Former Surrey County Councillors  Victoria and Alan Young want to build 14 homes after demolishing the bungalow, Tree Tops, in Mapledrakes Road, Ewhurst.

A scheme described by councillors as “horrific” and “mind-boggling”, which was neither “sympathetic nor sustainable “for the village, was unanimously rejected.

Waverley Planners recommended refusal for a host of planning reasons. An officer described the background to the latest bid by the owners to build on a site near an Ancient Woodland, designated as a site of Nature Conservation and Importance for Wildlife. On this site, trees had previously been illegally felled, and the site’s ecology had been damaged.  There were five pages summarising objections from villagers, including the parish council.

Speakers, including a representative from Ewhurst and Ellens Green Parish Councils, stated that the strength of local opposition was enormous and that the latest plan offered no solutions to address the significant local concerns.

After councillors heard that 146 objection letters had been received, Chief Planning Officer Clare Upton Brown was asked why the plan had been brought to the committee for consideration.  She said rules permitted this, as there had been 20 letters of support.

Former County Councillors – the Young Duo turn developers?

Tory Councillors – The Young duo – bang in another planning application.

Over the past five years, hundreds of objections have been registered, spanning a long history of planning applications and dismissed appeals. 

Schemes for 20 homes – then 18 homes were either refused by Waverley or by a Government inspector at appeal.

Speakers included the borough councillor for Ewhurst, Michael Higgins,  who said, “Now you have another application this time for 14 homes before you.” However, the situation remains the same, both then and now. It is outside the settlement on a sensitive site with nothing to commend it.

Farnham Cllr Carole Cochburn described the scheme as “horrific” and, while 146 objectors are not always right in this instance, she could see absolutely nothing to disagree with their sentiments, saying there was nothing to commend it.

To mow down a bungalow and attempt to build in a beautiful landscape goes against the grain.  She said areas around Sayers Craft on sites such as this had to be protected and remain special. Not just shove up something urban in a beautiful place, I will not hesitate to refuse this.”

Reasons for refusal

For refusal.

 

 

 

A Government inspector heard that Waverley Council has failed in its statutory duty to provide an up-to-date assessment of the borough’s future Gipsy and Traveller needs. 

Vital evidence that Inspector Mr. Richard  Clegg needs to determine whether a group of gipsies can remain on land they own and have inhabited for years to the north of Lydia Park in the Parish of Bramley.

An eight day public inquiry into a Dunsfold Gypsy site has started

Barristers acting on behalf of the Doherty families repeatedly called for evidence of a costly and incomplete survey of need carried out by contractors. They claimed that relying on data from 2017 could not be considered robust data on which the Inspector needs to make crucial decisions affecting the lives of those affected by the outcome of appeals.

The public inquiry began on Tuesday and will continue until June 13, with a reconvening scheduled for November 12.

On numerous occasions through the inquiry one of the Docherty family barristers Mr Masters has accused Waverley Council of deliberately delaying the G&T Assessment, saying it was a ” tactic”  used by the authority but this was rebutted by the Counci’s advocate saying: “it merely wanted to kill two birds with one stone and include all the up-to-date information of need in its new Local Plan. It is believed that the three sites are. Hill Tops, New Acres and Lydia `park have generated a huge future need, as young children are now adults with families.  The council commissioned the costly survey of need and then halted it halfway.

 Bramley Cllr Francesca Stern took the stand once more to provide a diatribe of statistics which she claimed proved that the concentration of gipsies and others unknown had grown exponentially. She said the village of Bramley and Waverley now had one of the largest concentrations in the country. She alleged that not everyone who lived there was a gipsy or traveller, and after inspecting the electoral roll, one name that appeared was not a gipsy name.

Confusion – Cock-up and controversy on day one of Stovolds Hill Gipsy Inquiry

Chairman of Hascombe Parish Council, Cllr Sarah Sullivan, took the stand to convey the concern that the huge influx of gipsies was causing the residents of Hascombe and the nearby villages of Dunsfold and Alfold. 

