HSRA protecting Green Spaces

Welcome to Haslemere South

last updated 30 January 2023

Haslemere South Residents Association is open to all and is dedicated to building a positive community life and protecting the unique and precious landscapes, specifically the wildlife-rich wooded green meadows and the wide range of protected of species in the lands that form the border with Blackdown and the South Downs National Park to the South of Haslemere.

Here to Object to Development in the wrong place, damaging Haslemere.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Haslemere residents.

Wanton destruction of nature is causing the wild weather changes.
Let us hope for a successful New Year protecting our valued countryside and hope the prospective developers in this world who do not care for the environment, wildlife, road safety and green land, do not have a prosperous New Year.

Lovely AONB Land as it should be!

TROJAN HORSE ALLOTMEMTS
OED: Trojan Horse noun: a person or thing intended to undermine or secretly overthrow an enemy or opponent.
New planning application to damage biodiverse grassland and disturb possible medieval burial grounds just for for a carpark and allotment.

CLOSES TODAY: Planning application (WA/2023/00029). As previously communicated the developer is seeking permission for allotments and carparking in the field opposite the Recreation ground. No fixed facts but the 'modus operandi' remains consistent. There are several assumptions that can be made on this application which may be detrimental to the wider Haslemere community:
Why now?
What is the real purpose?
Are there any commercial links to the rest of the planning? -
The deadline to object is Today, Monday Jan 30th, this planning application will also be discussed at Haslemere Town Council's Planning Committee this Thursday, Feb 2nd at 7pm. Final decision by Waverley.

Did you Know - The proposed allotment site (to the north East of Red Court House ) lies entirely within an Area of High Archaeological Potential (AHAP). This is expected as the site of a church associated with the original location of Haslemere settlement in the Anglo-Saxon (Early Medieval period). The site is named Church Lidden Field in the 1845 Tithe Apportionment for Haslemere and human bones were reported as having been found in Church Lidden Field at the start of the 19th century.
(source & thanks from Surrey County Council, Historic Environment Planning: Archaeology)

See Waverley Planning: WA/2023/00029. If you wish to comment the deadline is 30 January 2023
Proposal: Change of Use of Land for Provision of Community Allotments and Orchards with Access Off Scotland Lane, Car and Cycle Parking Spaces and Associated Landscaping.
Whereas allotments are an interesting and divisive concept, there may only be a small demand from outside the immediate walkable area for local residents. Whether this is in the correct place is open to opinion. The area is on AGLV to the east of Red Court Lodge and is seen by many as just an additional planning application nibbling away at the protected green land surrounding Haslemere. Regardless of the developers marketing statements on this application, this will significantly change the character of the land and would be detrimental to the amenity view adjacent to the AONB and Red Court House grounds.
The key points to note:

The ownership of the allotments appears to be retained by Redwood so is a private business not a council tenancy as with all other Haslemere community allotments. Naturally with the change of status, Housing may be the ultimate goal.
The proposal will affect the setting of the Grade II Lodge & Red Court House with grounds and will degrade the elegant sweeping driveway access to the house which is visible from Vale Wood in the SDNP alongside the Ancient Woodland just meters from the boundary. Although plans suggest wooded hedge cover this would be a decade to maturity.
Haslemere’s Heritage must be protected and other Grade II listed buildings located further afield, significantly beyond the setting of the site such as The Mill House, Lowder Mill and The Former Mill on Bell Vale Lane directly south of the site.
Interestingly there is no comment about organic grown products nor nitrates (pollutants as stated in NPPF2021 Section 186). Fertilizers used by many vegetable growers will inevitably seep through the ground course into the ancient woodland below. Whereas planning documents could state the protection against pollutants, the developer would have not real control of the tenants and their pollutant use (overtly or covertly).
Allotments by their nature generate waste and interesting organic odours which are not raised anywhere.
All the produce will require additional water, which as stated by Thames Water in Autumn last year will push the local reservoir to overcapacity, causing shortages to local residents and Haslemere hospital.
The documents state a very high Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). Redeveloping an unimproved pasture, the projected figure is very unlikely when a car parking area is to be added with the natural grassland is to be allotted into muddy squares and cultivated.
Recorded wildlife corridors are all over the area and herbivories will be drawn to the new ‘salad bowl’ offered on a plate. This will cause owners to fence their produce and then 2m fences will appear cutting the natural wildlife path to protect against the indigenous deer with potential resultant injuries to be inflicted as already recorded & reported in local press by the existing fencing on the site.
Another mature tree is condemned, set against the already determined massive tree loss of the appealed planning application.
With the current building plans on the plans to the West of the Lodge and the increased traffic, this will further exacerbate the traffic problems in Scotlands Lane.

