Category Archives: Cranleigh

Cranleigh charity’s request for ‘private meeting’ UNANIMOUSLY REFUSED.

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The Paddock field in Knowle Lane. The site which is currently proposed for a care home in the latest planning application

 

Village leaders considered this request from the Cranleigh Village Health Trust. The charity that is seeking planning consent to build a 64-bed care home an accommodation block and 16 community beds now wants to meet the parish council in private… again.

Here they go again… we hear the CVHT trumpets blow again…?

Here’s what it said on last week’s  Cranleigh Parish Council Agenda. The meeting was held on Zoom to enable the public to take part.

CRANLEIGH VILLAGE HEALTH TRUST (CVHT) CVHT Response to letter exchange (This item may be held in private and confidential session – reason: commercial in confidence) Recommendation: •

‘To consider the request from CVHT for a private meeting of two CVHT representatives with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, and the Clerk, to discuss an outcome for the Paddock Field which is beneficial for the community and satisfies CVHT’s obligations as a charity, in line with the covenants placed on the land. There may be information that is commercially sensitive.’

Another chapter is about to open in a burgeoning book of a 20-year saga that has dogged – what has been dubbed by some as ‘the largest village in England”  

The Cranleigh Village Health Trust’s request was given short shrift by councillors who were united in their opposition to holding ANY further meetings in private with a developer seeking to build a commercial private care home for HC-One one of the nation’s largest care providers. 

Though it is now debatable whether HC-One is the operator?  The Chairman of the Trust, Dr Robin Fawkner-Corbett has confirmed publicly that the planning application in the name of HC-ONE and CVHT that has been with Waverley Planners for many months, has no signed-up operator! Saying an operator will be named once planning permission is granted.

Now that the Trust has effectively become – Billy No Mates – it wants a secret meeting with a handful of councillors to unveil its latest cunning plan. A plan for a site it owns – has the value of a playing field, land swapped 15 years ago sold by the parish council of-the-day for £ 1– in return for a piece of agricultural land for a playing field.

See the link here – ` It&#8217It’s official. The Cranleigh Village Health Trust has NO partner for its bid to build a new Private Care Home.

And here`; So what​ the​ hell is​ going on – with Cranleigh’s private​ nursing home and HC-ONE?

And here: Health Honchos pull the plug on a 20-year-old scheme to return Cranleigh’s Community Beds.

The first, and only, member of the public to speak was the man who heads the campaign group to stop the development going ahead.

Andy Webb – as we repeatedly say – who has no connection with the Waverley Web, asked if he could represent the Campaign Group on behalf of its supporters at any meeting to be held. He said as the Trust had received considerable amounts of public money.  ( believed to be circa £1.7m plus) – the public should be included in any debate. He said he couldn’t get any response to his requests from the Trust for a meeting, but firmly believed the public must be allowed to hear whatever its representatives had to say?

“We have an absolute right to know what is being said – it is our money they are spending!“

Chairman Liz Townsend said the council would go into the council meeting and consider the request and the decision lay with her members.

First off the grid was Cllr Richard Cole who said he recalled the previous private meeting with the Trust was to listen but not comment. Cllr Townsend reminded everyone that the well-minuted private meeting was to hear nothing other than any ‘community benefits’ put forward by the Trust. 

“We made it very clear to them it would not be about process.”

Cllr Cole, who is also Chairman of a Waverley Planning Committee, said any meeting should not be discussing the planning application – an application that…

“it appeared wouldn’t  be coming to the borough council – any time soon.”

” You can offer them another meeting – but this time “I want to be there,” said a feisty Cllr Rowena Tyler – and I want that minuted!”

Cllr Jeacock said he wasn’t happy about holding any private meetings in the first place  – “I don’t like it.”

Neither did Cllr James Betts –

“I will strongly object and I want that minuted. I don’t agree with the Trust keep asking for private meetings with two representatives,  they should speak to the parish council, and anyone else who is interested as an elected group – and the meeting should be held in public.”

Cllr Nigel Sanctuary echoed his sentiments. “this is a community issue – and there a lot of emotions around this. Public emotions are running so high, that we should reject any request by the Trust to meet a few of us in private.” He said the council should reject any more private meetings and should have some clear objectives about what it wished for an outcome.

Cllr George Worthington:  “We said three months ago the last meeting was a “one-off” to hold another would not be sending the right message. We need to have everyone on the parish council – and the public involved.”

