Category: Waverley Borough Council

Work progressing on affordable housing sites in Chiddingfold

More affordable homes coming soon elsewhere in Waverley too.

 Left to right: Guy Thomas, Construction Manager, Feltham Construction; Stuart Ahrens, Contracts Manager: for Feltham’s Chiddingfold sites, Cllr Janet Crowe, Co-Portfolio Holder for Housing (Delivery), Waverley Leader Cllr Paul Follows, Mark Constable, Housing Development Officer – Project Manager for the scheme, Mayor and Cllr Penny Rivers, Cllr Paul Rivers, Co-Portfolio Holder for Housing (Operations)Louisa Blundell, Waverley’s Housing Development Manager, and Chiddingfold  Ward Cllr David Busby.

Councillor Penny Rivers, Deputy Mayor of Waverley, joined Feltham Construction, fellow councillors, and members of the council’s Housing Development team to mark the start of work on new affordable housing at Pathfield Close in Chiddingfold.

‘Your Waverley’  will provide 26 new affordable homes across five brownfield sites in the village. Development is already well underway at Turners Mead, Hartsgrove, and Queens Mead, and the ground is now being prepared at the final two sites in Pathfield Close. The council has demolished 10 older properties and 40 underutilised garages across the five sites to make way for the 26 new homes.

The new homes will include various property types, such as one—and two-bedroom flats and two—and three-bedroom houses. They will mix social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership properties to meet local housing needs. Feltham Construction Limited is the council’s main contractor, and all works are expected to be completed by autumn 2025.

In its corporate strategy, the council pledged to invest in the community by providing high-quality, environmentally friendly, attractive, and affordable homes. It is committed to sustainability and tackling the Climate Emergency so that the new homes will feature a range of eco-friendly measures, including solar PV panels, air source heat pumps, enhanced insulation, double glazing, and electric vehicle charging points. The homes are designed to minimise carbon emissions, helping to reduce both energy costs for tenants and the overall environmental impact of the development.

Each home will have modern, high-quality interiors and help address local parking needs by having its off-street parking on all sites and additional on-street parking at Pathfield Close.

The council will prioritise sustainability throughout the construction process by promoting high recycling rates and working with contractors to maximise the use of low-carbon, sustainable materials, minimise waste, and reduce the project’s overall carbon footprint.

Councillor Penny Rivers, Deputy Mayor of Waverley Borough Council, said, 

“This exciting development marks a significant investment by Waverley Borough Council in the village of Chiddingfold, and reflects our ongoing commitment to providing affordable, sustainable homes for our communities. 

“Affordable homes are so important, particularly in our more rural areas where housing is often in limited supply. These homes will help more local people, particularly young families, to be able to stay in the area where they grew up. By ensuring more residents have safe, affordable homes, we can support essential local services and create stronger, more resilient communities.”

Grey Belt – Take2. Does this mean that Rowly & Cranleigh will merge?

The “Grey Belt” was written by the Blog ‘Planoraks.’ 

This has very real implications for strategic gaps like those between the settlement or Rowly and Cranleigh. An rea which includes Stonescapes, Manfield Park and the old Silverwood Nurseries. The rumour mill has also gone into overdrive about proposed development in the areas of Ruffold Farm and the Notcutts Garden Centre.

It is linked to our recent post  here: The Grey Belt arrives in Waverley

 

Continue reading “Grey Belt – Take2. Does this mean that Rowly & Cranleigh will merge?”

The Big Blightwells giveaway begins in Farnham

All those squillions spent on Brightwells Yard and despite advertising its retail units all over the South Eas of England there are no takers!

So Surrey County Clounncil that has taken such great care of its pension-fund holders money is forced into giving away a shop rent free for a year.

Wetherspoons GONE, Joules GONE Joules GONE now M & S GONE 

 

 

The Grey Belt arrives in Waverley

The borough’s villages – particularly Milford with its train station – have just lost their vital Green Belt protection.

