Councillors voted 7 to 5 on 21 October to send the Horley High Street car park sale back to the Executive, asking it to weigh the officers' preferred option.

The plan to sell Horley’s High Street car park on the open market has been sent back to the council’s Executive. Reigate and Banstead’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee voted on Wednesday 21 October to refer the decision back for reconsideration.

The committee wants the Executive to consider option 3 instead. That is a full options appraisal of the site, the route the council’s own officers had recommended. The decision to sell is on hold until the Executive looks at it again.

The vote was seven for, five against, with two abstentions. The chair read the count out twice, and it is on the council’s webcast of the meeting. The committee has 14 members, according to the council. Minutes have not yet been published.

Why it was called in

On 24 September the Executive chose a “conditional open market sale” for the 86-space car park, as we reported. Officers had advised against that option.

Six councillors signed a request to call the decision in: Jonathan Essex, Victoria Chester, Jenny Orchard, Sue Sinden, Gillian Vischer and Robin Whitwell. Five more added their names later, the call-in report says. Those were Rod Ashford, Neha Boghani, Joel Gabriel, Mark Johnston and Mark Smith.

The request reached the council on 5 October. The report says council lawyers ruled it valid the next day on two grounds:

  • the action was not proportionate
  • it lacked clarity of aims and desired outcomes

Three more grounds were rejected. They concerned openness, consultation and the budget and policy framework.

The call-in form sets out the argument. The council’s stated aim was “owned and retained affordable rent and socially rented homes for local people”. The signatories say an open market sale gives no guarantee of either. Of the two ways to sell, only a sale by competitive tender would have required the buyer to build affordable and social rent homes.

The three options

These are the options the Executive report put forward for the site:

Option What it means Status now
1. Conditional open market sale Sell to the highest suitable bidder Chosen by the Executive on 24 September, now referred back
2. Sale by competitive tender Sell only to a buyer who will deliver affordable and social rent homes Not chosen
3. Full options appraisal A detailed study before any decision to sell Officers’ preferred option; the committee asks the Executive to consider it

What was said in the meeting

Councillor Essex said the council should set “a minimum specification for what we want on the site” before inviting bids. If a sale goes ahead, he said, bidders should know up front if the council wants 100% affordable and socially rented homes.

Not everyone agreed. Councillor Michael Blacker said he “couldn’t agree with the 100% affordable housing”. He said he would support a preference for some social and rented housing, “but not 100%”.

Councillor Simon Parnall warned that setting out conditions in public could weaken the council’s hand. “If you set out your negotiating position, then you’ve destroyed your ability to negotiate the best deal,” he said.

The committee also agreed further recommendations to go with the referral. One asks that any money from a sale of the site be ring-fenced for affordable and social housing. As the chair counted it, seven voted for, five against and one abstained.

Vice-chair Councillor Sam Walsh argued against that one. He said this council could not bind East Surrey Council, the new unitary authority that takes over in April 2027, on how it spends the money. The committee agreed to settle the final wording of its recommendations with officers after the meeting.

Redhill’s Gloucester Road car park is not affected

Members asked whether the vote also held up Gloucester Road car park in Redhill, which was part of the same Executive decision. The council’s legal adviser said it did not. The call-in only challenged the choice for the Horley site. The Gloucester Road decision stands, and work on its options study can go ahead.

What it means for you

  • The High Street car park stays open. Nothing was ever sold, and the free first hour at Horley’s council car parks still applies.
  • The Executive has to look at it again. It can keep its original choice or change it. Its next scheduled meeting is on 19 November. The agenda has not yet been published.
  • A public consultation is still promised before any sale. The original decision made a sale subject to “the outcomes of any requisite public consultations”.
  • East Surrey Council will have the final say on any sale it inherits after 1 April 2027.

We will report what the Executive decides. The council’s own car park housing papers explain how the two sites came up for development.