Both Cllr Hannah Nicholson and David Nicholas agreed. A conciliatory voice from Cllr Nicholas said the last meeting in private should be the final meeting.

“We are a civilised lot here – an open meeting can be well-chaired, and well-managed and we will listen to the Trust.  There could be an opportunity here for something sensible to come out of it. However, we have to make it clear to the Trust, that if there are confidential commercial matters – they should give us that information in a report. We could at least offer them that.”

It was UNANIMOUSLY agreed that the council would write to the CVHT stressing that it agreed it would hold a parish council meeting to be held in public – which was not the same as a PUBLIC MEETING.

 

Cranleigh’s premier department store goes into liquidation

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THE END OF AN ERA?

David Mann … in 1910

Was it COVID or developers that finally killed off David Mann and Sons in Cranleigh? The high street store which symbolised the face of Cranleigh for 133 years has gone into voluntary liquidation. Rumours, we are told by the locals over there, have been rife for over a year that the store was heading for closure.

There is no doubt that the retail sector has been badly punished by the Coronavirus epidemic but is the latest victim, a store that has a county-wide reputation built up over 133 years, another victim of the vicious virus? Or was the store always gleam in the eyes of the developer partnership of Nick Vrijland and Andy Leahy? Mr Vrijland’s burgeoning property portfolio also includes the adjacent properties – of Oliver House. He was also the owner of the Knowle Park Initiative site at West Cranleigh Nurseries. Sold to housing association A2 Dominion shortly after planning consent was granted to build “homes for village people?” Although consent was given in 2017 – so far not a home built on the former nursery and a detailed scheme, yet to be approved.

Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce sought major development in Cranleigh. In fact, it was instrumental in campaigning for and supporting the huge number of new homes being built in the village – dubbed as the largest village in England.” The village that the Chamber of Commerce publicly called for the house-building explosion, saying what the ‘new town’ needed was  …

“More footfall for local shops.”

Now, with many empty shops lining its high street, despite the valiant efforts of many local entrepreneurs setting up their stall only to fail, the developers are moving in.

It is no secret that the majority owner of the store Dutch nurseryman turned Developer Nick Vrijland – wants to build 90 flats on the David Manns site. The Waverley Web understands this scheme found no favour with Waverley Planners during their initial discussions – but a slimmed-down scheme will presumably soon be considered.

David ~Mann Today.

So gone are the days when the premier store was a magnet for local people, many of whom furnished their homes from top to bottom with its wares.

 One of its past amazing Christmas Window displays is featured here. Displays which we understand from the locals over there won many awards. 

Will a  shop remain to front the high street called ?? You’ve heard of Pound land how about VRI’LAND? Because Vri in Dutch means Free!

Ignore village leaders and the public at your peril Cranleigh Village Health Trust.

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CVHT care home refused in 2019. An appeal lodged in 2020. A new planning application lodged in June 020 - potponed in October 2020 until????d in 2019 Appealed in 2020 - Appeal withdrawn in 2020 and new planning application submitte in June 20 and now postponed untild

CVHT Private Care Home refused in 2019, appealed in 2020. The appeal was withdrawn in October 2020. New Planning application lodged in June 2020 – postponed in October 2020 – until???

Is the charity behind a bid to build a private care home and a residential development on former parish land ignoring Cranleigh village leaders and its donors?

Silence has been anything but golden for Cranleigh Parish Council – a former partner -of the Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust – which has now morphed into The Cranleigh Health Trust (CVHT.) It has failed in its repeated attempts to get answers to its concerns for many months.

Now – The Cranleigh Village Hospital Campaign Group, which is backed by many thousands of villagers, many of whom were donors, claim it to is being ignored. But will not sit idly by any longer!

Campaign leader Andy Webb has written to the CVHT informing it that the group he leads wants to be included in any further discussions it has with Cranleigh Parish Council. It believes it has the mandate to speak on behalf of villagers, following a pre-COVID public meeting held at the village hall in September 2019. It also has a petition with over 5,000 signatures calling for a halt to the charity’s 20-year battle. 