 

The Waverley Web considers this issue to be critical…

Are the wishes about to be realised by those villages without environmental and planning protection, villages where development is being dumped on them in heaps?

Will your Waverley soon be rolling out thid red carper?
Will the government soon force ‘Your Waverley’ to lay out the red carpet to welcome developers?

Our sources tell us that elsewhere on Facebook, one local planning geek suggests that the Government’s new “Grey Belt” policy, combined with Waverley’s lack of a 5-year housing supply figures, may have removed Milford’s existing Green Belt protection at a stroke…

Unlike Jeremy Hunt, WW isn’t blaming the Waverley Council for its five-year supply problem, particularly given Hunt’s hypocritical stance after being instrumental in delaying development on the airfield from the outset! He reaffirmed his position during the general election hustings when he said he lived in fear of Dunsfold ever, yes, ever, going ahead.
It has much more to do with the Government completely moving the goalposts…..

So, see Planoraks at the latest and note the clarification on towns/villages at 4.

https://www.planoraks.com/posts-1/the-grey-belt-has-arrived

Here’s the PPG Document.  It made for interesting reading
but particularly these headings 
How should the contribution land makes to the relevant Green Belt purposes be assessed?   

When making judgements as to whether land is a grey belt, authorities should consider the contribution that assessment areas make to Green Belt purposes a, b, and d. Considerations for informing these judgements are set out below:

Purpose A – to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas

This purpose relates to the sprawl of large built-up areas. Villages should not be considered large built-up areas

Purpose A – to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas

Purpose B – to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another

This purpose relates to the merging of towns, not villages.   ………..etc

(Note: There isn’t a Purpose C that WW can see.)

Purpose D – to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns 

This purpose relates to historic towns, not villages. Where no historic towns are in the plan area, it may not be necessary to provide detailed assessments against this purpose.  

WW  Do you get it?

 

Surrey district favours a three unitary option

Could ‘Your Waverley’ and Guildford councils be joining Woking and Surrey Heath?

Or Woking Guildford and Waverley or if the county was split into two Waverley Guildford, Woking Surrey Heath, Runnymeade and Spelthorne.

Is anything possible? But at the moment, that could change before you read this post.

Why is such a vital reorganisation being carried out at breakneck speed? And how can any local authority, faced with recruitment issues, other than temporarily, recruit suitable candidates?

Spelthorne BC councillors have voted to reorganise three unitaries after considering the options. One of the county’s MPs, Zoe Franklin, agreed that three would “strike the right balance.”
 Local government minister Jim McMahon recently announced that Surrey is on the fast track for reorganisation. With a population of 1.2m, Surrey could reorganise into two or even three unitaries to meet the government’s requirement for new unitaries to have a population of around 500,000. However, it would consider new organisations at 350,000 where it made sense.
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The debt mountain
Guildford BC has imposed strict financial controls to manage its £300,000m debt and has been making savings year on year since joining Waverley, which is debt-free. However, Woking has a £2b debt millstone around its neck. Surrey Heath is in debt to £170m.
The entire Surrey debt is estimated at around £6 billion, but some say it is considerably more!
Lib Dem Zoe Franklin, MP for Guildford, who ousted Conservative Angela Richardson at the general election, said restructuring would be “the best way forward.”  A Guildford councillor for many years, she thinks the change will simplify local government for residents.
However, she is “concerned”  that the government hasn’t indicated how restructuring will alleviate the financial problems councils face, highlighting adult social care, children with special educational needs, and highways.
You have to reorganise to ensure we get the right balance between reorganising that can financially manage things and keeping it as close to residents as possible. The government hasn’t yet indicated how to address this, so I have asked the minister to meet with all Surrey’s MPs to have that conversation.”
She added that the public expects their elected representatives to have a seat at the table. She said cancelling the local elections was a “travesty”, and she had received correspondence from residents angry and aggrieved that their voices are effectively silenced.