So there you have it. The stable door opened and Bolton bolted…
… from standing up for his constituents – or at least being in attendance – to hear or take part in the controversial Ashill scheme to build 262 homes on former green belt land in Aarons Hill, Godalming?
It’s official!
The mealy-mouthed Andrew Bolton – Godalming’s Ward Member for Godalming Central & Ockford doesn’t want to represent the views of the electorate who voted for him.
At least, not when it puts the member of Waverley’s Executive like Fagin in … a sticky situation!
Although it is pretty obvious he had a different view from his ward counterpart Councillor Paul Follows – to which of course, he is truly entitled. Shouldn’t he at least have been standing alongside his Ward colleague to at least represent the huge number of objectors, by putting forward their views? Isn’t that what the voting fodder elected him to do?
Where was the cowardly little toad? The Portfolio holder for Waverley’s Environment – who couldn’t stand up in front of hundreds of objectors and at least defend his view that the environment of Godalming would be unharmed by this decision? That would have been straining his loyalty to the Executive just a little too far, wouldn’t it?
As the courageous and solitary Lib Dem Councillor Follows stood shoulder to shoulder with Farnham Residents’ councillor Gerry Hymn to ask a host of questions – the WW and residents wonder if they ever will get any answers?
This year, next year, sometime never? Perhaps someone in Waverley Towers will answer …
A starter for TEN.
WHY? there was such haste to approve an application which is included as a Strategic Site in the Local Plan Part 2 – which has been pulled until after the May elections due to much opposition from Tory-controlled Haslemere?
Here in Godalming, residents are fuming and this decision was the last straw and could cost the Tories dearly – because – neither the Waverley Web or decent men like Councillors Follows and Hyman were around at the last election – to turn the spotlight on this rotten borough of Waverley administration.
But we are now.
Godawfulming – here we come?
Here’s Councillor Follows speaking to the people of Waverley.
Well Said Councillor Follows…. I wish there were more like you – I simply do not understand the Logic of not getting CIL sorted earlier either and why Push this application through so quickly? Surely it would have made more sense to wait until after March or even just wait until the Guildford side of it was sorted so there could have been a Joined-up Plan?
I am sure there must be reasons other than Gross incompetence – But obviously we the Voting Fodder don’t need to be made aware of them.
As far as I can see, there can only be two reasons why Waverley has chosen to behave in this fashion. One , as Denise says, is gross incompetence, the other is rather more sinister, and would require a criminal investigation. I wonder which one of these two is most likely?
I agree
Strange really! How some applications are rushed through – others take forever?
As ever it begs the Question? – Why aren’t more people asking it???
If I was a Godalming resident – I would be fighting hard to get that extra £4M odd CIL Funding…
So I’ve been saying this for months. Which is why I’m not in a ‘let’s give them the benefit of the doubt’ mood now.
Well I have just spent the last 3 hours watching it. My Puppy is starving (kidding) but no fun-play with her “Mummy” this afternoon – will have to make up the time for her tomorrow and the same for my work commitments! – RSPCA fear not OH here to take care of things..
This application is not only hugely Ugly (but that is a personal view) But seriously how could anyone approve those hideous Flats? one of the councillors described them as looking like prison blocks and I have to agree.
I am not so keen on the rest of the design either and fail to see how that fits in with Godalming – which does have a mixture of Old & New architecture – But this really ? – the Grey Windows and Slate tiles look very industrial. I just hate the Wood Cladding in the Wooded area -Who are we kidding here? it will start going Manky within a couple of years and no doubt be pebble-dashed thereafter! I drive past many developments in London which had this sort of cladding and within 3years they looked pretty awful and now 5+ years later look dreadful and I have seen what the New Residents have done to mitigate it and it isn’t pretty.
Once again I am horrified at SCC Highways comments on what is obviously a small Lane that is going to have to cope with a huge amount of Extra Traffic. Their parking improvements and speed reductions are laughable. 40 MPH is still bally fast – Just because there have been no incidents in the last 5 years doesn’t mean that the addition of potentially 600 extra cars won’t result in any incidents or worse still fatalities – Whilst the new Residents are schlepping over to the New SANG. Sorry my ignorance here but we don’t have the luxury of SANG here in the East or Greenbelt as you know…so all a bit foreign to me.
