Developers are rolling, rolling, towards Farnham and all hell is breaking loose!
Sing-along-here:
And the above is just one of a shedload of planning applications landing on the desks of Waverley Planners.
No wonder the council spent over £1.5m on temps last year, because council officers’ desks are groaning under the weight of applications from developers seeking to roll their earthmovers into the borough and cover as much as they can with concrete. Why? because our council will not obey the law and we have no Daft Local Plan – which has been delayed yet again!
Remember: Two thirds of the borough of Waverley is subject to strict limitations on development due to its close proximity to protected heathland habitat.
Some councillors are beginning to show their frustration at being given a string of excuses why the LP is delayed.Tomorrow Tuesday they will be that due to th increasing number of failed appeals – they have to go back to school!
…read the Farnham Herald article below to get just a taste of what Farnham is facing and this is only a tiny part of the picture.
Read here: 16.02.18 – Plans in pipeline for 120-home ‘hamlet’
In a nutshell: Boyer Planning on behalf of London-based property developers CEG want to build 120 homes in a hamlet sandwiched between Frensham Vale to the North, Gardener’s Hill Rd to the West and Hillside Road and Edgeborough School in the South and East.
Needless to say the old mantra of offering a shop, pub, cafe etc are thrown in to sweeten the pill… but they are not fooling the locals who are strongly objecting. However, much good it may do them because just half a mile down the road the Secretary of State has just allowed 43 homes to be built at Baker Oates Stables, despite it being thrown out by Waverley councillors in December with many hundreds of objections from residents.
The developer offered to paint a blue line down Gardener’s Hill because pedestrians using the narrow road dice with death every time they walk along a road not wide enough for a pavement. However the Government Inspector did not see that as a problem Why? Because that useless outfit Surrey County Council Highways – you guessed did not objec !
An appeal against another decision by Waverley councillors for 46 homes at 35 Frensham Vale, directly opposite the site where CEG want to build 120, is now with the Government Inspector accompanied by 297 letters of objection.
WW is hearing from residents all over the borough now living under the threat of proposed development claiming their homes are blighted, and plans to move or downsize have been halted as their property values are being affected.
This is an e-mail received from one such resident.
Residents around Folly Hill in Farnham are tearing their hair out following an
application from Turley on behalf of Catesby Estate Ltd and Bewley Homes plc who are preparing a planning application for 110 new homes on land here.“This is another land grab encroaching on valuable green space and as always, no account is taken of the strain on local services and schools. No doubt there will be protests – but when do developers or local councils ever take note of the wishes of residents? They’re too busy making jobs for each other and putting up council tax to safeguard their pension.”
We have numerous e-mails from people asking “When is Waverley Borough Council going to get off its backside and publish its Local Plan.” Adopt the sites that individual Neighbourhood Plans have identified as sensible places for development- sites that will enhance towns and villages – not ruin them. We also hear the mantra consistently – build on brown field sites first!
And when is someone going to realise that roads, sewers, schools, electricity and water supplies in most areas are at capacity and additional services must be provided first.