This application will have minimal benefits to the community but is essentially eroding the grassland to the South of Haslemere. Residents may wish to comment on the Waverley Planning portal. WA/2023/0029

Guardian, Mon 5 Dec 2022 20.10 GMT : Sunak to scrap housebuilding targets after pressure from Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak is to drop compulsory housebuilding targets to see off an embarrassing backbench rebellion, prompting criticism he is putting party unity over the national interest.
The capitulation, which comes in the middle of a national housing crisis, will spark fresh concerns that the prime minister is too weak to take on unruly Conservative backbenchers. It followed up to 100 Tory MPs threatening to back an amendment that would in effect force the government to abolish the target of building 300,000 homes a year in England.
Instead, the target will be “advisory” and councils will be allowed to build fewer homes if they can show hitting it would significantly change the character of an area, an exemption expected to particularly apply to rural and suburban communities.
The move was described as “extremely worrying” by housing campaigners but saves Sunak and the housing secretary, Michael Gove, a humiliating showdown in the Commons. They were forced to pull a vote on the levelling up and regeneration bill last month when the rebellion first came to light.For weeks, No 10, Gove and rebel ringleaders Theresa Villiers and Bob Seely have been holding meetings to find a “landing zone” that could satisfy both sides and avoid another blue-on-blue feud over planning.
Sources suggested the government initially hoped to buy off Tory opponents by offering to add amendments to the bill.These included further restrictions on “landbanking” – the practice of buying land for investment without any active plans for its development – and a crackdown on second homes, an issue in some tourist hotspots in Cornwall and Devon.
But the rebels refused to cave in, and the Guardian understands the demand for the mandatory housing target to be axed was accepted by Sunak and Gove at the end of last week.In a letter to Tory MPs on Monday, Gove said he recognised “there is no truly objective way of calculating how many new homes are needed in an area” but the “plan-making process for housing has to start with a number”.
The change would make the centrally determined target a “starting point”, with councils able to propose building fewer homes if they faced “genuine constraints” or would have to build at a density that would “significantly change the character” of their area. He said he was “grateful” to MPs who had been pushing for “much-needed changes”.
Seely said the deal reached was a “happy compromise”, adding the prospective rebels had “got everything we asked for, because the government said ‘that’s a good idea’”. He claimed that well over 100 Tory MPs had backed the proposed amendment.
But a government source suggested the bill had been “watered down so much that all you’re left with is a glass of water”.
The bill was pulled during its report stage in the Commons, but could be tabled again as soon as next week with the government’s amendments added.
Changes made on top of the overhaul to targets include potentially fining firms that fail to build on land despite having planning consent and letting councils refuse further permission across their area. A registration scheme for short-term lets will also be created, with ministers considering whether fresh planning permission would have to be granted for homes to be turned into Airbnb-style rental properties.
Other changes billed as fulfilling Sunak’s leadership campaign pledges over the summer were for the green belt to be protected by issuing new guidance to councils saying they would not need to consider such land to deliver homes.
Sunak’s attempt to quell one rebellion may ignite criticism from another group of Tory MPs, who had urged him to stand firm. The immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, is believed to have strongly supported the mandatory target and presumption in favour of development remaining.
Senior MPs on the backbenches have previously criticised the rebels. Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, said their proposed amendment was “very wrong” and would only cement “fundamental inter-generational unfairness”.
Sajid Javid, another former housing secretary, previously warned that scrapping the mandatory target would “put meaningful policy into reverse” and represent “a colossal failure of political leadership”.
Other critics of the amendment included Robert Colville, who helped write the 2019 Conservative manifesto.Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, said it was “unconscionable in the middle of a housing crisis” to drop the mandatory target. Labour had offered to support the government, she said, meaning the rebels would have been easily defeated, but it was understood Sunak was unwilling to rely on opposition votes to pass the bill.
Nandy claimed Sunak and Gove had put “party before country” and added: “This is so weak. The prime minister and cabinet are in office but not in power.”
The Priced Out campaign, which is lobbying the government to ensure the building of more affordable homes, said it was an “incredibly worrying” development as the target was “a key tool to get the houses we need”.