It also has the backing of the many hundreds of residents in the eastern villages who have objected to the Trust’s latest scheme. The Trust has a current live planning application with partner HC-One To build a private care home, and 16 community beds, and a residential block of flats for Surrey’s care workers. This despite the fact that all key stakeholders including – The Royal Surrey Hospital; The Integrated Care Partnership and Surrey Heartlands Trust have all withdrawn their support. Surrey County Council has also jumped ship. The Trust chairman has also publicly confirmed that it has no operator signed up for the private care home but would find a suitable partner once planning consent has been given.

Whose left to back a Cranleigh Charity’s bid to build a private care home?

So here you have it! Cranleigh Nursing Home circa 2001/2021?

However, according to Andy Webb, The Campaign Group’s leader, the e-mail requesting to be included in any further discussions has not, as yet, received a reply.

The Trust’s media company – Bamford Media was also asked for a statement regarding confirmation that CVHT has withdrawn its appeal against Waverley Planners earlier refusal for a larger scheme. But again, has received no response.

The Waverley Web (which has no connection with Andy Webb) received the following statement.

On 24 Oct 2020, at 08:43, Andy Webb <andy@andywebbphotography.com> wrote:

Dear WW, 

The reason I started this campaign was in memory of my mum and to get some answers for the community who have given their time and money to a charity which promised us a new fully functioning hospital and day hospital. 

 

Even after the hospital was a distant memory the charity still called themselves Cranleigh Village “Hospital” Trust which was very misleading to the public who were still donating money to them. 

Now, even though the CVHT has withdrawn its appeal against the “Not For Local Residents” Community Beds and Private Care Home, the fight to stop the new planning application continues. 

We have been pushed aside and kept in the dark for so long. We have been blocked on the CVHT social media platforms, read their so called myth busters and who was responsible for all of this?  None other than the media company they use to offload more garbage than an overfilled refuse truck. 

They have tried to dismiss the petition I set up but failed as everything was done legally and above board. 

They tried to play down the amount of money the public raised and what it was misspent on.

Even though the original landowner retained the strip of land around the Bruce McKenzie Field they deny it is classed as a ransom strip. 

 

What is the old saying? You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

With stakeholders pulling out and CVHT now desperately looking at hospices and other charities to dig them out of a hole, it proves that their proposals are not viable. 

As the community and local organisations have donated £1.8m to the charity we (the public) are classed as major stakeholders and therefore should be treated as such. 

It is now time for us to have our say in any future CVHT plans with the newly formed Cranleigh Village Hospital Stakeholder Campaign Group. 

 

With so many supporters and with petitions totalling nearly

5000 signatures we are more than just a few loud voices. 

With everyone working together we have a chance of stopping this application and if we are successful the Paddock Field must be returned to the parish and kept as a much needed green space. 

 

We will never give up on this and I would personally like to  thank everyone for their continued support and much valued help with the campaign. 

 

Our next step is to get as many objections against the planning application and to get the petition signed by as many people as possible. 

Our aim is to stop this planning application being approved once and for all and have the Paddock Field returned to the parish. Also, if any of the Charities money remains it should be donated to the League of Friends of The Cranleigh Village Hospital. After all, the community donated its money towards a Hospital/Day hospital and not a commercial venture. 

Please click on the link to submit your objections to the planning application. 

Here is the link to the petition.

https://www.change.org/campaigngroup

To have your say please join our Facebook Cranleigh Village Hospital Stakeholder Campaign Group. 

here is the link

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1269664776728773/?ref=share

Kind Regards, Andy Webb.

Whose left to back a Cranleigh Charity’s bid to build a private care home?

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SIMPLES! The Cranleigh Village Health Trust!

THEY ARE IN A STICKY SITUATION?

 The charity formed to build a replacement HOSPITAL for the eastern villages – with publicly fund-raised money – skulks away – to find yet another cunning plan to build on formerly owned public land it bought for £1. Meanwhile, key stakeholders are dropping off its list faster than the fall of Autumn leaves.

On Thursday evening Cranleigh’s village leaders were the latest and the last of a long-line to ditch the plans for a 64-bed private care home for anyone from anywhere, and an accommodation block – for health workers from the outer boondocks. 

Cranleigh Parish Council has been licking the wounds inflicted on it by its predecessor’s crass decision-making. The cash-strapped council has sought legal advice on how it can get its land back and is continuing to do so, though it went behind closed doors to consider its next legal steps.

