It isn’t very often the Waverley Web stands up for the Leader of Waverley Borough Council, but every now and again we are forced into doing so, and it is the season of goodwill to all men, and women!

Over the past few weeks the local press letters pages have been full of venom against ‘Your Waverley’ and in particular against Council Leader Julia Potts. So perhaps we should employ a little perspective in the interest of fairness!

Julia Potts picked up a poisoned chalice when she sat in Bobby Knowles’ hot seat, and ever since her seat has, quite literally, been getting warmer! Why, because her predecessor, Council Leader ‘Bobby’ Knowles, aided and abetted by Bramley’s Richard Gates and YW’s former Chief Planning Officer Matthew Evans failed to get the Daft Local Plan off the ground! In fact, they didn’t even manage to get it skidding along the runway! Perhaps even out of the hangar! The council’s failure during Bobby’s days, to adopt even a modicum of  vision for the borough has put us where we are to-day.

BUT, and it’s as huge BUT – the real culprits in Waverley, responsible for the imminent failure of Farnham’s Neighbourhood Plan and the allocation of another 450 homes are:

SW Surrey’s MP Jeremy Shunt – and Guildford and Waverley MP Anne Milton who jointly persuaded Secretary of State Savid Javid to call in the Dunsfold Aerodrome scheme putting the skids under an approved application for 1,800 homes on the largest brownfield site in the borough! And, into the bargain, have also put a huge question mark over the 2,600 homes included on this site in the Draft Local Plan, the very same Local Plan a Government Inspector believes could take even more!

This  scheme could one day could see the re-opening of the Horsham to Guildford railway line – but we bet not if Bramley’s By-Pass Byham can stop it!

So – let’s give the woman a break – because it’s Christmas – and Jesus wants us all for sunbeams, or is it, angels?