Crest Nicholson Horsham Road Deferred

Crest Nicholson Horsham Road Deferred

We were delighted that members of Waverley’s Joint Planning Committee deferred a decision on the Horsham Road site on Wednesday evening 24 August 2016. Crest Nicholson already have outline planning permission for 149 houses (stage one) on this site.  This meeting was to decide detailed planning permission for this site, which includes the type, design and layout of the housing.

We think that existing residents who live adjacent to the site have been extremely reasonable in their response to the building of 149 dwellings on this beautiful open green field next to their homes.

Chantreys Horsham Road Crest Nicholson site

The original site layout which accompanied the outline planning application, establishing the principle of building on the site was very different to the final layout in the detailed planning application.

The original layout was (note the northern boundary of the site that abuts existing housing):

Crest Nicholson Chantreys Cranleigh site plan

We are constantly warning residents that the artists impressions that developers provide when they first consult with residents may well bear no resemblance to what is finally built on that site.

The design that was before the council last night was this:

Horsham Road site housing layout Crest Nicholson

 

We think that Cranleigh residents deserve better than looking out onto drainage ditches as well as a sewage pumping station (which could be noisy) and car parks!  We are very glad that Councillors agreed with this, however the application has only been deferred and Crest Nicholson may decide that they don’t want to change their plans.

Other areas that Councillors expressed concerns about were:

  • the provision for sewage and the lack of capacity in Cranleigh’s sewerage infrastructure.
  • the fact that zero one bedroom market homes were being proposed and the one bedroom affordable housing numbers had been reduced
  • a lack of public open space
  • the drainage system being adequate on the site and the risk that this could exacerbate the flood risk for adjoining properties.
  • about the ownership of the existing drainage ditch, which residents claim they own half of, if proved to be correct this will mean that the drainage system proposed for the site could be invalid.
  • ongoing management  and maintenance of the drainage system by a private management company.
  • clustering of affordable housing, rather than including with other market housing (pepper-potting).
  • Roof heights and further expansion of homes into roof space.
  • Visual impact on existing residents who currently look over an open green field.
  • some of the properties were smaller than national standards, particularly the 1 bed ground floor apartments.

Until a decision has been made you can continue to submit your comments against this application WA/2016/0417

Waverley Plan to Destroy Cranleigh

Waverley Plan to Destroy Cranleigh

OUT NOW – WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL CONSULTATION ON THE PRE-SUBMISSION LOCAL PLAN PART 1: STRATEGIC POLICIES AND SITES

The Pre-Submission Local Plan Part 1: Strategic Policies and Sites setting out the planning strategy for Waverley up to 2032 was published on 19 August 2016.

This shocking plan proposes 1,520 new houses in Cranleigh with an additional 2,600 on Dunsfold Aerodrome, and a further 335 in surrounding villages.

Waverley Borough Housing Allocation June 2016

That’s a total of 4,455 houses in and around Cranleigh.

Please make sure that you add any comments you have about this plan before 5.00pm on Monday 3 October 2016.


After the October deadline, Waverley Borough Council wants to submit the Local Plan Part 1: Strategic Policies and Sites and associated documents to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government later this year, for examination, any comments you submit will be included.


REMEMBER NO COMMENT MEANS SILENT CONSENT


We believe the Local Plan is fatally flawed.

We do not think that dumping 45% of the total housing allocation in Cranleigh, where there is no identified need for this level of housing is sound.

We do not think that the transport assessment has looked at the impact this will have on our local roads, or taken into account safety for road users.

We do not think that the impact on our rivers, streams, biodiversity and air quality has been adequately taken into account.

We do not think that the community engagement with residents on this plan stands up to scrutiny.  The consultation was limited to a 4 housing scenario proposal in September 2014, which only had 4,265 responses (taken as a percentage of Waverley residents this would be 3.5%).  How many respondents were actual residents of Waverley is unknown as well as their location in the borough.

The Cranleigh Society will be submitting a comprehensive response to the Local Plan.

However, please also submit your comments about the plan.  We cannot stress enough how important it is for you to have your say.

This plan hugely affects Cranleigh, the consequences of the unprecedented growth in housing over the plan period will make way for Cranleigh New Town.

If you say nothing this will be taken as implied consent to the dumping of 4,455 new houses, equivalent to another settlement the size of Cranleigh, on your doorstep.


Add your Comments

You can add your comments to the Local Plan in the following ways: –

  1.  Online Consultation Website:

You can view the documents and comment online, via the Waverley Borough Council website at http://consult.waverley.gov.uk .  To submit comments, you must first register on the website. If you have done so already, then you can use your existing username and password.

  1.   Download a Representation Form:

You can also download the local plan document and representation form by visiting http://www.waverley.gov.uk/newlocalplan and following the link to the Local Plan consultation. This can be filled in electronically and emailed back to Waverley Borough Council at planningpolicy@waverley.gov.uk. You can also print the form and send it back to Waverley at; Planning Policy Team, Planning Services, Waverley Borough Council, The Burys, Godalming. GU7 1HR.