In a brilliant slide presentation by Council Clerk Beverley Bell on Zoom she spelt out the complex history advising councillors of the present state of play on both the current planning application and appeal against a previous refusal. Although the Charity – Cranleigh Village Health Trust (CVHT) states the schemes are halted, which has brought letters of objection to a halt… 

This is not the case – both are going ahead – and the latest scheme could be heard in November and the appeal in January. 

Andy Webb, the leader of the Campaign Group opposing the 20-year HOSPITAL saga, which has morphed into something unrecognisable to the donors who raised £1.8m, asked a string of questions. He was joined by former nurse Cathy Gould who has headed up the team’s efforts to seek a Charity Commissioner investigation! Although they represent many thousands of residents and donors in the eastern villages – the charity refuses to respond. They now want round-table talks with Cranleigh Parish Council and the Trust?

 Chairman Liz Townsend recognised their concerns and promised that the council would do its utmost to answer their questions during the meeting that followed. However, matters of a legal nature concerning the Covenant on the Paddock Field (the proposed development site) would be discussed in private, so as not to prejudice its position.

The Clerk presented a series of slides revealing some of the answers:

  • There was no longer support for the scheme from the Integrated Care Partnership!  Royal Surrey; SCC; Surrey Heartlands Trust and the Care Commissioning Group! * slide 1

  • There is no support from Surrey County Council! * slide 2

CVHT confirmed on 19th September: That the residential accommodation block will have no commercial or legal link with either HC-ONE or the 64-bed-care home! CONFUSED?

And there were we just a few short weeks ago told by the Chairman of The Trust Robin Fawkner-Corbett that it had no signed-up provider for the care home either? Does white man speak with forked tongue?

Could multi-millionaire care home operator Chai Patel still achieve his cunning plan?

It&#8217;s official. The Cranleigh Village Health Trust has NO partner for its bid to build a new Private Care Home.

So there you have it, folks. During the hour debate and votes that followed – Cranleigh Parish Council decided it WILL NOT support the building of a residential accommodation block or a private nursing home on land it sold for £1 in return for a playing field. It would also provide the Government Inspector with all the latest updates from the Integrated Care Partnership and Surrey County Council which revealed there was NO support for the scheme.

It reiterated its call to the charity to discuss the return of the land-based on an Agreement made between them * Slide 3.

WW Link: As another campaign begins to stop a Cranleigh Private Care Home being built parish leaders call for the return of village land.

The Charity might just as well have said: Stuff you! Slide *4

To sum up: there is now NO SUPPORT from any of the key stakeholders in the toxic project that has split Cranleigh asunder from:

Cranleigh Parish Council; Waverley Borough Council; Surrey County Council Adult Social Care; The Surrey Heartlands CCG; The Integrated Care Partnership – which includes The Royal Surrey County Hospital; Cranleigh League of Friends; The Cranleigh GP Practice; or The GP Federation; mental health; Community CCG’s; voluntary sector organisations; and… last but not least the thousands of people who signed Andy Webb’s Cranleigh Community Board petition and the many hundreds of people who have objected to the latest planning application.

What more does the charity need to halt this divisive and unpopular scheme which has divided the village?

OUR ADVICE. When you are in a hole – stop digging!

However, it is not completely ‘Billy No Mates.’ Abstentions came from three parish councillors. These included Hannah Nicholson of the defunct Cranleigh Community Board and now Cranleigh Conversations; Rosemary Burbridge of the “I need a care home for my husband;” and George Worthington who abstains from anything to do with the project leaving residents’ to wonder WHY WHEN he never declares an interest?

 

Health Honchos pull the plug on a 20 year-old scheme to return Cranleigh’s Community Beds.

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Could Guildford and Waverley’s Integrated Care Partnership’s shock announcement that it will no longer support Cranleigh Village Health Trust’s (CVHT) 20-year-long battle to build a Private Nursing Home and community beds be the final spanner in the works?

Is CVHT – now officially ‘Billy No Mates?’

Could Cranleigh&#8217;s Neighbourhood Plan put a spanner in the works of plans to build a new care home?

Yet another spanner in The CVHT’s works?

Both the most recent planning application WA/2020/0965 and a planning appeal have both been POSTPONED.

According to an announcement on the CVHT’s website:

During the past week, Guildford and Waverley ICP (Integrated Care Partnership) have unexpectedly advised Cranleigh Village Health Trust (CVHT) that they are no longer able to formally support its proposals relating to the creation of 16 Community Beds within the planned 64-bed care home on Knowle Lane. This decision is based on ICP’s application of the newly introduced NHS’s Comprehensive Model of Personal Care.

