.
• We will continue to monitor major property developments, such as the current Raleigh Drive proposal. While the Parish Council refuses to come to a view until a planning application is filed, affected residents tend to organise much earlier.