‘By 2026 Spelthorne will have become a more sustainable place to live and work, the economic and social needs of all residents will be met and the environment will have been successfully protected and where possible enhanced.

There will be an appropriate mix of housing to meet needs including more affordable housing and more accommodation for an increasingly ageing population.

The significant flood risks affecting people and property will have been reduced.

Further development will have been confined to the urban area and contributed to its improvement and be sustainable. As a consequence the Green Belt will have been maintained.

Uses with the potential to generate large amounts of traffic will have been located in town and other centres and locations accessible by non-car based travel. Use of non-car based travel will have increased and contributed to reducing congestion and resulted in improved air quality – which in Spelthorne is primarily traffic related.

The economy will be strong with the overall amount of business space maintained and renewed as required to meet business needs. Businesses will be more accessibly located and the Borough’s residents will be better trained.

Staines will have continued to develop its role as a major shopping centre and location for related services meeting the needs of North Surrey. The other centres of Ashford, Shepperton and Sunbury and other local centres and larger parades will have maintained their role in providing local shopping and other services.

Recycling and renewable energy generation will have significantly increased and contributed to a reduction in the generation of CO2 and account taken of the implications of climate change.

The historic and natural environment of the Borough will be in as good a condition as now or better.’

1. To protect and improve the quality of the environment, including improving the landscape, promoting biodiversity and safeguarding the Borough’s cultural heritage.
   
   This expands on the environmental aspects of the overall vision in relation to landscape, biodiversity and cultural heritage.
   
   
2. To ensure the Borough develops in a way that minimises harmful CO2 emissions contributing to climate change and that caters for potential future climate change.
   
   Minimising climate change impact and catering for the potential consequences of climate change is a key aspect of sustainable development.
   
   
3. To secure an improvement in the Borough’s air quality.
   
   Parts of Spelthorne suffer from poor air quality. This DPD can make a contribution to its improvement along with other plans and strategies.
   
   
4. To minimise the impact of noise on local communities and the environment
   
   Noise is a significant factor affecting the quality of the environment in the north of the Borough, particularly due to aircraft noise from Heathrow and traffic generally on major roads.
   
   
5. To safeguard valuable urban open space and provide for open recreational uses.
   
   Quality open space has an important role in defining the character of areas and meeting recreational needs.
   
   
6. To meet the Borough’s housing requirement in the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South East.
   
   The draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the South East (July 2008) requires 3320 dwellings or 166 dwellings per annum (2006-2026).
   
   
7. To ensure provision for housing incorporates a mix of tenure, size and type to meet local needs, including affordable housing.
   
   The type of housing provided must seek to meet the needs of households. A substantial proportion of newly forming households cannot afford to buy on the open market, so an element of ‘affordable’ housing is needed. More smaller units are needed.
   
   
8. To ensure provision is made for the needs of all sections of the community.
   
   Different groups in the community have different needs and provision needs to ensure that no groups with legitimate requirements are excluded.
   
   
9. To ensure necessary infrastructure and services are provided.
   
   It is important that provision of infrastructure and services keeps pace with the changing requirements of the Borough and any deficiencies in provision are met.
   
   
10. To ensure effective use is made of urban land in meeting development needs.
    
    This reflects strategic planning guidance and is particularly relevant to Spelthorne because of the necessary constraints that limit where development can take place.
    
    
11. To ensure new development is designed to a high standard appropriate to its setting and contributes to an improvement in the appearance of the environment.
    
    High quality design is an important element in achieving sustainable development solutions that meet development needs and also improve the environment.
    
    
12. To contribute to tackling the specific problems faced by areas of relative deprivation in the Borough.
    
    The DPD should seek to contribute, along with other initiatives, in addressing the issues faced by these areas.
    
    
13. To seek ways to reduce flooding and its associated risks to people and property including ensuring development does not increase the risk.
    
    Significant parts of the Borough are liable to flood and this objective aims to reduce flooding and ensure that there is no increase in the number of people at risk from flooding, no development is permitted that would make flooding worse, and the needs of those already at risk from flooding are considered.
    
    
14. To contribute to making Spelthorne a safer place.
    
    Fear of crime and anti social behaviour is an issue reflected both in the Community Plan and in the Council’s corporate priority to make Spelthorne safer.
    
    
15. To ensure development contributes to sustainable transport choices and reduces the need to travel.
    
    Reducing reliance on the car offers congestion and air quality benefits. Locating and designing developments so that they are less car-dependent can assist in this process and contribute to a more sustainable pattern of development.
    
    
16. To prevent further urbanisation.
    
    This objective aims to focus development in the existing urban area and prevent them from spreading.
    
    
17. To support the retention of sufficient well located employment land to enable the maintenance of the local economy and to support redevelopment of well located land to meet business needs.
    
    
18. To encourage redevelopment of poorly located employment land for housing or to meet other development needs.
    
    Objectives 17 and 18 aim to encourage the effective use of existing well located employment land to maximise the benefit to the local economy. Subject to the retention of sufficient well located land, the use of poorer sites to meet other needs is encouraged, consistent with the principle of making effective use of urban land.
    
    
19. To provide for the continued development of Staines as a focus for a mix of town centre uses including retail, leisure and employment and to improve access to the town centre.
    
    This objective aims to continue to develop Staines multi purpose role as the Borough’s main town centre and the most accessible location by public transport. It also recognises the need to tackle congestion problems on access points to the centre.
    
    
20. To maintain the role of the centres of Ashford, Shepperton and Sunbury Cross in providing local services.
    
    These centres play an important local role.
    
    
21. To encourage development of a sustainable transport system that supports the spatial strategy and provides for the needs of all sections of the community in an environmentally acceptable way and further improve Staines’ role as a public transport interchange.
    
    This objective recognises the importance of transport and its relationship to development and supports a sustainable approach allowing for economic, social and environmental considerations. It also recognises the role of Staines as a regionally important transport interchange.