The hallowed halls of The Burys, home to Waverley Borough Council (WBC), is gearing up for the mother of all fights.
And… on the same day there is another public inquiry at Cranleigh Arts Centre when Thakeham Homes fight for permission to build Alfold New Town!
In the green corner (for which read “Let’s build on GREEN FIELDS!”) is Protect our Little Corner (POW – or Ka-Pow, as they are hoping this will be the knock-out final blow in their long-running battle against development of Dunsfold Aerodrome) and in brown corner (for which read “Let’s build our BROWN FIELD.”) is the Dunsfold Developer.
The scene is set for an epic contest between, on the one-hand, POLC, who are portraying themselves as the underdogs, who have been forced to go cap-in-hand to the Parish Councils and the public in order to raise – it’s rumoured – £80,000 to fight Goliath in the form of Trinity College Cambridge, the owners of the aforementioned Dunsfold Aerodrome and would-be developers of the biggest brownfield site in the Borough.
The battle which is to be fought comes hard on the heels of Inspector Jonathan Bore’s crippling comments that:
not only is Waverley ripe for development – it being much less constrained than the neighbouring boroughs of Guildford and Woking – but it’s going to have to take 50% of Woking’s unmet housing need!
and
given a choice between spending an extra two minutes in traffic and providing much-needed new homes he knew what he – and the Government – would rather do!
No wonder POLC is feeling somewhat embattled and embittered.
To add to their woes, The Mail on Sunday – that bible of the Middle Classes – devoted page 2 of its latest publication to the news that Teresa May is set to declare war on Nimbys, with radical plans to build 300,000 homes a year.
Apparently, Homes & Communities Secretaries – yes, that is Sajid Javid, he who bowed to pressure applied by Mistress Milton and Jeremy Shunt-all-the-homes-elsewhere, by calling in the Dunsfold application – will warn that if wealthy areas [like Waverley?] refuse to build the extra homes needed to solve the UK’s housing crisis they will drive more young voters into the arms of Labour.
“But not in Our Waverley!” wail POW. “We weigh the vote in Our Waverley so we’re exempt from what happens elsewhere in the country …!”
If only! According to the MoS, Nimbys [like POLC and its supporters have had too much sway for too long and they are going to have to adjust to the idea that everyone has a right to a roof over their head in this green and pleasant land [for which read boroughs like Waverley], not just a privileged few. Apparently, owning your own home is a fundamental part of being a Conservative, May and Javid will tell us!
According to Government Officials and as we, at Waverley Web, have been saying since our website’s inception, selfish Conservative Councils [of which Waverley has been one] need to [wake up and] smell the coffee or there won’t be a Conservative Party for much longer. We have to end the tyranny of a small, well-heeled minority who complain a maisonette built within five miles will ruin the view for their in-out driveways and orangeries! Let’s hope Peter Barker, Alan Ground, Trevor Nun and Charles Orange (famed Waverley-wide for their NIMBYISM and membership of the precursor to POLC, Stop Dunsfold Park New Town) are reading … not just the MoS but the Waverley Web!
Poor old Peter Barker is – or so rumour in The Sun on Dunsfold Green has it – already reaping the rewards of opposing development at the Aerodrome. Apparently, Jack the Lad, Woodward’s development of 45 houses on fields within spitting distance of Mr Barker’s bungalow which morphed into a barn have not gone down well. The second phase of Mr Woodward’s development on fields within coughing distance of Mr Barker’s much property has caused paroxysms. Development at Dunsfold Aerodrome will be the cherry on the cake as far as Mr Barker’s concerned!
Oops! We have just heard from Jack – ‘the lad’ Woodward to say that his 45 new homes do not abut PB’s land – and apparently PB likes them! The 40 proposed next door to PB are on land owned by a gentleman from Scotland! Which PB doesn’t like, because he doesn’t want people living next door to him!! Perish the thought. Apologies to Mr Woodward, who loves the Waverley Web and says it gives him a good laugh.
Meanwhile, just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away in Bramley and Shamley Green, we understand By-Pass-Byham, Richard Shut-the-Gates and Mike A-Band-On all the villages have taken heart from the rumour that Javid is proposing to soften the blow by offering extra cash to build bypasses to preserve the rural peace of some villages. Watch out OJ there might be a bypass coming right through Hascombe!! If not there, where? Ssshh! Whisper it who dares: Bramley Golf Course …
Of course, if they were sensible they would put the money towards introducing trams on the Horsham to Guildford railway line but – there’s always a but with this lot – but in this cases it’s an abut! For who’s property abuts the old Horsham to Guildford railway line? Yes, you’ve guessed it, those two stalwart Parish and Borough Councillors By-Pass-Byham and and All-at-Seabourne live in Linersh Wood and the former Horsham to Guildford line abuts Linersh Wood …
Heaven forbid that the Waverley Web would suggest that Bypass Byham and Richard All-at-Seabourne would put their own interests above the thousands of commuters that traverse the A281 from, an ever-growing Horsham, every day …