Lib Dem County Councillor says central government should do more to protect the Green Belt

Speaking at a Surrey-wide Conference on the threat to Green Belt organised by the Surrey Branch of the Council to Protect Rural England in Dorking on Saturday, Liberal Democrat County Councillor Ian Beardsmore said the County has been suffering from a decade of pressure under successive governments.

He said there was a deep distrust in government willingness to defend Green Belt, going on to describe John Prescott and Eric Pickles as "The Tweedledum and Tweedledee of an environmental nightmare".

Cllr Ian Beardsmore said: There is clearly a need for more housing, but the sort of numbers coming out of Whitehall are absurd. They have been created by developers and estate agents via a Conservative party donor group called 'The Planning Forum' and are totally unrealistic."