
And… Dunsfold Park is a Brownfield site!
DENISE WORDSWORTH ‘OBJECT[S] IN THE STRONGEST TERMS’
Apparently, Ms Wordsworth’s views and that of others ‘have not been listened to … there are nearly 2000 objections to [the development of Dunsfold Park and] it is beholden on [Waverley’s] councillors to listen to those that voted them in.’
Be afraid, “Your Waverley,” be very afraid, Ms Wordsworth doesn’t like your plans to develop 1,800 houses at the old Aerodrome and she’s a woman who, seemingly, knows how to construct an essay of an objection. Never was a woman more aptly named!
And before anyone thinks we’re picking on Ms Wordsworth, for the record, Waverley Web agrees with her assessment that the Council’s handbrake about turn in respect of Dunsfold Park’s proposals is a ‘knee jerk / lazy reaction to its need to supply additional housing required for the new Local Plan. And, the easiest means to do this is create a New Settlement. However, it is disingenuous to claim that the proposed development is being dumped in a ‘remote rural location in the SE of the county – where the population is low and the voices are not as loud as those in Farnham, Haslemere, Godalming, etc.’
No one has been more vociferous than Alfold, Bramley, Chiddingfold, Dunsfold and Hascombe. Indeed, the litter-louts have been out in force this week-end in Bramley erecting more of their garish banners objecting to Dunsfold Park New Town.
Waverley Web has said it before and we’ll say it again: you need planning permission to erect bloody great banners that desecrate the beautiful villages that Ms Wordsworth and her comrades are so keen to protect. Self-righteous indignation is no excuse for flouting planning regulations – whose protection PoW and their supporters are no doubt keen to claim the minute they believe Dunsfold Park has put a foot out of line. Perhaps they should bear in mind when flyposting that what’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander!
‘SAVE BRAMLEY’S CHILDREN’ proclaims one of the yellow perils (otherwise known as PoW posters).
Er, from what? Bramley isn’t a third world village … although to hear PoW talk, you could be forgiven for thinking it is: narrow, pot-hole ridden roads that are unsuitable for vehicles and HGVs, flooding and sewage problems …
Until they want to sell their houses that is! Then Bramley, morphs into the Belgravia of Surrey! And, miraculously, the Dunsfold-Park-blighted 45-minute journey into Guildford becomes a miraculous 10-minute hop, skip and a jump with its excellent transport links!
‘SAY NO TO MORE HGVs’ screeches another poster. Do they not want HGVs in Bramley, delivering fuel to the Esso petrol station, supplies to the Nisa store in the village centre transporting goods to M&S and Sainsbury’s in Cranleigh? But of course Bramley residents don’t object to their own needs being met by these HGVs, it’s other people’s needs they object to. We have two words for those people: GROW UP! Bramley isn’t an island – if you want to live on one move to the Outer Hebrides.
Look, we sympathise Ms Wordsworth, we really do, honestly, and Waverley Web has never made any secret of the fact that it despairs of Waverley Borough Council, but we fully support the Government’s policy of BROWNFIELD FIRST!
The last couple of years – indeed the last couple of weeks – have amply demonstrated that Cranleigh simply cannot take any more development unless and until someone – preferably the developers concerned – do something about the lack of infrastructure. The sewage system and the power network are at breaking point in that optimistically self-styled village – indeed we would argue that they are broken. And, as many Alfold residents know to their cost, having sewage gurgling up into the bath and the dishwasher during heavy rainfall is no joke.
Nor, for that matter, is losing green fields (think Amlets Lane), after green field (think Horsham Road), after green field (think Knowle Lane ) to development – especially when there is a perfectly good 600-acre brownfield site immediately adjacent to the A281, that’s ripe for redevelopment.
The reality is that whilst the A281 does suffer from a degree of congestion during the rush hour, so does every other A-road in the county not to mention the country and recent surveys reveal that delays through Bramley ,whilst not ideal, are minor compared to delays suffered by people in Farnham and other parts of the borough.
We’re sorry to break it to you all, but 2,000 objectors to Dunsfold Park isn’t that significant; in fact, it’s so embarrassingly small we’re surprised you even mention it. Waverley has a population of 115,665 (according to the last census) and you think 2,000 objections is a lot? Hello?! We suggest you wake up and do the maths! Of course, in an ideal world, we’d all like to pull up the drawbridge and preserve Alfold, Bramley, Chiddingfold, Cranleigh, Dunsfold, Farnham, Godalming, Hascombe, et al exactly as they are but that’s what every generation has wanted since time in memorial and if they’d succeeded very few of us would be able to enjoy living in those villages now!
We know you’ve put a lot of time and thought into your objections, Ms Wordsworth, and we are in awe of your diligence and patience – we really are – but, frankly, the next generation won’t thank you for it.
But the same cannot be said for most. Because ready prepared letters that just require a a tick and a stamp are being thrust through residents’ letterboxes, in readiness to fill more landfill.
Unfortunately, we need more homes and in Waverley suitable locations are limited. Whether we like it or not – and, yes, we know you don’t – Dunsfold Park offers the best option of an admittedly bad bunch. Instead of railing against it why not embrace the alternative view and be grateful that Waverley has this huge brownfield site and consider encouraging ‘Your Waverley” to build on it to so save our precious green fields and create homes that won’t be a drain on an existing, fragile,infrastructure?
You speak of views spoilt from Hascombe Hill. Why not turn that thought on its head and consider the stunning views to Hascombe and Pitch Hills residents of the new settlement could have from their village?
So how about it, Ms Wordsworth, why not embrace the scheme and even – whisper who dares – encourage Dunsfold Park to contribute to the reintroduction of the Horsham to Guildford railway line and solve a lot of the existing problems on the A281 into the bargain?! Really, when you think about it – really think about it – it’s a no-brainer. But, you know where the objectors to that particular scheme live – yes, you guessed – BRAMLEY!
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