LOCAL PLAN Pt 2 UPDATE
A sensible approach to Local Planning - the Inspector all-but a few minor changes passes LPP2 to be put forward to next stage. A legally compliant document for housing until 2032.
Redwood's goal for a call for additional sites ie Phase 2 IS NOT allocated in the plan.
Interesting point to note, there were no benefits of the development in the submission to the hearing (there aren't any), just a petulant attempt to degrade all the other valid developments such as the Royal (A3), fairground and Longdene in the local plan - the inspector's view not just HSRA. Savills obo Redwood statement to the hearing.

Inspectors Statement listed as stated:
Examination of the Waverley Local Plan Part 2- Read it here.
G J Fort BA PGDip LLM MCD MRTPI
An Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State
Examination Update Note 31 October 2022
After carefully considering submitted evidence, and the written and oral statements
of examination participants, the Inspector is of the view that no further main
modifications, over and above those already communicated through the hearing
sessions, are necessary in order to make the plan sound and/or legally compliant.
Accordingly, the Inspector will not be issuing a post-hearings letter. The Council is
advised to finalise the schedule of main modifications and related material ahead of
proceeding with the necessary consultation, following the processes set out in the
Inspectorate’s Procedure Guide, and taking into account the considerations set out
in the Inspector’s closing remarks at the hearings (ID-10).
G J Fort
INSPECTOR

This does show there are NO exceptional circumstance to build on the AONB pastures in south Haslemere. Redwood may consider bequeathing the land to Natural Trust, expanding the SDNP area.

A win for Democracy
Haslemere Council voted AGAINST Red Court development (27th Sept 2022).
HTC Statement: Haslemere Town Council wishes to object to this application on the following grounds:

The proposal is contrary to policy H1.3 of the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan as the development area sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, outside the Town settlement boundary. It also fails to protect or enhance the AONB contrary to policy RE3 of the Local Plan Part 1.

We trust you [Waverley BC] will take these comments into consideration.”

The secondary reason stated by Councilors was the AONB is protected and the development was not an Exceptional Circumstance (National Planning Policy Clause 177). The National Policy states that developments on AONB are restricted in this way. The road access, tree loss and water played a major role.
The Vote was 5 AGAINST : 2 FOR : 2 abstentions. The professional approach of our public speakers presented to the Council and the Council's support for the Haslemere Plan and the National Policy won the day. This now goes to Waverley for Planning at an undefined date, sometime this year. Redwood keep trying to play tactical games changing dates and numbers, apparently to no avail (so far) . The farcical community engagement was dismissed outright by the council. HSRA highlighted this in July. Their results had no relation to the actual Objections on the Waverley site.
Redwood aka Mr Collins introduced elements which did not apply to the application such as the allotments and presented items which were not really relevant to the planning application trying to divert the focus away from the 'massive great elephant in the room', basically the site is unsuitable. The councillors unanimously hit out at the affordable home component. The council stated that the house prices would require a Salary x19 on a mid-percentile wage, dropping to a eye-watering salary x13 for a new buyer (wanting affordable home), the very market the developer was aiming for in their marketing. All agreed Haslemere is an expensive place to live, so we need smaller flats and homes near the station on Brownfield sites to make affordable a reality. Strange, exactly what HSRA has proposed from the outset.
Secondly, we have no water, even Thames Water agree on that one. Redwood seem to think the limit of 49 houses applied exclusively to them. Other buildings and homes on the same circuit use the same water, so we are all going to experience this shortfall.

