The inspector's changes lift Epsom and Ewell's housing target from 4,700 to 6,012 homes and add 16 sites, including 530 at Downs Farm. Burgh Heath Road is out.
The government inspector examining Epsom and Ewell’s Local Plan has set out the changes she wants made to it. They raise the borough’s housing target by more than 1,300 homes.
The plan as submitted in March 2025 promised at least 4,700 homes between 2022 and 2040. Under the inspector’s proposed main modifications, that becomes a minimum of 6,012. Sixteen new sites are added to the plan: twelve inside the built-up area and four in the Green Belt.
The changes are published in the papers for the council’s Licensing and Planning Policy Committee on Tuesday 22 September. Councillors are being asked to recommend that Full Council puts them out to a six-week public consultation.
What the inspector has changed
The committee report sets out the core changes. The biggest are:
- the housing requirement rises from at least 4,700 homes to at least 6,012
- the target becomes “stepped”: 152 homes a year for 2022/23 to 2025/26, matching what was actually built, then 386 a year to 2040
- sixteen new site allocations, numbered SA36 to SA51
- a higher affordable housing requirement on Green Belt sites (modification MM62)
- a rewritten racehorse training policy, agreed with the Jockey Club (MM72)
- rewritten design and Green Belt policies, after the inspector said the drafts were not fully in line with national policy (MM74 and MM82)
The number of sites taken out of the Green Belt goes from five to nine. The schedule of modifications says those sites would deliver 2,497 homes instead of 1,580. The borough would then meet about 59% of its need under the government’s standard method, up from 48%.
Where the homes would come from
| Source of supply | Submitted plan | With modifications |
|---|---|---|
| Completions | 456 | 605 |
| Commitments | 600 | 604 |
| Windfall, 1 to 4 homes | 455 | 385 |
| Windfall, 5 to 19 homes | 407 | 333 |
| Large urban sites (20+) | 1,313 | 1,477 |
| Small urban sites (5 to 19) | 103 | 151 |
| Sites taken out of the Green Belt | 1,580 | 2,497 |
| Total | 4,914 | 6,052 |
Source: committee report, paragraph 3.5.
The four Green Belt sites
Downs Farm (SA51) is the largest. The land north of College Road is allocated for at least 530 homes, an employment hub, a specialist school on up to 2.5 hectares and public open space. The land south of College Road would become open space and playing pitches, with better walking and cycling links to Epsom Downs Station. The schedule gives the site as 27.66 hectares north of the road and 17.92 hectares south of it. Vehicle access would come from Reigate Road.
Developers would also have to:
- secure frequent bus services to the site in the long term
- improve crossings, footways and cycle routes on Reigate Road and College Road
- pay towards improvements at Epsom Downs Station
- protect the setting of the Higher Green and Longdown Lane Conservation Area
- keep as many protected trees as possible
Land at Priest Hill (SA50), next to Ewell East Station, is allocated for at least 275 homes. It would also have about 1,000 square metres of shops or community space and a landscaped station square. The site covers 4.71 hectares. The schedule records a pre-application proposal for up to 530 homes there. Access would be from Cheam Road and Banstead Road, with money towards accessibility work at Ewell East Station and room for GP or health services.
Cuddington Glade (SA48) is allocated for a care home of at least 70 bedrooms. Land off Cuddington Glade (SA49) is allocated for at least 45 homes.
The site that was dropped
In the spring, the council consulted on 17 possible extra sites. One of them has not made the inspector’s list. Land West of Burgh Heath Road was put forward for 50 homes.
The sustainability appraisal addendum explains why. It says the site “performs relatively poorly in accessibility terms”. It adds that the land sits on “a relatively sensitive part of the urban edge in landscape terms given rising land and the proximity of Epsom Downs.”
Two other sites have shrunk or changed since the spring. Land off Cuddington Glade was 50 homes and is now 45. The Spread Eagle Shopping Centre allocation is now for student accommodation.
