Amlets Park, in Amlets Lane, Cranleigh has been sold to Cala Homes.
The highly controversial site was owned by the Roberts family, who lived in the village for many years. They offered the land to Cranleigh Parish Council in the 1980s for a peppercorn payment of £1.00, which it subsequently turned down. The site has been sold today for an undisclosed sum.
The detailed planning application for 125 homes has already been examined by Waverley Borough Council’s planing experts and it is expected that building will commence in the middle of next year.
The site, which is adjacent to private houses and opposite St Josephs’ School, was granted outline planning approval by a narrow margin of just two votes at a full planning meeting of Waverley Borough Council in September 2014.
The site leads off Barhatch Lane and Horseshoe Lane and was believed by planning officers and some councillors to be an ideal site close to the village, with no flooding history, and with easy pedestrian/cycle links into the village and local schools.
A spokesman for the Roberts family said shortly after planning permission was granted, that he was determined that when the site was sold, it would contain green space, a community building and whilst providing much needed homes, would also be an asset to the village.This vision will be continued by the new owner.
On Monday, Cllr Maurice Byham told a Waverley Committee that whilst recognising it would be very painful, for Cranleigh to take development, it was better than building homes on brownfield sites.
