Seems the Waverley Web just might have hit a sore point with more traders than we realised when we issued yesterday’s post To be a Village – Town – or City – that is the question?
According to our growing band of followers/hits – (we hit our first 25,000 this week) – that the previous Chamber of Commerce Committee resigned almost en-bloc following a little dispute about backing Cranleigh new – Town – City…
Apparently the former Chamber Pot Chairman – a local mag owner – was unceremoniously ousted after being told to either get out or a rival chamber would be created! Why? Because she was not prepared to back wholesale development on Cranleigh’s green fields and had refused a series of paid advertising in her magazine from the Flying Dutchman. The Cloggie wanted to buy costly editorial pages trumpeting his development called the Knowle Park Initiative which goes before Waverley Planners tonight Wednesday, and she didn’t want any part of it. Somebody turning down money – never, not really! Now she has put herself up for election for a vacant parish council seat, saying she wants brown fields built on before the countryside.
One follower told us:
“I used to be a member of the committee of the Cranleigh Chamber of Trade & Commerce and we resigned en masse (apart from one) as all certain people ever wanted to do was talk about houses being built and why the Chamber should support it.
The new committee, headed by Richard Graham, is stuffed full of pro-development people.”
Another says:
Too right about the so called “Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce” and that Batty Bamford” corrupt the lot of them. I have tried reasoning with a number of local businesses and am so fed up with their “we can’t halt progress” attitude that I’m taking my custom out of Cranleigh for some things.”
And there’s more about the dodgy dealing inside the leaking Chamber Pot. Apparently one local developer has been offering all sorts of “incentives” to people/organisations/shops/local politicians/ and possibly more, that we don’t know about, to get involved in or back his his little venture into the property business!
This is a message to villagers which went out today from the Cranleigh Civic Society.
Dear members and friends
Now is the time to stand up and be counted!
Please come to the Waverley Borough Council offices at 18:30 this Wednesday
27th April, to stand with the Cranleigh Civic Society team as we oppose
another 340 new homes being built behind the 425 just recently approved off
Cranleigh high street.
Waverley Borough Council planners have waved the applications from the
Knowle Park Initiative (265 homes) and Little Meadow (75 homes) through just
days after the Berkeley Homes appeal (425 homes) was successful. Despite
parish council objections, the Berkeley’s application was driven through
against the wishes of local people and we fear that the subsequent
applications will fall like dominoes unless we make a stand.
The soul of our village is at stake here. Be in no doubt that this is a
pivotal moment in the village’s history, perhaps the time when unfettered,
inappropriate development destroys its very character forever.
Please be there. Please make your voice heard! As the famous quote says ‘The
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.’
Jane Price
Membership Secretary
Cranleigh Civic Society
http://www.cranleighsociety.org
https://www.facebook.com/cranleighsociety