A Waverley councillor told the Waverley Web that our claim that it was the first time the High Court had blocked a Neighbourhood Plan Referendum was “rubbish.”
He was right! It is only the second time such action has been taken.
The Two Referendums under the spotlight are Elstead & Wyburn and Cranleigh’s. Referenda on both long-awaited plans were due to take place on 29 February. Both are now in the doldrums, suspended by the High Court for undisclosed reasons.
In the case of Elstead, we were led to believe that a map included in the NP was problematic. But surely there must be more to the Elstead suspension than a mistake over a map?
And, why, following the suspension by the High Court, won’t ‘Your Waverley’ explain why and disclose the reasons?
The referenda for the Elstead & Weyburn Neighbourhood Plan and the Cranleigh Neighbourhood Plan, both due to take place on 29 February, were suspended until further notice by order of the High Court. However, the reason for the order, which the council requested from the High Court, remains mysterious.
The WW understands a wannabe developer with property interests in the area has objected to the plan, saying it fails to meet the basic conditions laid down by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The developer’s concerns focus on the plan’s designation of Local Green Spaces (LGs) that would be protected from future development.
We are flying a kite here:
Could that possibly mean that once again – Cranleigh Village Health Trust is challenging the ASVI ( Area of Strategic Visual Importance) designation imposed on a piece of land formerly owned by Cranleigh Parish Council and sold for £1 to provide the village of Cranleigh with a replacement hospital, which morphed into a private nursing home? A scheme REFUSED by Waverley Planners in 2020 that villagers fear has not gone away.
No, really, it couldn’t. It wouldn’t hold up the important Cranleigh Neighbourhood Plan. Would it?
Has a Cranleigh Charity’s planning battle entered the realms of farce?
A statement issued by their local planning authority, Waverley Borough Council, on 24 February said: “The Elstead & Weyburn neighbourhood plan referendum and the Cranleigh neighbourhood plan referendum processes, which were both due to take place on the 29 February, have been suspended until further notice by order of the High Court. A future hearing will confirm the next steps for the referendum processes.”
A spokesman for Waverley said the reasons for the order would not be given until the next hearing, and the suspension order was to give the parties time to prepare for that hearing.
The council issued a statement on 24 January that confirmed that Cranleigh Parish Council and Waverley Borough Council accepted all of the independent examiner Andrew Ashcroft’s recommendations and that the Cranleigh Neighbourhood Plan could proceed to referendum.
On 9 January 2024, the council issued a similar statement on the Elstead and Weyburn Neighbourhood Plan, which Ashcroft also examined.
This is only the second instance of a High Court order preventing a neighbourhood plan referendum. In 2019, the High Court issued the first injunction to prevent a neighbourhood plan in Somerset from proceeding to a local referendum that a developer could mount a legal challenge against the document. The legal challenge ultimately failed.
Considering Elstead PC made it’s statement on the matter on the 23nd February is it in breach of the High Court Order? Asking for a friend.
MeaninglessMud
All a bit of a mystery to us her at the WW, and our viws are shared by many others.