Updates will follow

Planning - Haslemere Town Council TUESDAY 27th September 2022
If you wish to comment on the Red Court Phase 2 Planning and protect Haslemere, please email consultation.planning@waverley.gov.uk or add comments to the Waverley portal Ref: WA/2022/01887 before Monday 26th September.

Summary of key objection points suggested by HSRA but please add you own objections.

Benefits do not outweigh the loss of AONB: The loss of AONB outweighs the any perceived benefits of the development as it will inflict significant AONB landscape harm. In landscape terms, the site is highly unsuitable for residential development as it would create an illogical new settlement boundary while harming the historic landscape pattern of the local area. The AONB is protected and the proposed development is not an Exceptional Circumstance (National Planning Policy Clause 177). No normal housing development is an exceptional circumstance. The National Policy states that developments on AONB are restricted in this way.

Water Supply. Thames Water has issued statement that the water system is at capacity. The town on the Blackdown / Sturt pumping station circuit is now in serious danger of shortages, supply low pressure and shut down. This includes Haslemere Hospital.

Water run off (Flood) is visible in the Haslemere south area. The lower areas flood on a regular basis and the housing will add to this issue along with the more “tropical type” rain fall we are seeing now.

Road Access Councils as far as East Hampshire have commented on the effect on the Liphook Road which leads off the Midhurst Road at Coomers, especially with the Sturt Farm housing. Not only will the increase in vehicular traffic impact existing users, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, especially children, will be affected and put in danger. The layout of a short right feed on an undulating bend is of poor design and unlikely to gain SCC approval. Sadly, the developer seems happy to fell all the canopy along sunken sands southern entrance corridor.

Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan: The developer oversteps the Neighbourhood Plan rejecting key points such as the boundary of urban to Rural (Settlement Boundary); damage to trees, woodland and hedgerows; loss of Dark skies; loss of Green Spaces and loss of biodiversity. The key fault in this specific application the intent is to prioritise building on brownfield sites before Greenfield sites which is supported by the national plan which states Great weight should be given to conserving Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty which have the highest status of protection.

Other Cases: The local application at Longdene (visible from the proposed site) was under application WA/2016/1226, and was initially rejected by WBC and subsequently the subject of an exhaustive series of appeals by the applicant. An application to appeal to the Supreme Court having been refused in February 2022, the decision of the Court of Appeal finding against Monkshill (the Developer) is now the final decision on this issue. It clearly finds that developments that do not conserve and enhance the landscape and scenic beauty in an AONB can be refused planning permission on those grounds, even where the local authority cannot demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable housing sites. While application WA/2016/1226 was for up to 29 dwellings, rather than the 130 proposed here, the new application would still clearly urbanise this AONB site and so do significant harm to the AONB. The application should be rejected on this ground alone.

Rights of Way Act:
The development on the Midhurst Road requires the removal and possible relocation of the historic and well-trodden footpath FP597 as listed in the Ramblers Association. No statutory notification has yet been requested or applied although WBC informed.

Loss of Privacy & amenity value: Although denied the site is visible from Gibbet Hill, Hindhead. The stated 10m high development will feature on a rising contour reaching 198m above Scotlands Close properties (#9 to #22) - some 17m below at 181m (as defined by Ordinance Survey). This will cause major privacy issues. The green band of Red Court is clearly visible from Hindhead and any development will scar the established tree line.

Benefits do not outweigh the loss of AONB: The loss of AONB outweighs the any perceived benefits of the development as it will inflict significant AONB landscape harm. In landscape terms, the site is highly unsuitable for residential development as it would create an illogical new settlement boundary while harming the historic landscape pattern of the local area.

