The so-called – Cranleigh Charity doesn’t like the recommendation to REFUSE its latest application for a 64 Private Care Home with 16 community beds and a residential block, so it wants yet another deferral. This despite the fact that Cllr Patricia Ellis has called for it to be heard by the eastern committee next Wednesday!

What part of the words ‘ WE OBJECT’  doesn’t Waverley Borough Councillor Patricia Ellis understand?

So far – the delays – repeat correspondence informing the public of deferrals, withdrawals, and revisions. Together with pamphlets giving Zoom and public speaking arrangements has cost us, council taxpayers dearly.  Shedloads of cash running into many thousands of pounds for a cash-strapped local authority coping with a pandemic!

However the charity – which garnered several millions of pounds from public donors for a HOSPITAL AND A DAY HOSPITAL – says it has good reasons for seeking yet another deferral for yet another planning application on its 20-year hike. 

WHY? SIMPLES – because it doesn’t like the possible outcome. It is also blaming? Yes, you guessed – Waverley’s planning department and Surrey County Council. Why not the Waverley Web we wonder?

The Cranleigh Community Board crashed overnight along with its 9,000 subscribers because it refused to let the public have their say on this toxic project.  CVHT was Verboten!

Who else could the cloak of blame fall upon? Surrey Heartlands Trust no doubt? Or perhaps the key stakeholder in the project – Cranleigh Parish Council – speaking on behalf of the villagers they represent, and who it was claimed, had refused to speak to them!  Cranleigh charity’s request for ‘private meeting’ UNANIMOUSLY REFUSED.

CVHT says:

Our planning consultant has today requested that the council defer the hearing of our application at committee, for two main reasons.

Reason No 1

Firstly, the report comments about the lack of clarity around how the proposed funding of community benefit would work in practice or be secured via a legal agreement.

We feel this statement is unfair and prejudicial to the application, as we have been awaiting comments from Waverley Borough Council about the draft legal agreement, known as a Section 106 agreement.

When our earlier application was refused in November 2019, the report at the time explained that “The case for development at this large scale is considered to be substantiated and it is reasonable to concur that the community beds can be secured via a legal agreement”.

There now appears to have been a significant change in this view, but we have not received any explanation for the change.

As we have not been given the opportunity to engage with Waverley Borough Council about the wording of a legal agreement, to demonstrate how this would work, we are concerned that councillors will have an unreasonable doubt in their minds on this matter.

Reason No 2 –

The second reason for requesting a deferral is to give us more time to consider the newly submitted comments from Surrey County Council.

“These comments suggest that Surrey County Council has ‘sufficient capacity for residential care beds through its existing block contract arrangements with care home operators in Surrey.”

We feel this statement contradicts the earlier committee report which states: “…there is a shortage of affordable residential and nursing care home beds that are in line with Surrey County Council’s (SCC) guide price.”

While we accept that there have been some changes in the adult social care sector since this report was published in mid-2019, we have been given no evidence that the massive shortfall mentioned previously has been satisfied, and our proposals would go towards meeting the capacity shortfall, in line with the Surrey County Council guide price.

We need some time to explore this issue by engaging with the Integrated Care Partnership and Surrey County Council, to establish for councillors the current position.

We are also disappointed that our affordable health care accommodation for key workers is given so little positive consideration when it has been improved in terms of the size and type in line with past local comments. Our plans will deliver a form of affordable housing tenure which is the same as that which forms the majority of the affordable housing delivered in Waverley in the last 5 years.

This application for health worker accommodation was first made a long time before the Covid crisis and a direct response to the requests of various local public health bodies.

Our planning application remains the best possible way to fulfil our charitable objectives; securing community benefit through the provision of affordable community beds, along with the significant benefit of genuinely affordable housing provision for our valuable NHS and care sector key workers.

Andy Webb the man who heads the Campaign Group that was formed to oppose the scheme and return the land to the village said this morning.