Q

When is prime agricultural land, not prime agricultural land?

A

When local authorities agree with each other that they  want to grant planning permission to build on it!

When Guildford councillors overturned their officers’ advice to approve an application to build 254 homes on the Waverley/Guildford border at Tongham, it sent temperatures rising at Waverley judging by Joint Planning Committee Chairman ‘Mao’ aka Peter Isherwood’s puce-face, he looked fit to burst a blood vessel!

Q When is a SANG ( Sustainable access to a natural green space) – not a SANG?

A When it cannot be accessed – from the A331 and the A31, and is isolated?

Guildford councillors’ objections centred around the ‘strain the proposed development would put on the local healthcare system’ and the lack of transport infrastructure in the area? Their decision was prompted by the concerns expressed by the Guildford & Waverley Care Commissioning Group(G&W CCG).

Wow! Who rattled its cage all of a sudden? It has been strangely silent on the question of development in the Waverley Borough, despite thousands of homes having already  been approved adding many more thousands of  extra patients  requiring  healthcare! Is the CCG waking up – at last! Or is it only waking up in Guildford – and not Waverley?

The planning officers led by Liz The Biz recommended approval of the hybrid application, but changed her mind when Guildford councillors said NO.  Never mind the fact that there proposed development would breach the strategic gap between Farnham and Guildford, just a minor difficulty really! Anything goes in Waverley.

 One of our followers  in the east summed it all up (below) – after  the unanimous decision by Waverley’s JPC to refuse the application to provide  green space on their side of the boundary, to allow the huge development on the Guildford side to go ahead.

P.S. It goes to appeal next week! So watch this space!