GOING TO GROUND?
Our Dunsfold Village followers tell us that Alan Ground, a leading light on Dunsfold Parish Council for many years (not to mention his below-the-radar activities at the heart of the Stop Dunsfold New Town and Protect our Little Corner brigades), has finally thrown in the towel and decided to jump ship following the great ‘Dunsfold Disaster’ as it is now referred to by …some!
A vehement objector to pretty much anything and everything taking place at Dunsfold Park, during his years on the Parish Council, it would seem that ‘Gone To’ Ground is now determined to shake the dust of Dunsfold from his du Barrys and move to pastures greener.
His home, the seven-bed, Old Rectory on Dunsfold Green, is on the market for £2,750,000. Knight Frank, the estate agents acting for Mr Ground, wax lyrical in their particulars about the property, which they say ‘occupies its own island site in an enviable and private setting close to the sought after village of Dunsfold and within the Church Green Conservation Area’.
Apparently, there is additional accommodation in an adjacent coach house, which has its own sitting room, kitchen, dining area, bedroom suite and a second bedroom, not to mention a separate access and parking away from the main house. And, if that were not enough to tempt prospective buyers, there’s ‘a superb billiard room next to the Coach House as well as a triple garage with adjacent store’, with yet another separate entrance north of the main drive. Sounds like a developer’s wet dream!
The deposit alone for Mr Ground’s des res would gobble up a first time buyer’s entire budget (if they were lucky!) and interested parties will have to dig deep – very deep – to fund the £243,750 stamp duty bill, not to mention the monthly mortgage payments which could set the new owner back as much as £12,928.00!
It would be interesting to know what Mr Ground declares when he completes the Property Information Form. As tempting as it might be for him to take the view caveat emptor (buyer beware to the readers of Waverley Web!), as a lawyer, he will be only too well aware that he should declare details of any disputes with neighbours – and not just those adjacent to his property! According to our Dunsfold Village correspondent, Mr Ground has lodged so many complaints about his neighbour, Dunsfold Park, over the years, he could write a book, never mind fill a form!
Mr Ground will also be obliged to reveal details of any development or planning permission in respect of properties nearby. Oh, the irony of it! Having fought against the development of a new town on his doorstep for the past 15 years, Mr Ground is now going to have to notify prospective buyers of his own property that’s why he’s moving!
And he also has to provide details of planning permissions and building control completion certificates – or lack of! But, being a lawyer, no doubt all of Mr Ground’s paperwork will be in order. Heaven forbid he has to go crawling to Waverley Planners seeking retrospective consent … Wouldn’t you just love to be a fly on the wall in Liz-the-Biz’s office if that came to pass!
So there you have it, folks, anyone with a few million lying around who fancies a smarty-poos address for themselves – let’s face it, the middle-classes do love their Old Rectories, Old Stables and Old School Houses – can check it out with Knight Frank:
‘Man overboard!’ has become the cri de coeur at PoW HQ in recent weeks as, according to our POW informer, one after another, their ardent supporters are deserting the borough. James Northcote Green was the first to lose his nerve and take flight, swiftly followed by Grace Watson and now the ‘Gone to’ Grounds. Will there be anyone left to man the barricades?
Here at the Waverley Web, we hear they are taking bets over there in the East on who will be next out of the leaving gates!
But then of course – the new Mayor Anne Bott has had more than her share of little local difficulties this year, taking over half-way through former councillor Simon Thornton’s Mayoral Year and joining Surrey’s chain gang!