I still question this SANG… It is in Guildford BC and the Legal-Eagle said it won’t go ahead unless Guildford agree to the SANG… Well presuming it does when Guildford pull their finger out and sort out their side of the “Master-Deal” – but what if they don’t ? … Is there a time limit on this? Let’s say they start the development in Godalming and Guildford’s Application falls through – will WBC still get the SANG or will the plug be pulled mid development? – I don’t feel Cllr Hymans and Cllr Follows questions were answered fully.
I am afraid I have to applaud Cllr Foryszewski comments – she is right to point out that Godalming are now going through what Cranleigh/Alfold/Dunsfold have been going through for years… and as she rightly pointed out we have no train station people can walk to unlike this application.
I just hope that Godalming get the Consultations they deserve and that they can have some input into what happens with the Community Centre and the design of the new Homes – although I won’t be holding my breath.
What a Mess.
Denise
This appication was a detailed application. In other words that is the design. All done and dusted.
As for Councillor Foryszewski she may just as well have said – stuff you Godalming as we have been stuffed over here in the East! That’s what we all want to hear isn’t it? We are all stuffed. Great to see that our next Mayor of Waverley doesn’t give a stuff for the borough.
WW that is Unfair.
I know it is a FULL application therefore the design is Done & Dusted and they get what they are given – very few had anything to say about the shoddy design – maybe they thought it was too small an issue – and only looked at the bigger issues – but they will now get this horrible estate.
Cllr Foryszewski is not saying “Screw Godalming” – she is just rightly pointing out that for years the East has had little support from the rest of the Borough as they bulldozed thru’ Dunsfold and all the Cr*p in Cranleigh.. But as she pointed out we DO NOT HAVE the Green Belt Protection which Godalming, Farnham & Haslemere/Hindhead have and the lack of a Local Plan meant the developers went for it.
We in the East were given to the Developers like juicy bones to keep them away from the other areas in the Borough as we were EASY. Now we are no longer a viable Sales Option (you can only sell so many houses in a Village/Town with no Train or decent roads/School/Medical facilities etc and a village that is slowly shutting down)
they have moved elsewhere.. it wasn’t rocket science this would happen was it?
I don’t wish ill on any of the other Towns – but I seem to remember posting on this Site 2 or 3 years ago that this would happen, that by dividing the Borough as they have done – they have Won and will continue to do so.
I personally blame the Planning Officers (Most of whom do not live here and quite frankly look at ANY housing as Good Housing so long as the Numbers add up) When I was in my 20’s I would have lived in a Rabbit Hutch – but I wasn’t a Planning Officer. Very few of them have any concept of the importance of the Natural Habitat/Wildlife or the need to keep ancient woodland – Why would they ? – They are only OLD TREES after all – They may re-think this when they have children/Grandchildren and think about Their Future – but not now.
The Councillors (who never looked beyond their own back yard) and Surrey CC who constantly cut funding and have no Long-term Strategic Plan for Highways Infrastructure (Crikes they can’t even put Footpaths in… We have only been waiting 2+ years for ours here on Dunsfold Road despite SCC being paid the money by DP)
They want to close our Recycling sites despite increasing the size of Cranleigh and Farnham massively – they Talk the Talk about reducing car travel then blatantly tell residents to drive a 20 mile round trip to dispose of their waste.
I am sure it must be possible to get a list of all the SCC owned sites that are up for sale (such as our Recycling site) just to see how much they plan to sell off for redevelopment – because we know if SCC put in development applications they are generally put through without consultation.
Sorry for the Rant – But just fed up with all of this, and I truly wish Godalming well it is a lovely town and they deserve better than this.
Denise
I have been thinking about the comments of Cllr Foryszewski over the last day or so (as my gut reaction was not dissimilar to WW). I even had a bit of a rant about it to one of the VERY VERY few Conservatives on the JPC I have a great deal of time for – Cllr Townsend (sorry Liz).
I think I’m now about half way between yourself Denise and WW. I know her comments come out of frustration for Cranleigh. As someone who primarily uses public transport, I shudder when on the few occasions I need to go to Cranleigh for meetings as the transport is appalling. The SCC cuts look like they will hit Cranleigh hard too.
But then I also think..Conservatives had and have a near total monopoly on that place – on Waverley Borough for a long time now. Those councillors were the architects of the fate they now bemoan, not the subjects, So I empathise with Cranleigh residents, truly I do – but NOT with its councillors.
Pretty mad thought here…how do we bring this borough together? As Waverley and not each town vs the other and worse at expense of each other?
