E-petition on use of gardens as ‘brown-field sites’

Surbiton Planning Subcommittee recently turned down an application from a developer to demolish a house in Berrylands, replace it with a driveway and build five or six houses in its garden and those of its immediate neighbours. This bid was possible because current planning law regards gardens as ‘brown-field’ sites, akin to land that previously housed,say, a power station, supermarket or office block and therefore suitable for development. The reality is that, in our urban environment, they are much more akin to fields and meadows – a haven for plants, shrubs, trees and the insects birds and animals that use them as habitat. Their preservation is vital to the biodiversity of the area in which we live.

Cllr. Mary Reid has drawn up an electronic petition on this to which you may wish to append your signature by following this lead http://epetitions.kingston.gov.uk/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=104