Now there’s a funny old thing. Just last week the very same ICP,  which includes Surrey County Council, had its supporting letter – dated 18 August 2020-  lodged on Your Waverley’s Planning portal saying it supported the very same scheme! They say a week is a long time in politics – perhaps even less if you work for the NHS? No surprise there then – we understand that the NHS and a succession of PCT’s and CCG’s and Uncle Tom Cobley’s have been so**ing the beleaguered charity and its donors who doggedly supported it, for donkey’s years!

You can read the letter here: document-7995913

We digress…
The ICP also state that their accumulated evidence suggests that patients do much better if, when recovering, they are able to go home accompanied by an appropriate level of support.
This change of ICP stance is, we understand, a reflection of their assessment that the nature of community healthcare is changing, particularly in the past year, and that there will be a significant shift away from bed-based care for older people.

No surprise there then. The charity’s supposed partner HC-One is being taken to court for failing in its duty of care to shedloads of its Scottish residents – after employing staff from Kent.

So what​ the​ hell is​ going on &#8211; with Cranleigh&#8217;s private​ nursing home and HC-ONE?

and It&#8217;s official. The Cranleigh Village Health Trust has NO partner for its bid to build a new Private Care Home.

Say the charity… It is clear, however, that the community will continue to need care home beds (as well as hospital beds). Indeed, CVHT’s research, which was submitted with the planning application showed a high demand for care home beds, and it also showed ICP’s previous position to be in favour of the care home setting.

So in other words – they ain’t giving up until the Fat Lady Sings:

Wakey, wakey – where have you been CVHT during the bumpy Coronacoaster ride that nursing homes all over the country have been on since early in March when the dreaded COVID gave them all a punch in the proverbial?

Most of the old, and the bold old, have told us here at the WW they are either going to live in an annexe/at the bottom of their kids’ gardens or drink themselves under – they ain’t going into nursing homes – no Siree.

Whilst the ‘home-care’ policy is well-established and will obviously have some impacts on care-home occupancy patterns, the degree of such impacts is quite uncertain. Therefore, CVHT will continue to explore how the planned Community Beds will be provided in Cranleigh, and so restore those lost at the Cranleigh Village Hospital in 2006.

In other words folks! This dumb outfit, which has trousered over £1.8m of your hard-earned cash will continue pouring even more of your money down ‘Your Waverley’s overflowing planning pan? Because they just cannot get their heads around the difference between a hospital bed and a continuing care bed!

Following this very recent ICP policy update, CVHT says it will now rigorously assess how they can best fulfil their primary objective of providing appropriate health care support for the local community; this will include consultations with key local stakeholders. In addition, CVHT has arranged further discussions with ICP and Surrey County Council in order to assess the potential for a modified policy.

Ah-ha – so now we know that the ICP and Surrey County Council combined to have their policy all wrong and CVHT will help them modify it?

To facilitate their option-assessment process, CVHT has asked Waverley Borough Council to postpone their evaluation of the current Planning Application. CVHT has also asked the Planning Inspectorate to postpone the hearing of the Appeal against the previously refused Planning Application from 2019

Watch this space as the controversy which has split Cranleigh asunder continues…

 

 

 

 

Last week 

The Tories are revolting.

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‘No community wants this’: Sussex new town plans anger local Tories

Although the Waverley Web mainly concentrates on all things Waverley/Surrey – the county is not an island and development on Waverley’s borders – e.g. Bordon – affects all our lives here in Farnham.

This scheme in Adversane adjoins the Surrey/Sussex border near Loxwood and Dunsfold and would mainly access the A281 Guildford to Horsham Road.

The scheme named Kingswood for nearly 3,000 new homes assembled by Sir Michael Hintze, who has given £4.6m to the Conservatives is a hop, skip and a jump from Dunsfold’s new garden village (2,600) homes on the former airfield on the outskirts of Cranleigh 

Sketches of the proposed new town of Kingswood, near Horsham in Sussex.
 Sketches of the proposed new town of Kingswood, on the Surrey/Sussex border. Not to be confused with Surrey’s Kingswood.