She claimed the natural environment in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the views from footpaths on Hascombe Hill (overlooking the sites) were being damaged.  Her residents wanted to live in “dark skies,” she said:

“The lighting from the site at night is similar to a large city. Most of the time, it is lit up like a Christmas tree. We can no longer see the stars or the planets.”

She claimed there was a surge of “internationals” occupying unauthorised development at Lydia Park, an intended development by people with complete disregard for the law.

She described Lydia Park as it once was: a long-established site where formerly local people had a good relationship with its occupants.

Asked if she had evidence or knew of complaints made by her parish council to Waverley about the alleged unauthorised development at Lydia Park and the appeal site, Mrs O’Sullivan either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer.

Even the Inspector looked frustrated and tried to intervene, but with little success.

Barrister for the appellants Alan Masters asked Cllr Sullivan if she was aware of other authorised development adjacent to the appeal site: eg, UK Oil & Gas permission to drill for gas at Loxley Farm, the consented housing development at Dunsfold Airfield, and the buildings at Thatched House Farm, and other commercial developments recently granted nearby.

Had her council objected to the nearby UK Oil & Gas Exploration site at High Loxley site or the extensive warehouse commercial development? She confirmed that she had objected to UKOG. Due to the damage it would cause to the Surrey Hills.

She heard that Waverley Planners or the High Court had approved all this recent development.

Cllr Sullivan did not respond to a Barrister’s suggestion that the vast expansion of Lydia Park – and the extension of the appeal site proved there was a huge local need for both gipsy and traveller accommodation and housing,

The Inquiry continues. 

This has been an incredibly difficult Inquiry to follow on the webcast because a considerable amount of the time has been spent on exchanges between the parties and witnesses  have been “noises off.” Participants have consistently failed to use their microphones.

Our Spider wanted to crawl under Waverley’s Council Chamber carpet in the hope that someone would tread on it within moments of Inspector Richard Clegg reconvening a Public Inquiry postponed last November due to his ill health. No such luck!

We could Bet Fred that Mr Clegg was in dire need of a cup of tea and a lie down following what can only be described as a ‘Nightmare on Waverley Street.’ Or, in this case, the gipsy sites in Stovolds’ Hill. Let’s hope he has the stamina to endure days like this in June and then another long session in November.

Adjourned Gipsy Inquiry re- convenes today.

Well, folks – the nightmare began when it became patently obvious that a vital piece of evidence was missing. Had it slipped down the back of a chair, or was it sitting on the planning officer’s desktop? No way, it turned out that the Contractor given the task of providing an up-to-date assessment of Gipsy and Traveller needs in the borough had been halted halfway through the job. Why? Because it was claimed that the council was short of funds, and it wanted to concentrate on getting its new Local Plan off the drawing board.

Was that the sound of the Cllr and Portfolio Holder for the Local Plan, Liz Townsend, screaming “untrue” along the corridor? 

One barrister wanted the planning officer, or councillor, responsible for halting the vital current needs assessment, to be hauled before the Inspector to answer for their actions. Some hope of that! Because the blame may lie with Head Honcho – Ups and Downs?

Continuing this inquiry without a proper current assessment of need, we might as well not go ahead with this Inquiry, said one of the lawyers.   At this point, there was a glint in the Inspector’s eye for the first time, or perhaps it was a tear? Difficult to tell while watching a Webcast.  Particularly when you can only hear half the argument, as some speakers didn’t turn their microphones on!

For the uninitiated – every council in the country has to have an up-to-date Gipsy and Traveller Site Assessment. However, Waverley’s legal eagle confirmed they did the up-to-date assessment in 2017!  Holy Moly, nearly a decade ago!  As `Nessa would say “, What’s occurring?” Quite a lot, according to how the locals described the massive influx of ‘other people’ living in ‘tinnies’ on sites called ‘Yellowstone Park’ and ‘Willow Brook.’ Sites owned by gipsies, requested and consented by ‘Your Waverley’  but who were they being occupied by? 