  1.  View the documents and collect a paper copy of the representation form

The Waverley Borough Pre-Submission Local Plan Part 1, the Sustainability Appraisal Report and other associated submission documents are available for inspection at the following locations, where you can also collect paper copies of the representation form:

  • Planning Reception, Council Offices, The Burys, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1HR. Monday-Thursday 9.00 am -5.00 pm, Friday 9.00 am – 4.00 pm. (Excluding Bank Holidays)
  • Farnham Locality Office, South Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7RN. Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm (closed each day 12.30pm to 1.30pm) (Excluding Bank Holidays)
  • Godalming, Farnham, Haslemere, Cranleigh and Bramley libraries. Please see www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries   for their opening times.

ADD YOUR COMMENTS BEFORE 5.00pm on Monday 3 October 2016.

High Street Conservation Area Extended

High Street Conservation Area Extended

Waverley Borough Council formally adopted the extension of the Cranleigh High Street Conservation Area on the 19 July 2016.

Cranleigh Civic Society took part in the review and consultation, alongside local historians, representatives of Surrey Archaeological Society and representatives of Cranleigh History Society.

There were several changes made, the main ones being the extension of the Conservation Area to include the south side of the High Street and Cranleigh Common.

Previous Conservation Area (blue line):

Map of Cranleigh Conservation Area in High Street

New Conservation Area (blue line):

map of the Cranleigh High Street conservation area

This extension of the area will ultimately help to safeguard the heritage and design assets of Cranleigh village centre.

Volunteer River Wardens Needed for Cranleigh Waters

Volunteer River Wardens Needed for Cranleigh Waters

On Monday the Cranleigh Civic Society accompanied members of the Environment Agency (EA) and Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) on a formal river walk along Cranleigh Waters.

Regular readers will know that we have been highlighting the fact that Cranleigh Waters stops flowing, especially during summer and autumn months, for some time, and have been involved in ongoing discussions with the EA and SWT.

Both of these organisations are taking this situation extremely seriously and the river walk was arranged to help to identify areas of low to no flow, obstructions, signs of wildlife, invasive species, as well as to gauge the overall depth and width of the river.

This was an extremely useful exercise and we would like to thank all of those who took part and look forward to sharing their report.


Become a Volunteer River Warden

Going forward we will continue to monitor Cranleigh Waters for pollution, as well as help to improve and protect its biodiversity.

And that’s where you come in.  You can help us by becoming a Volunteer River Warden for Cranleigh Waters.

If you are interested in protecting and improving our local environment and becoming a trained volunteer please let us know as soon as possible.

We have arranged our first RiverSearch volunteer training session with the help of Surrey Wildlife Trust.

swt_website_logo

Our FREE training day is on 2 September 2016 at Farnham Town Council Offices from 9:30 am to 4:00pm.  Numbers are limited to 12 people and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please contact us if you would like to reserve a place and we can send you more information about the format of the day.

We will be encouraging people to car share so let us know if you need a lift.

After attending the training session our volunteers will be assigned a stretch of river (averagely 1km in length) and asked to carry out a mapping survey (with the consent of the landowner) during which all features and habitats along the river are mapped and photographed and any issues reported.

Following this initial mapping survey volunteers carry out regular walk over surveys once every 3 months keeping an eye out for any issues as well as recording the wildlife and habitats they come across.

This is an exciting opportunity to get involved and help to protect the river habitat on our own doorstep for the benefit of local people and our local wildlife.

Further training will be available to our volunteers as our programme progresses.

Get in touch and book your place


If you are unable to attend our training day on 2 Sept but would still like to help protect Cranleigh Waters please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Resident’s View – Is the Green Belt Killing Cranleigh?

Resident’s View – Is the Green Belt Killing Cranleigh?

I keep hearing that the  reason we have so much development being approved in and around Cranleigh is because we have no Green Belt protection.

I had thought that the green belt was there to protect exceptional countryside, however recently I discovered that it’s a planning policy to prevent urban sprawl and can end up protecting countryside of quite low environmental value.

Green Belt policy was established in 1955 primarily to stop urban sprawl. There are now 14 separate areas of Green Belt that cover 13% of England; mostly open land and countryside around the largest or most historic towns and cities.” – Taken from CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) website.

When I take my daily walk on the Surrey Hills I can’t help but feel that the stunning landscape around Cranleigh deserves equal protection, and that the countryside beyond the green belt is under huge threat like never before. Because of green belt planning policy, development is being pushed further out into open countryside and on to valuable farmland, with little or no infrastructure, and far from employment opportunities.

I am quite aware that there are pros and cons to the argument for a green belt review in Waverley, however I think that this difficult and emotive topic needs to be fully addressed immediately by an official forum made up of elected representatives and members of lobby groups, residents groups etc, before Waverley’s local plan dumps half of the borough’s housing allocation in an unsustainable location in and around Cranleigh, which makes no planning sense to me at all.