Plans for a new town in rural Sussex backed by one of the Conservative party’s biggest donors and close allies of Prince Charles are exposing a split in the Tory party over how to rapidly accelerate housebuilding.

The scheme for 2,850 homes, is being proposed on open fields at Adversane which has been assembled by hedge fund billionaire Sir Michael Hintze who has given £4.6m to the Conservatives. Its design is partly inspired by Poundbury, the ersatz Georgian town in Dorset created by Prince Charles, and Sir Michael Peat, the Prince of Wales’s former private secretary is a director of the development company.

But it is being opposed by local Conservative MP Andrew Griffith, who said:

“it is the wrong type of development in the wrong place” and local Tory councillors who have warned: “No community wants this on their doorstep.”

It looks set to be a test case for the government’s controversial new planning strategy announced last month which is set to relax national planning rules and set significantly higher local housebuilding targets in areas including Horsham.

John Halsall, the Tory leader of Wokingham borough council in Berkshire, which is also facing central government demands to build significantly more homes warned of a high political cost saying

“You won’t have a Tory left in the south or south-east of England.”

Some of the land is owned by Eton College, the alma mater of the prime minister, Boris Johnson. The largest parcel which would be built over is a farm purchased by Hintze for £10m from Mike Stock, the songwriter behind a string of 1980s hits by Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Bananarama.

Local opponents say the project – which could ultimately create a town of around 10,000 people – threatens rare wildlife, an increase in car congestion and risks becoming a dormitory for London commuters.

“There is an enormous amount of antipathy to this scheme,” said Julian Trumper, a local resident organising opposition. “Horsham has already taken enough of Sussex’s requirement to build housing and this potential growth is unsustainable. Infrastructure and road and rail links are insufficient. The displacement to wildlife and established ecosystems by building a new town in the open countryside is incalculable.”

The project claims that it will: “focus on building a community for people of all ages and providing a platform for economic opportunity and sustainable growth” and will champion the principle of “beauty” in town planning identified by Sir Roger Scruton in his report to the government on planning and architecture.

Kingswood sketch
 Kingswood promises to be a ‘socially inclusive, mixed-income development’ with ‘community at the heart’. 

But the row over whether it should go ahead exposes a growing schism in Conservative ranks over two proposed reforms to accelerate housebuilding.

The first is a new planning system that will make it easier and quicker for developers to build on greenfield sites, which Conservative councillors have complained undermines local democratic involvement by proposing zones where detailed planning consents would not be required.

The second is new inflated house building targets which backbench Conservative MPs and council leaders have criticised as too high and ignoring local needs. The new target for Horsham would see the area required to deliver 1,715 new homes a year, more than double the current target of 800. 

Waverley Web: A few things you should know about the government&#8217;s new planning White Paper.

The high status of Kingswood’s backers – with close links to the top of government and the monarchy – has also sparked fears that local influence could be further undermined, with opponents citing the planning scandal earlier this year in which it emerged that the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, backed a project by party donor Richard Desmond against the advice of officials.

In other words, it is not what you know but who you know in the wonderful world of developers?

“After what we saw with Jenrick and Desmond, we have the impression that the property developers are doing all this with barely any local democracy at all.

 A spokesperson for Horsham district council said:

“Any site that is allocated in the next step of the local plan process will be subject to full public scrutiny at a public examination conducted by an independent planning inspector. Each site will be assessed to determine whether it is suitable, achievable and available, in a public arena.”

The local Conservative MP, Andrew Griffith, said: “We are building on greenfield, we’re not using brownfield land. This is the wrong type of development in the wrong place. The identity of the landowner is not important. I am giving voice to constituent concerns.”He told a Commons debate earlier this month: “So many of my constituents in villages of every letter of the alphabet, are having their lives blighted by the prospect of inappropriate and unsustainable development”.

Philip Circus, a Conservative member of Horsham council in whose ward the development is proposed, added:

“I am not interested that people are connected with royalty or people that donate to the Conservative party. It cuts no ice with me. We don’t feel any compulsion to doff our caps to anyone other than the residents. This is a rural community which in infrastructure terms does not look like an area for major housing development.”

The Kingswood masterplan has been submitted for inclusion in Horsham district council’s local plan, which is currently out to public consultation.  The director of the development company, Dominic Richards, was formerly a director at the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community – the heir to the throne’s architecture and planning charity which promotes traditional urbanism.