Here lies the Big Question – according to barristers acting for the Doherty family, who want to stay on a site they have occupied for years, nobody knows.

 

Bramley Parish Councillor Councillor Stern claimed the units at nearby Lydia Park are not gipsies as the pitches are being occupied by “people including som from – “The North of England”  Are there no gipsies living north of Watford? She claimed she could tell who was advertising the units, as their Facebook pages. reveal they have ” lots of friends.” Though obviously not in many in Bramley, judging by her evidence! Much of which we are unable to report.

It was not the first time we had heard Cllr Stern make defamatory remarks in Waverley’s hallowed halls. She once accused the residents of Bramley’s Clock House Lane of being threatened by a developer to support his planning application, which they had unanimously endorsed. They strongly refuted this and registered a complaint, to which they received no response.

Docherty’s Barristers (there were two) respectfully suggested to the Inspector that Waverley’s failure to take enforcement action against unauthorised development or breaches of planning conditions by court injunction, etc., on an adjacent site had nothing to do with his client’s case for staying put.  Waverley’s failures to act elsewhere on Stovolds Hill should not impact on others who wanted, due to need,  to occupy their land. To do so was...

“Both unfair and cruel.“

The Inspector was respectfully asked to consider that Waverley’s failure to take proper enforcement action, with court injuctions against unauthorised development or breach of planning conditions – which rules sites could only be occupied by gipsies/travellers had nothing to do with their client’s appeal to remain on the site they owned albeit near other gipsy sites.

There were hours of debate about “known knowns,” “known unknowns,” and “unknown unknowns,” popularised by former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. 

It was generally agreed that there were definitely lots of “unknowns’ about the gipsy and traveller need for sites and pitches in Waverley.

Hopefully, all will become clear in the coming days; however, we won’t be holding our breath. If we can stomach more of it, we will let you know.

 

Here are the Appellants for a string of appeals for the stationing of caravans and mobile homes on a controversial site at Stovolds Hill, Dunsfold, in the parish of Bramley. 

The previous inquiry was adjourned on the first day of the proceedings in November 2024 due to the Inspector’s ill health. There is no information on which Inspector will lead the appeal. So it may start from scratch!

Interesting – very interesting! The inquiry will take place from June 3rd to 13th and then reconvene from November 12th to 22nd. Is the Inspectorate short of Inspectors, or are they all bowing out!?! 

The controversy over the occupation by homeless people, rather than gipsies, occupying hundreds of “tinnies” near the gipsy site has grown faster than ragwort on Stovolds Hill.  The locals are fuming at escalation of anti social incidents – now even the gipsies are making plans to leave the official sites—some who have lived there over 50 years.

One gipsy who contacted the Waverley Web said she can no longer put her children on the school bus, due to the behaviour of other children.

Mr T Doherty, Appellant A, Mr S Doherty, Appellant B, Mrs A Doherty, Joint appellant C, Mr Mark Doherty, Joint appellant C, Mr Matthew Doherty, Appellant D.

Here is the site notification from the Inspectorate.

The first person on the stand will be Councillor Chris Britton, who will speak on behalf of Alfold Parish Council and most objectors during both the morning and afternoon sessions. Should he declare an interest?

He lives on Stovolds Hill, only a few hundred yards from the established Gipsy sites, and his house is currently on the market.  No axe to grind there then! Mr Britton was also one of the leading protagonists in the STOP Dunsfold campaign called POW – Protect our Waverley. A group set up to halt development on the largest brownfield site in the borough, at Dunsfold airfield.

Anyone who would like to participate in the resumed inquiry is invited to attend tomorrow, June 3, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. to talk about any timetabling questions.

After that day, the inquiry may resume on occasion at the earlier time of 9:30 am, and afternoon sessions are expected to commence between 1:30 pm and 2 pm. Precise times will be announced at the inquiry.

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An eight day public inquiry into a Dunsfold Gypsy site has started