Wildlife and biodiversity: The development does not safeguard the existing wildlife corridors and stepping stones established on the site. Linked to this is the Climate Change emergency declared by each of Haslemere Town Council and WBC in 2019. Haslemere Town Council declared in tandem, a Biodiversity emergency. The Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan requires the development proposals to result in a net gain for biodiversity. This is not the case here.

Hybrid - Outline planning plus a Road access onto protected AONB
The Haslemere Planning meeting is a Hybrid, but is really important to Object if Haslemere residents do not want to see the AONB in Haslemere South deleted forever. This vote passes over to Waverley for the full Council meeting in October.
The developer has selected a Hybrid application to try and wheedle their way into the AONB without raising the interest too high and gaining quality objections. The application has two parts, the main application. WA/2022/01887 on the Waverley portal for Road access, two dwellings and some community buildings. This requires a direct Objection statement on the site or by Email to consultation.planning@waverley.gov.uk

The second part is an outline planning with some matters reserved (The access), proposes an undisclosed number of buildings splattered all over the AONB - the largest development in our Town. The developer is trying school boy tactics by playing with the numbers as the Planning progresses trying to confuse. The Application for Outline Planning Permission is generally used to find out at an early stage if the Plan is rightfully rejected by Waverley. Items are:

Appearance - aspects of a building or place which affect the way it looks, including the exterior of the development
Access - covers accessibility for all routes to and within the site, as well as the way they link up to other roads and pathways outside the site
Landscape - the improvement or protection of the amenities of the site and the area and the surrounding area’
Layout - includes buildings, routes and open spaces within the development and the way they are laid out in relations to buildings and spaces outside the development
Scale - includes information on the size of the development, including the height, width and length of buildings

Within this application the mature & beautiful tree canopy into Haslemere will be removed and the footpath (registered by the Ramblers Association FP597 ) will be scrubbed or moved losing its natural character.

The lovely A286 entering Haslemere and the associated historic well trodden footpath (FP597). Both potentially doomed.

Planning Application WA/2022/01887
Available on Waverley Link
Redwood have put in a “less than obvious” planning application for cutting a new road into Midhurst Road with a 12-space car park through a historic and well-trodden footpath, which to Redwood seems just an annoyance. There are also some small buildings in the plan. Although this may seem insignificant, the implications for the protection of Haslemere are massive. By nibbling at the AONB, protected green land and gaining access from the Midhurst Road, they will have an easier time building 130 homes on beautiful protected AONB land. They play this simple application off by using a scout hut and school as pawns as they did before, offering trinkets simply to get a housing application and destroy our countryside. This is simply immoral and displays complete contempt of the local community but offered as a charitable donation – only because they cannot build on it. Please Object to this Planning Application on the Waverley site or better still by Emailing the planning officer consultation.planning@waverley.gov.uk

Had one of these??
Now is the time to return your views on flattening our local AONB for an out-of-town developer to profit from our loss.
Please completed by Monday 15th August 2022

Warning: Many questions on the card cannot be answered without giving support for the damage. For instance, ‘support for affordable housing’ is an OK statement, however by answering the question as written means you support even more building on Red Court site, not so-called affordable housing. It is unlikely any house on this land could be purchased by any key worker on an average wage. If a house was reduced to say £425,000 (based on Redwood data in Phase 1) a new family would need a salary of £140K – I don’t know many key workers earning affordable housing pay.
ACTION
If you want the proposal to be refused, please make your comments known. For everyone's protection against the distorted falsehoods being portrayed (see item below), please copy and Email your comments to haslemeresouthra@gmail.com and please also copy your local Haslemere-South Councillors (see opposite). If comments have already been submitted, simply resubmit an updated version to Redwood and copy H SRA.

Many thanks for your continued support to protect Haslemere. You can see the government’s major housing damage inflicted in local areas by just driving to Gatwick via any route. Please help prevent this carnage & destruction to our lovely local Town, Haslemere.

