"Mole Valley has been approached by a developer, who wants to build a supermarket and affordable housing units on Lower Shott in Bookham. The council had no proposals of its own for the redevelopment of this site, which at present accommodates a number of retail tenants and housing.

However, we have decided within the last couple of weeks to contact Mole Valley Housing Association to see whether they would be interested in participating in such a scheme. We have also scheduled a meeting for our Executive to decide whether this should be taken to the next stage.

If approved by the Executive, it is proposed that we approach the tenants and enter into a consultation with Bookham residents and the surrounding villages to see whether this scheme is going to produce real benefits for the community. If we feel that it is going to work, then we will enter into discussions to accommodate the existing tenants".

Obviously we have to look forward to the future. This could be an excellent opportunity for local people and local businesses but these proposals are really in the very early stages. We will consider everyone’s point of view."