Let’s say Cheers and back Waverley’s breweries?

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The boys on our team are partial now and then to a decent pint of beer, and what better than a drop of the amber nectar brewed locally

Richard and Bill of the Firebird Brewery based in Rudgwick are currently on a mission and they need all the help they can get.

H

Here’s what they told us:
We’re not normally too serious, but just for now we’d like you to help us persuade the Government to change its mind about the tax on beer:
Local and small brewers are under threat as the Government looks set to increase the tax paid by some small independent breweries, including us. At the moment small brewers like us benefit from Small Brewers Relief, designed to allow us to compete with larger brewers by paying less tax than the big guys. Currently, the level at which this relief reduces (and we pay more tax) doesn’t come in until we sell at least 50% more beer than we do at the moment. However, the Government plans to change all this, meaning we would be paying more tax as soon as next year. At the same time, larger breweries (some of whom started as small as us not so long ago) will pay LESS tax.
This doesn’t feel like fair play to us!
Everyone has struggled with COVID, but you might be interested to know the support brewers have received has been limited pretty much to the furlough scheme. Other sectors have been given cash grants and other forms of support. We, along with other small brewers, have worked hard to stay alive, and we succeeded through hard work, ingenuity, and the support of our brilliant customers.
We really need your help again now!
Help us to protect local breweries, the beers they make and your choice at the bar by signing the petition urging the UK Government not to remove tax relief from the smallest brewers to allow larger brewers to pay less. If you can share this post widely we’d also be very grateful!
You can add your name to the petition on the UK Parliament website https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/334066
Thanks, Richard and Bill
Let’s raise a glass to Richard and Bill and all the other local small breweries in Waverley and elsewhere that may soon be under threat.

Why wouldn’t Surrey County Council want beds in a controversial Care Home?

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A Cranleigh resident has asked?

Why build another care home in Cranleigh when one lies empty and derelict?

The answer Michaela is quite simple. If you were a cash-strapped local authority would you prefer to:

(a) Continue using a former nursing home that is the most expensive police-dog training site in the country?

Or

(b)  buy 16 long-term care beds for the residents of Surrey in a private care home business funded by a private commercial enterprise. Built on land bought from the parish for £1 – and in a building which is being part-funded by the residents of the eastern villages?

(c) Or would you prefer to sell the land which you own – which once housed a facility called Longfields with 56 beds for long-term care, closed due to under-funding for years? Which then enabled you to sell it for squillions to replenish the rapidly diminishing county council coffers?

SIMPLES – NO CONTEST!

Michaela Clarke’s letter is one of many hundreds which can be found on the Waverley Borough Council Website – objecting to yet another application for a Private Care Home in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh.

An appeal has also been lodged against a previous application for a larger facility refused a year ago.



Just a few of the many hundreds of letters pouring into ‘Your Waverley.’

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Waverley Officer laden down with applications or objections

 

Plus a bit of advice to possible supporters from one of the campaigners against using a site in Cranleigh intended for a hospital –  now earmarked for a private care home in Knowle Lane.

It&#8217;s official. The Cranleigh Village Health Trust has NO partner for its bid to build a new Private Care Home.

So &#8230; Cranleigh parish council isn&#8217;t happy about the private care home either?

 

Stephanie Howland 9 Dukes Close Cranleigh Surrey
GU6 7JU

I strongly object to this planning application.

• Traffic will also be a major issue, especially once the housing development opposite has been completed as all the vehicles will be exiting onto a narrow road that is already busy. Knowle Lane is little more than a country lane and it is not suitable to take all the extra traffic. What is more the junction with the high street is already difficult to enter and exit.

• There is also only a very narrow pathway leading from the high street to the rear of Sainsbury’s that is only wide enough for one person, meaning that you must step into the road to pass. There is a no proper crossing, which makes it extremely dangerous for pedestrians to cross the road safely.

• Any emergency vehicles (ambulances) will cause further chaos at this junction (especially during peak traffic periods) Therefore, this an over-development that will cause untold congestion, pollution, and traffic problems.

• Both the care home and the accommodation block are large buildings and not in keeping with the much smaller houses along Knowle Lane and John Wiskar Drive.

• The proposed care home and accommodation block will have a massive impact on the residents of John Whisker Drive who still have outstanding questions regarding the sound screen, light pollution etc which Cranleigh Village Health Trust (CVHT) have refused to answer.