Red Court Phase 2 Marketing Stand
The Red Court developer had a marketing stand on Haslemere High Street on the 28th of July 2022 outside Boots. The people attending the stand were apparently giving out false information. This was not just 'a misunderstanding' as the statements were reiterated to confirm the facts as many Haslemere residents are aware of the incredulous statements being dealt them in Phase 1.

1) When questioned on the status of the area, a resident reported that they were categorically informed only the bottom part of the area was protected land.

Other Resident's Comment: The whole of Phase 2 is on an area of outstanding natural beauty(AONB) and is therefore protected green field land is adjacent to the South Downs National Park. There are brownfield sites so leave the AONB alone.

2) A resident questioned the Forest School requirement. She pursued the validity of the statements, then revealed she had links to the school and the area would not be required nor would it be used due to the distance.

Other Resident's Comment: This was a green wash statement two years ago as reported in the Herald. This may be a false representation.

3) It was suggested to a resident that both Haslemere town council and Waverley Borough Council had already sanctioned this as a planning site.

Other Resident's Comment: Phase 2 on the AONB land is not allocated in the draft Local Plan part 2 (with the inspector now) and should be excluded from planning under the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan as it is on AONB land (an area of outstanding natural beauty) and it outside the defined Haslemere Settlement Boundary. Haslemere has its housing allocation as defined on the consultation closing remarks ( Decision pending).

4) Many people have commented on the very biased questionnaire being given out.

Other Resident's Comment: This was also a trait Redwood used on Phase 1 with unanswerable questions.

HSRA state - When the for/against figures in Phase 1 were provided to the Council, Redwood responses were vastly different to the ones received by HSRA (most people copied their comments to the HSRA website haslemeresouthra@gmail.com ) – Please feel free to copy your comments to the HSRA again.

5) Multiple residents’ commented on the water situation and that Thames Water were delivering tens of thousands of litres every day which is unsustainable. This was greeted with a pathetic politician’s response.

Other Resident's Comment: TW know this is an issue even when Phase 1 was raised. They simply stated a £55M investment to resolve the issue. This is 10 years in the future and even then, does not stretch to Haslemere. They suggested “smart meters” which we all know change water use culture for about 6months, then everyone reverts to their needs not their dictated usage. (HSRA state, see opposite)

Another Resident could not even comment on sewage, so looked to Redwood for a response as they are generating a lot of it at the moment.

- Genuine statements from Haslemere residents 28/7/22)....

Closing Remarks: Local Plan part 2 22 July 2022
Last week saw the Inspections review close for the Local Plan for Waverley, including Haslemere. The main strategy from the selection of Developers' Legal teams was to derail the whole Local Plan purely to get their sites allocated. No true evidence of their plans were really proposed just a series of pedantic comments on "why not?" with no positive statements at all. Redwood legal team seem to think Haslemere's only hope for green nature to survive is to totally obliterate a further lovely green AONB field so they can offer a pathetic SANG - Why not leave the AONB field as it is then a SANG (which is the same land previous offered as a SANG for the last destructive proposed mess, by the way) won't be required. Acting as petulant children and stamping feet that the Plan is rubbish so an out of town developer can make more profit is a bit anti-green field behavior.
Over 6 days not one benefit was provided for concreting over AONB.

up to 14 July 2022
Many residents have received a Phase 2 pack from Redwood and asking is this "just gloss" and how real is it.
The question raised so far

