The shocking scale of fat cat pay in the public sector is exposed today by a major Daily Mail investigation.
C’mon Waverley – lend us a fiver!
Public Sector Fat Cats
*NEWS FLASH* Nothing to discuss? Well there certainly is now!
Goodbye Cranleigh Village… Hello Cranleigh New Town.
At 5.25pm on Friday, shortly after we posted this update on the cancelled WBC Executive Meeting, came the news that all WBC councillors were advised that the Draft Spatial Strategy will go to the Community Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 16th November – to which ALL are invited. This is prior to the December Full Council Meeting.
And guess what? The same old strategy remains. Pile housing onto the green fields that are flood plains in Cranleigh. In Farnham, ignore the over-riding legal constraints (habitats) and the practical constraints of transport and flood risk and cover as many fields, some of which may be in the Green Belt, as possible with concrete.
So now you have it. The borough needs 519 homes every year, but over the whole local Plan period of 2013 – 2032, there is a shortfall of around 6,000 homes. So what will the borough get on the green fields around Cranleigh? Potentially around 1,350 new homes.
We reckon WBC will put up a very lacklustre defence against the Berkley Homes Appeal due in February, to build 425 homes on the Bonham Land, off Stocklund Square. One Waverley Web contributor said:
“Heaven knows why WBC is even bothering to turn up before an Inspector – probably to waste even more of our money. Guess the only real opposition will come from the Cranleigh Civic Society, but bearing in mind what WBC is up to, it might as well save its breath.”
In the meantime, the heavy lobbying by the Knowle Park Initiative (aided by Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce), will have paid off and we can look forward to West Cranleigh disappearing under floodwater. Crown Hall Estates will be hanging onto its coat tails and more will follow. The Guildford Road between Cranleigh and Shamley Green is next..
Then of course, Crest Nicholson will throw in another 150+ into the Horsham Road development, adding to the 149 houses it already has the go-ahead for. With work starting on Amlets Park’s 125 houses soon, there are all the Alfold applications (too many to even mention, but for starters 600). The Strategy also identifies building in all the villages: Shamley Green, Bramley, Witley and so it goes on.
Don’t forget Dunsfold Park either- up to 3,500 there with 1,800 coming soon in the application about to land on their desks, when Scottie gets his act together.
So where does that leave the rest of the Waverley Borough? 1,000 houses in Farnham… 1,000 houses in Haslemere… 500 houses in Godalming… and an additional 1,200 houses dotted around the villages. And who gets the lions share? Yup, you guessed it – Cranleigh. And who can stop them?
NOTHING to discuss? Oh yes there is!
Well, WW followers, we all knew there would be a perfectly good explanation for the November Executive meeting of Waverley Borough Council being cancelled and now we have the answer but not from that Weazley Waverley bunch who said publicly:
“the meeting is cancelled because there is no business to discuss.”
Here is the real reason.
THEY DIDN’T WANT FIREWORKS NIGHT IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.
Here is the answer from one of our contributors.
So – this is how your Executive treat you rank and file councillors – they are treating you the same way they are treating us voting fodder – like mushrooms, keeping us in the dark, and throwing the occasional bucket of manure over us.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE S*** BEFORE YOU TOO ARE COVERED IN IT!
What about ‘Harrierhurst’ for Dunsfold’s proposed new village.. and now extended BusinessPark?
It was, after all, the home of the Harrier – so why not ‘Harrierhurst’ for Waverley’s proposed new village on a brownfield site, or maybe Hawkhurst? Or perhaps the dunces out there who would rather it became a massive employment site with artics thundering through the borough’s country lanes, Artic Ally or Pantechnicon Park perhaps?
Judging by the decision made by Waverley Planners last night – the new Dunsfold Business Park will soon be upon us. Let’s hope that common sense prevails and it becomes a work/home environment to cut down on the heavy traffic.
Planners agreed to 10,000 square metres of extra business space at the borough’s largest business site – a 20% increase on the existing space after planning officers told them it was a line with the Government’s Growth Agenda and support the borough’s economic growth.
Despite objections from every parish council – including Bramley, Hascombe, Alfold, Busbridge etc, WW didn’t notice Cranleigh objecting perhaps it is in line with their new philosophy for Cranleigh New Town– the other parish councils concerns over traffic generation was outweighed by the need for units, which according to the owners, had already been pre-let.
Around 160 new jobs would be generated and the expansion was necessary on a site 86% of which the Secretary of State had accepted was previously developed land. There would be 269 car parking spaces provided, 18 disabled bays and 40 cycle spaces. Previous objections by the Highway Authority were “revised” but conditions are imposed on the developers to provide a footpath alone the Dunsfold Road from the Compasses entrance to the Cossways junction with the A281.
However, some of our WW contributors and readers have told us they are worried. Why? Because, the dummies at Waverley Borough Council might just do again what they did a few weeks ago with another brownfield site at the Hewitt’s Industrial Estate and turn Dunsfold down for housing.
They wouldn’t would they? They would have to be “plane stupid” to turn down the redevelopment of the largest brownfield site in the borough “Surely not, when more than 80% of the boroughs residents chose it as their favoured option for new development in the expensive consultation exercise they conducted, with our money. Oh yes they would!
Oh, no they wouldn’t… Oh yes, they would…
Some of those deadbeats will oppose anything on that site – including planes, air ambulances, police helicopters, cars – in fact anything other than bats, bunnies, birds and blackberries.
WW has little faith in the Waverley Wallies – however – maybe times they are a’changing and WBC could break the habit of a lifetime and surprise us with their vision, but don’t hold your breath. Anyway, much better all those homes come to a green field near you…
If you choose our name – will we get a prize Scottie? 
The Hoppa Bus will be departing shortly for the latest of Waverley’s ‘Not-So-Secret’ Secret Meetings
Roll up, roll up… to jump on the Waverley development wagon… So upset are some parish councillors in Cranleigh, that they have demanded to be included in any future meetings with wannabe developers, eager to concrete over Cranleigh. What about Alfold Parish Council, some them want to develop there?
They don’t want the future of their village decided by the few – the Ellis’s,one of whom chairs the meeting, the Stennetts. In the driving seat is Surrey County Councillor Alan Young, who is beginning to make his predecessor, Councillor Andrew Povey, look like Mary Poppins.
“It’s almost laughable,” one ‘insider” told WW, on contact@waverleyweb.org, “the borough council will soon have to use the Council Chamber, as there will be so many people there. Now some developers say they want to hold a separate secret meeting among themselves and other interested parties – rather than at a secret meeting that everyone can attend that will no longer be secret.”
Is the ‘secret’ secret out? Will we now have to find someone who will tell us about the REAL, secret meeting.
P.S The usual crowd will be there – Thakeham Homes; Berkeley’s; Knowle Park Initiative; Crown Hall Estates- perhaps, or perhaps not, Threadneedle who want to develop the Hewitt’s Industrial Estate but have had their application turned down, because it is too close to the KPI site, – oops – did WW make a mistake, turned down because the Chamber of Trade didn’t want to lose an employment site?
When’s the next bus leaving – lets hope the whole disingenuous greedy bunch are on it.