• This application was it successful, would remove a valuable green area with a loss of trees and hedgerows which are the perfect habitat for wildlife whilst adding to the demand on an already overstretched utility infrastructure that serves this village

• There is no need for another care home in Cranleigh. Currently, Cedar Court has 75 beds, The Old Rectory Nursing Home in Ewhurst has 32 beds and Knowle Park Nursing, Cranleigh has 32 single rooms, 7 shared rooms and planning permission for a further 25 beds. The I.C.P. already purchase beds from these nursing homes and will continue to do so if planning on The Paddock Field is refused.

• These so-called community beds as stated in a recent interview with a representative of the ICP and the Surrey County Council stated that these beds are for ages 75+ who are unable to return to their own home and will need to remain in residential care. These beds are not free at the point of entry if you earn/claim over the threshold of £23,000 in addition the beds could be allocated to anyone in Surrey

• The villagers of Cranleigh and surrounding villages raised money towards a hospital to benefit the whole of the local community. CVHT has refused to answer questions or engage with the people who donated the money. The proposed Care Home does not represent what the Cranleigh Village Hospital (Health) trust was set up to achieve.

• What CVHT should be considering is the utilisation of the old Surrey County Council Longfield’s site or the remaining money in the trust should be given to the League of Friends at Cranleigh Village hospital to improve the facilities currently on offer.

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A letter from Martin Bamford who speaks on behalf of all the businesses and traders who are members of the Cranleigh Chamber?  Or doe he? The WW has contacted several members who say they are not supporting this letter.

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A snapshot of Cranleigh Parish Council’s minutes.

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Are we all as sick as Waverley’s Parrott?

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WW followers may remember those heady days when Waverley Planning Policy Officer Graham Parrott burned the midnight oil preparing Local Plan versions 1, 2 and then 3 – which then once approved by a Government Inspector became the infamous Local Plan Part 1.

The poor s*d spent 15 years working with neighbouring authorities, including Woking & Guildford. Held public consultation exercises here there and everywhere with Tom, Dick & Harriet. Attended Examinations in public – High Court hearings and Judicial Reviews – phew!

Then with Local Plan, Part 1 finally agreed by Government Inspectors; the Secretary of State;  and ‘a bench’ of judges and with Local Plan Part 2 almost on the starting blocks heralding an end to the long saga of both Waverley’s and others’ Local Neighbourhood Plans in sight…  Up pops Boris The Bulldozer and ‘Bob The Builder’ Jenrick. The dynamic duo begins moving the development goalposts or ‘the ball’  as we know it – to enable development to be kicked onto a completely different pitch. It has announced the biggest shake-up of planning for decades to fast-track “beautiful” new homes across the country. Whilst in the process choking off affordable housing and diluting democratic oversight.

Poor old Graham – and you won’t have heard us pitying Waverley planning officers very often – so there’s one for the scrapbook!

However, it isn’t just The Waverley Parrott that is affected. We are all about to meet our new makers.  If you are not sitting down, and you haven’t seen this already, pull up a chair because this set us squawking and we suspect it will have the same effect on you? !  According to *Lichfields, under the new methods proposed by the Government for calculating housing targets, the Waverley target goes up to 835 homes per annum.

Yep – that’s right 835 – up from 590!

Read the link below and see for yourselves. Where you will see some of our Waverley neighbours’ new figures.

It even makes us here at WW as sick as poor old Parrott. How many other parrots are there in the country that have been working their ar*es off preparing Local Plans. Attending hearings – some of which were three weeks at a stretch – must have cost squillions of taxpayers’ money countrywide for paper exercises which are nothing more than a con trick to get us to accept more housing. 

https://lichfields.uk/grow-renew-protect-planning-for-the-future/how-many-homes-the-new-standard-method/

Litchfield’s

Town planning was a very new discipline when Nathaniel Lichfield set the company up. He was a pioneering economist and town planner, and the business was soon advising government, local authorities, and private clients on some of the country’s most significant projects – from new towns and airports, to the country’s first regional shopping centre, and the world’s most famous stadium.

It now gives practical and robust planning support for house builders, commercial developers, and local authorities as well as land owners and investors. 

A few things you should know about the government’s new planning White Paper.

Now, look at Surrey County Council’s cunning plan for ‘Your Waverley’s’ eastern villages.