The questions in the survey are loaded and biased. For instance, "do you support affordable homes"? Well, the answer could be "I support", but an affordable home (Average £249,845 -Halifax 7/7/22) will not be on the Phase 1 or Phase 2 plan and therefore the question cannot be answered in terms of the Phase 2 plan. This methodology (biased / loaded questions is a poor practice in any survey) makes a mockery of the questionnaire. This is repeated in 11 of the questions.
Are the Scout and the School really getting free land? This was a subject of "Green Wash" (Herald June 2019) when many residents disagreed that a developer was using children as pawns in a game of profit. It was described as ‘vile’ and Mr Cox withdrew the actual children on an open day when the horror he was inducing was realised.
If gateways, public spaces and community green spaces are going to be available, why is this not already in place? One resident stated this is all profit, the land offered on the ridge and south side could never be built on, so just give it away. There is nothing on offer here.
Surely the protection of AONB outside the Settlement Boundary outweighs the need for housing? The Phase 1 was awarded on a technicality of housing numbers which is being addressed every month, so housing in the wrong place (AONB) is not beneficial to anyone. It is essential our valuable green spaces are persevered not just build on with a small green patch offered as a token gesture. Phase 2 is all on sacrosanct AONB land bordering the South Downs National Park.
A comment today sent to HSRA asked about Water, not just the supply which there is no evidence that Thames can provide the supply, but also the sewage water including the recently raised run-off from roofs being put back on surface and not through drains as this is causing major issues. Scotland Lane floods at Midhurst Road every year without fail. This plan will exacerbate this flooding. A second point she raised was the prevention of housing builds in nearby Horsham due to the extraction of water from nearby areas to build the houses causing drought fields. This would apply to Haslemere as well.
Many residents are not filling the questionnaire but writing direct to Waverley to oppose the phase 2 plan as the questionnaire is too biased. Some suggest just fill in additional comments opposing the plan as destruction of AONB. Items such as working from home and energy efficient ( a fixed Building specification now) are just normal building requirements, so a bit superfluous as questions.

Additionally, the Redwood prospectus states the proposed Phase 2 housing will be screened, which is an interesting statement as the land rises sharply from Scotlands Close so new houses would always be visible (also from a distance at Hindhead by the way!) . Secondly ‘the screen’ is a set of non-indigenous invasive weeds such a leylandii and laurel. This weed-patch is protected by a double 2m wire fence (a pen) which has trapped seven (7) roe deer to date and is a contentious and dangerous construction by Mr Cox blocking pensioners view of open spaces. Glossy brochure – Matt-black is more accurate.
... ...but what do we know? we only live here, unlike the profiteers, the developer, the designers or the proposed builders.

HSRA has seen another climb in Readers -
Welcome new Objectors.

Any Phase 1information such as injured deer, green wash to the press
and previous destruction can be found in the Archive section

HSRA publish statements from local residents from time to time and naturally these are direct concerns of the local residents, many who are professionals in their respective sectors, not just HSRA. As stated (in footnote) since the website was put up to protect the local environment and green spaces, HSRA issue statements which, where practical, have been in the public domain through local media sites, the local paper, local council meetings and 'social media'. When something controversial appears from local residents it is noted and stated. These are not HSRA derived statements where tagged as such. Where possible HSRA write to the respective Councils / professional bodies to verify the facts which was completed in this case and the outcome was confirmed in writing.

HSRA has removed a recent statement following a solicitors letter (addressed to the wrong person) within 7 days of receipt.

HSRA strive only to put up facts, verified elsewhere and do not engage in "false statements" but personal opinions will be redacted.

1 November
HSRA published the residents' association objection to help preserve AONB, wildlife and retain the mental health of the community and maintain our legacy to our children & Grandchildren.

16 October 2022
Copy of Letter issued to Haslemere residents and the associated community letters that initiated it. Se below:

Dear HSRA Members
I wrote to you before the Town Council met to consider what action to take over trumped up charges against two Haslemere South Ward councillors, Nikki Barton and Kirsten Ellis.  I am totally shocked and extremely angry at the outcome of the council’s so-called process.  The decision to bar Nikki Barton from any meetings of the Planning Committee and any meetings related to the Neighbourhood Plan is outrageous and was orchestrated by a collection of Conservative councillors who have spent the last three years supporting the development of large housing estates on protected countryside at Red Court and Longdene.
What is worse, is that the Mayor and a group of councillors seem to have succumbed to the bullying pressure by the developer and, in turn, decided to bully our local councillors, seeking to apply the most disproportionate sanctions on them.  The so-called breaches seemed inadvertent given the unclear rules to do with registration of memberships of organisations like HSRA and the National Trust that are not political parties but include in their activities the desire to help protect the countryside – how many other councillors have fallen short of these technical requirements?  At least one of the councillors: our own ward’s Simon Dear who called for the ban, but had himself failed to register his own financial interests for several years, a much worse breach to be honest. You may have seen in the Haslemere Herald’s letter page over the past couple of weeks (copies of letters attached) the outrage of several members of the public at the way the council has conducted itself on this.  I asked Councillor Barton for her view of the situation and this is what she said:

