Category: Cranleigh

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

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’s official. The Cranleigh Village Health Trust has NO partner for its bid to build a new Private Care Home.

So … Cranleigh parish council isn’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?

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.

‘Bob The Builder’ Jenrick keeps Shtum on unbuilt homes?

When the BBC asked ‘Bob The Builder’ Jenrick today what he intended to do about the 1m homes already consented but not built,  he stayed Shtum.

Now we ask MP’s Jeremy Hunt and Angela Richardson? Do you also intend to stay silent on the subject? If so, WHY? Because many of those consented homes are in Waverley, and on your patch!

And Angie’s patch is under threat because Surrey County Council has its beady eye on Cranleigh!  If The Government gets its way, which it will – Cranleigh’s floodgates will literally, be opened. Now, look at Surrey County Council’s cunning plan for ‘Your Waverley’s’ eastern villages.

More than a million homes granted planning permission in the past decade have not yet been built, according to new analysis by the Local Government Association.

It is time to make developers pay for delays.

Housing and planning

 

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This is more likely to be the reason why 1m homes remain unbuilt? Many developers are asking to reduce the number of affordable homes too!

Latest figures show that 2,564,600 units have been granted planning permission by councils since 2009/10 while only 1,530,680 have been completed.

The number of planning permissions granted for new homes has almost doubled since 2012/13 with councils approving 9 in 10 applications. But according to ‘Bob’ that’s not enough and great swathes of the countryside must now go under concrete, to provide jobs for the building industry?

While in some cases there is  a time lag between permission being granted and homes being built, new build completions have only increased by half as much in that time. 

Alongside the Government, councils have recognised the shortage of housing and the need to build more homes.

In Waverley’s case thousands of new homes have been consented and one major new garden village on a brownfield site at Dunsfold aerodrome. where 2,600 new homes are planned. 

However, the backlog of unbuilt homes shows the planning system is not a barrier to house building. The Local Government Association has called  on the Government to use its  planning white paper to give councils powers to take action on unbuilt land which has planning permission.

This includes making it easier to compulsory purchase land where homes remain unbuilt, and to be able to charge developers full council tax for every unbuilt development from the point that the original planning permission expires.

With the right powers and funding, the LGA said councils can play a leading role in helping the Government tackle the national housing shortage.

As part of its submission to the Treasury ahead of next month’s Budget, the LGA is also calling for the Government to reform Right to Buy, by allowing councils to keep all of the receipts of homes sold under RTB to replace them and to have the flexibility to set discounts locally.

Cllr David Renard, LGA housing spokesman, said:

“The planning system is not a barrier to house building. The number of homes granted planning permission has far outpaced the number of homes being built.

”No-one can live in a planning permission, or a half-built house where work on a site has begun but not been completed.

“Councils need powers to tackle our housing backlog and step in where a site with planning permission lies dormant and house building has stalled.

“If we are to solve our housing shortage, councils need to be able to get building again and resume their role as major builders of affordable homes.

“It is also vital that the planning process is protected, so that councils and communities can ensure we realise the Government’s ambition of building beautiful homes, which includes the necessary infrastructure and affordable housing.”

 

The figures analysed by the LGA are government data available here
Permissions and completions

2009/10

2010/11

2011/2012

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

Total

Planning Permissions (units)

176,900

173,900

192,400

198,800

240,000

261,900

264,700

313,700

380,500

361,800

2,564,600

Completions

124,200

117,700

128,160

118,540

130,340

155,080

163,940

183,570

195,290

213,860

1,530,680

 

Do you remember the ‘Bring Sites’ that were so popular during lockdown?

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Well – they are going, going, gone  – according to Your Waverley!

The bins, that were popular receptacles for recycling during lock-down when the borough’s recycling centres were closed, are going. In fact, some have already gone!

The so-called “Bring Sites’ are being phased out as the range of kerbside services widens.

The mixed recycling bins will be removed from bring sites as part of ‘Your Waverley’s plan to phase out the sites and expand the range of materials that are accepted for kerbside collection. It believes this will help to increase recycling and lower Waverley’s carbon footprint.
All the materials currently accepted in the mixed recycling bins are able to be recycled via household collection in existing blue wheelie-bins.
Textiles and electrical equipment will continue to be accepted at the bring sites until this autumn.
Want to do your bit to help? Why not subscribe to the Surrey Environment Partnership YouTube channel for advice on how to #reduce, #reuse and #recycle more 👉 http://orlo.uk/7XPQo

WW cannot help wondering if we will all have to buy even more bins, or will everyone just stick their unwanted stuff in black bags or, even worse fly-tip? Surrey County Council is onto a winner here. It saves shedloads of money by either closing or reducing the opening hours of its CRC sites, and pushes the rubbish down the line to local councils to deal with?

Apparently, bin crews are dealing with much more rubbish – up around 14%. No surprise there then?

We are not eating out, we aren’t in our offices, our children aren’t at school we eat at home. So how do we produce less waste?

 

Here are  tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle 👉here http://orlo.uk/EsRrf

 

Do you want Boris’s boots all over ‘Your Waverley’s’ Great Crested Newts?

Boris ‘the bulldozer’ Johnson says newts are a drag on the UK’s economy.

Here’s why he’s wrong

Last week the PM claimed conservation causes construction delays – but newts are not the pantomime villains developers’ some would have us believe. Many developers are just as concerned about the environment as we are, if not more so!

We have examples here in Waverley where developers have gone beyond the brief, to ensure wildlife is  unharmed. However, there are others who have desecrated both wildlife and habitat and have gone unchallenged! Felling ancient woodland and drowning badgers are just two!  

 

An adult male great crested newt
 No pantomime villain … an adult male great crested newt. Photograph: James Grundy/Freshwater Habitats Trust/PA

Lingering in the shallows of a south Norfolk pond, voracious amphibians rest ahead of a night gorging on slugs, worms and insects. The pool network, long grasses and shrubs in Silfield newt reserve are a perfect habitat for the great crested newt. Boris’s latest pantomime villain.

The UK’s largest newt takes its name from the striking, jagged crest that males display in the spring breeding season. It is a protected species under British law, thanks to the EU Habitats Directive, which the prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, had a key role in creating. Despite that, its numbers have declined rapidly over the past 60 years.

An unlimited fine and up to six months in prison await anyone found guilty of disturbing the newt’s resting places and breeding sites or taking their eggs, yet the Local Government Association says it is not aware of any evidence to suggest “newt-counting” is causing delays to housing developments in England and Wales. We can recount a couple of instances in Waverley, but nothing that caused delays.

“Great crested newts have become the comedy pantomime villain of nature conservation,” says Jeremy Biggs, director of the Freshwater Habitats Trust.

An obligation by developers.

Developers are obliged to take care of great crested newts if the amphibians are believed to be on-site or nearby under rules overseen by Natural England. Until the last few years, protecting the amphibians when their habitats were being destroyed by developments centred on catching and counting them and moving them to compensation ponds.

Great crested newts were mentioned eight times in Sajid Javid’s https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/590463/Fixing_our_broken_housing_market_-_accessible_version.pdf

Fixing Our Broken Housing Market, published in 2017 under Theresa May’s government. The paper criticised the “excessive bureaucracy” involved in their protection.

But a fresh approach to the conservation of great crested newts by Natural England and the use of new technologies when surveying habitats, such as DNA analysis and even, in the case of one water company the use of a springer spaniel trained to detect amphibians has rapidly reduced delays. the use of a springer spaniel trained