The twelve urban sites
- 25 Alexandra Road, Epsom: at least 10 homes
- Gainsborough Road estate, Epsom: at least 8 homes
- parking at 54 Gainsborough Road: at least 6 homes
- 85b Hook Road, Epsom: at least 8 homes
- land west of Ewell By-Pass: at least 38 homes
- Conservative Club, Epsom Club and Church: at least 28 homes and about 1,800 square metres of community space
- TK Maxx: at least 17 homes with about 3,750 square metres of shops and leisure
- land behind The Albion pub (McCafferty’s Bar): at least 11 homes and about 500 square metres of commercial space
- Spread Eagle Shopping Centre: at least 40 student units with about 2,000 square metres of shops and leisure
- Auction House, Depot Road: at least 10 homes and about 500 square metres of commercial space
- Laine Theatre Arts: at least 6 homes
- Eclipse Business Park, West Hill: at least 23 homes and about 1,500 square metres of commercial space
A misprint in the affordable housing figure
The report says the affordable housing requirement rises for sites in or released from the Green Belt. The schedule applies it to the four new Green Belt sites and the five already in the plan, SA31 to SA35.
The key figure in the published schedule is garbled, though. It reads “at least 450% affordable housing”, with a single digit marked up as a tracked change. Greenfield sites inside the urban area stay at 40%. Anyone commenting on this policy should ask the council to confirm the correct Green Belt figure before the consultation opens.
Councillors want more on police, fire and phone masts
The committee will hold a special meeting at 7pm on the same evening, before the main business. Councillors James Lawrence, Kieran Persand and Rob Geleit called it to debate a motion.
The motion says the plan’s infrastructure evidence does not deal properly with “blue lights” and telecoms. It asks officers to go back to police, fire and mobile network providers and set out what the new housing would mean for them.
Officers disagree. Their response says Surrey Police and Surrey Fire and Rescue both told the council in March 2026 that the extra housing “would not have a material impact”. Surrey County Council said the same about telecoms. South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was looking for a replacement ambulance community response post on the north-east side of Epsom town centre. Officers also point out that the inspector did not ask for any more infrastructure work.
What happens next
The main committee meets at 7.30pm on Tuesday 22 September in the Council Chamber at Epsom Town Hall, or when the special meeting finishes. It will be shown live on YouTube.
The councillors have two options:
- Recommend the consultation. Full Council then decides whether to open a six-week public consultation on the changes.
- Refuse to recommend it. A report would then go to Full Council asking it to withdraw the Local Plan from examination altogether.
The report is clear that the council cannot rewrite the inspector’s changes. Comments in the consultation can only be about the modifications, not the rest of the plan. Once the inspector has read them, she issues her final report, and councillors make a last decision on adopting the plan.
The timetable has already slipped. The council’s Local Development Scheme still gives adoption as spring 2026. The report blames the extra work the inspector asked for.
What it means for you
If you live near Downs Farm, Priest Hill or Cuddington Glade, this is the stage where the allocations become close to final. Once the consultation opens, you can comment on whether each modification makes the plan sound. Hard copies will be at the Town Hall and the borough’s libraries.
If you want to speak at the committee, the deadline for public questions and statements was noon today, Tuesday 15 September. Email democraticservices@epsom-ewell.gov.uk to check whether anything can still be accepted.
If you are watching planning appeals, the report warns that delay “increases the risk of speculative planning applications”. That is already happening: the Langley Vale inquiry into 110 homes opens today at the Town Hall.
Why it matters beyond 2027. Epsom and Ewell Borough Council is abolished on 1 April 2027. The report calls this the last Local Plan the council will prepare. It says the borough has the oldest plan of the five councils merging into East Surrey, with a Core Strategy from 2007. The new council would have to start its own plan from scratch.
For the background to the examination and the earlier site list, see our Epsom planning news page.
Sources
- Licensing and Planning Policy Committee, 22 September 2026: agenda and papers
- Report: Local Plan proposed main modifications consultation
- Appendix 1: schedule of the inspector’s proposed main modifications
- Appendix 3: sustainability appraisal addendum
- Special meeting, 22 September 2026: the motion and officers’ response
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