Hi Paul
I have been asking this since 2014 but unfortunately there is a lot of bad feeling here in the East with regards to the Dunsfold Park Application where so many residents in the South and West Approved the Application and in the case of Godalming in particular suggested in no uncertain terms that DP should actually have 3600 not a measly 1800. It is not simply that it is a large PDL site – But we have the Worst Infrastructure of the Borough and no one seemed to care so long as it wasn’t in their Town and for the small villages here it felt as if we had been betrayed.
Well that one is done & dusted now and we will have to try and make the best of it.
I agree that if we want a strong Borough we do need to stick together and there are some councillors I have a lot of time for but they are few and far between. Mary has never been my favourite as she was in favour of a very large (425 homes) Thakeham home development in Alfold – which had it gone through would have doubled the size of our village. I am sure they will return with further applications but not for now.
I like you, thought the Local Plan (P1) was awful but it has stopped a number of subsequent applications here so for that I am grateful. LPP2 will, I have no doubt, throw a few more Googlies into the pot and upset many more towns and villages, but that is what we have our councillors for – What we need to do is ensure we get the RIGHT Councillors and not some of the current ones that can barely string a sentence together and often have no idea what is on the agenda, no wonder the Planning officers run roughshod over some of them. I may not like what Liz the Biz says – but she at least knows her facts and how to win applications. The fact that she has no empathy for the Residents is a shame but it isn’t her job.
Enough said – Time to play with my Puppy!
Many Cranleigh councillors are the masters of the East’s misfortunes. They worked with planning officers and developers in secret talks to mastermind Cranleigh New Town andthe WW has the minutes of those meetings to prove it!
Although Councillor Foryszewski did not take part – she was there listening to every word as they carved up Cranleigh and the villages around. Elizabeth Townsend was not a councillor then.
One major developer told the WW he had never, in al lhis years in ‘the business’ seen anything like it. There is no mention of Dunsfold Park.
Thakeham Homes was there, and is now building on a flood plain! Berkeleys; West Cranleigh Nurseries – Mr Cranleahy and Mr Vrijland A2 Dominion (KPI) – Crest Nicholson – and more are now also digging in.
We will put up the minutes for all to see that Concillors Stennetts; The Ellis’s were all there around the table in Committee Room 1 at Waverley Towers with planning officers including Matthew Evans (gone) carving up the East. It is well-known fact Evans wanted nothing on the largest brownfield site in the borough and neither did Cranleigh councillors. One in fact said it would happen over his dead body – and it has. Now the East has the worst of both worlds.
So the residets of Cranleigh need to wake up and smell the concrete not the coffee because your councillors and your Chamber of Trade wanted more footfall in their shops. Some of which no longer exist and your green fields are disappearing as fast as Waverley’s planning officers and your past Tory councillors leaving you with the consequences.
Please do post the minutes – Maybe it will make people realise that their own Councillors have created the mess that is happening in Cranleigh – I don’t understand the Apathy.
I noticed on the recent Cranleigh School application that of the 3000 odd flyers etc that were sent out for the Consultation for the 40 new homes on the Guildford road, on a Friday 4-9pm and Saturday 10am – 2pm only 138 attended and of those that did the majority were the over 50’s. no-one under 30 did. I know Cranleigh does have a predominantly older population than some of the other towns – Probably because we are not really Commutable to London etc for those that still need to work – Unless of course you have your own Helipad!! I only drive to London twice a week and that is bad enough. I certainly couldn’t afford to Drive/Park and catch a train from Guildford to do it.
What really worries me is what these thousands of New residents in Cranleigh/Dunsfold Park/Alfold etc are going to do…There are limited work opportunities in Cranleigh and DP is only going to offer about 800 new jobs (eventually…..)
Until the Borough as a whole starts thinking out of the Box we are going to be in a complete Mess
We have published these minutes on several occasions in the past, but sadly most of the population over there in the East, with the exception of you Denise, is asleep. Or punch drunk, not quite sure which.
When the settlement of Rowley becomes part of Cranleigh New Town, without a hope in hell of ever getting a railway line – despite Councillor Nick Holder’s protestations to the contrary- and Shamley Green/Wonersh and Shere are gridlocked, they may wake up. But the WW is not holding its breath.
Sadly, over there – we agree, you are in a complete mess, and it gives us no pleasure – we have done our best.