There are times when the Waverley Web wonders if the council’s planning honchos arrived from the planet Zonk.

Take these recent decisions as an example:

An Alfold family wants to build a two-storey triple garage in a tiny garden in a former council house to accommodate their growing family. Neighbours object—why wouldn’t they?

The huge tile-hung building is then reduced to one storey and granted by the planners.

Is that what we want in Waverley? People living in sheds at the bottom of their garden rather than the fairies?  

In the meantime, just a few miles down the road in Bramley, a bloke brings in the professionals to create a ground-breaking, landscape-focused, and environmentally pioneering build.

He gets the big Waverley order of the boot as officers recommend REFUSAL.

To add insult to injury, all the neighbours of swanky Clockhouse Lane, which boasts multi-million-pound properties, support the application. In the same lane, residents once opposed reusing an old tennis court! A lengthy battle ensued.

Can you build whatever you like in ‘Poor Old Alfold” but resist any development in upmarket Bramley and Wonersh?

 WW ascertains that objections come from Snowdenham Links Road, which is well away from the site.

The scheme for two modern homes was sent to WBC in February 2023! The client uses the business’s best professionals to develop a ground-breaking, landscape-focused, and environmentally pioneering build. The two houses were to undergo the vigorous undertakings of a Para 85E (new) application championed by the Design Review Panel (DRP). WBC was asked to have their input in this process but declined as…

’they were too busy’!

Probably granting consent for huge sheds for habitable accommodation in Alfold?

The head of the DRP championed this application as a Para 85E after the client had to change many items from the first meeting.

The panel is independent and was made up of eight professionals. Annoyed at WBC’s little weight on the DRP, Mr Jonathan Brodick wrote on Waverley’s Planning Portal, ‘ the Design Review Panel is a material consideration by Para 138 of the NPPF.’ Saying…

‘In assessing applications, local planning authorities should have regard to the outcome from the processes, including any recommendations made by Design Panel Panels.’

The scheme and its surroundings can’t be viewed by anyone. It is below the adjoining field’s ridgeline towards Snowdenham Links Road. Additional planting is proposed to increase the trees and brambles and create a wild meadow, pond, etc. There are no formal gardens. Yet Surrey Wildlife Trust has asked for over £40k of survey work, causing lengthy delays (see portal (fungal surveys—what next!!)).

The application has the SUPPORT of the only people who would be affected, and that is ALL the neighbours/residents in Clock House Lane. It has objections from a ‘what’s app’ group in Snowdenham Links Road that include solid planning reasons to object, like:

That is where I walk my dag
That is where I take the kids sledging

 Clock House Lane residents have agreed legally that if permission is granted, no other building will be allowed in the future, and no access to the adjoining field will be allowed, which the residents of Snowdenham Links Road do not understand would be hugely beneficial to them.

So here’s a pioneering carbon-neutral build that is self-sufficient using technology. One house heats the energy used to cool the other and vice versa. A small solar array and ground-source heat pump are also used. Therefore, passive houses using hardly any energy.

An application by award-winning architect’s AR for something pioneering, set into its surroundings using breakthrough technology in an 8-acre oasis with a legal agreement not to build anything more in the future.

Here’s what a Clock HouseLane Neighbour said: 

I live on Clock House Lane, which provides access to the land that is the subject of the application. The applicant has engaged with all nine households on the Lane regarding the development proposal and worked positively with us to address the concerns we expressed as the residents who would be most affected by the development. 

The applicant has entered into a legally binding agreement with the residents of Clock House Lane, which, if consent is granted, will limit development of the site in perpetuity to two dwellings; ensure access is not permitted across the property to the meadow at the rear; and to resurface Clock House Lane upon completion of the development. Uncertainty over the future of this site has been ongoing for several years. I feel this proposal represents a sensible outcome for the residents of Clock House Lane, as planning consent would secure the site’s long-term future in a way that will not adversely impact the residents of Clock House Lane or Snowdenham Links Road to the rear of the site.

Does the case officer think he is more knowledgeable and qualified than the DRP on ‘design’ criteria? 

Or can you build whatever you like in ‘Poor Old Alfold” but resist any development in upmarket Bramley and Wonersh?