“First of all, let me say that if I failed to register my membership of HSRA and the National Trust, it was totally inadvertent.  To be honest, the rules were not clear and the meeting where the issue arose was not a planning meeting about Red Court, but a meeting on the whole town’s Neighbourhood Plan where nobody declared any interests. However, what is incredible is how my independent approach to standing up for the community has been a red rag to a bull.  Neither the property developer nor an influential group of Conservative councillors could help themselves coming after me in what might even have been a coordinated two-pronged attack so that their plans to build houses (or to allow them to be built) on protected countryside at Red Court and at Longdene could happen.
.
Just to be clear, the developer has successfully got Waverley, as the planning authority, to spend thousands on a three year investigation culminating in removing me from the meeting to consider their plans to build 200 houses on ALGV and AONB – does that sound the right outcome for being a member of HSRA at the time, something I never hid?!
I have always maintained my independence.  So of course in 2018 I rejected the developer’s cynical attempts (including an offer of land) to try and persuade me as a councillor to promote his housing estate plans.  I have no idea what he did to persuade two Conservative councillors to move the Settlement Boundary before he bought the land at Red Court; nor what he did to persuade our own Haslemere South councillor Simon Dear to repeatedly back his plans, ignoring over 530 public objections (most from Haslemere residents); nor what he did to persuade 2 other Haslemere residents to join him in harassing me and complaining against me when I voted for a Neighbourhood Plan that kept the Settlement Boundary where it was; nor what he did to persuade two councillors and the Mayor to convene an Extraordinary Council Meeting in order to ban me from Planning Committee meetings the day before the Planning Committee was due to review plans to increase the Red Court scheme to nearly 200 houses.

Whatever the outcome of the pending judicial review of the decision to ban me from the Planning Committee (which was taken with total disregard for the council’s own procedures), I am keen that my local constituents understand obvious concerns surrounding the developer who is currently applying to extend his plans for up to 200 houses on protected countryside from Red Court to the Midhurst Road.  This is a developer who apparently will stop at nothing in order to push through his plans.  Since the beginning of the vexatious complaint brought against me, which was made by the developer’s lawyers, he has been trying everything he can.  His property agents tried to use the complaint as an argument for their planning appeal last year.  His lawyers even wrote threatening legal letters to the council before the Extraordinary Council Meeting and the next day’s Planning Committee… all designed purely and simply to exclude me and Councillor Ellis from being in the room when his planning application was due to be considered.  That the council has countenanced this type of intervention in the proper functioning of the democratic bodies set up to represent you the constituents, is gravely worrying.”

If you are as outraged by this as I am, then I strongly urge you to write to object to the expansion plans of the developer, Redwood (South West) Ltd, to build another ~150 houses on top of the 50 already approved at Red court.

Go to Waverley WA/2022/01887.  Your objections need to be submitted by October 30th.

Letters 1. Farzana Aslam 2. Peter Aucamp 3. Nigel Pyke
Copyright © 2022 Haslemere South RA, All rights reserved.

September 2022
As Chair of HRSA, I wanted to let you know that our 2 Independent Town Councillors Cllr Nikki Barton and Cllr Kirsten Ellis have unfortunately had to resign from their HSRA memberships in order to represent us.

We are extremely grateful to them both for their continued keen interest and support for us, their Haslemere South ward constituents on a wide range of issues.
I have been shocked as HSRA Chair to learn that they have endured nearly 3 years of a WBC investigation- instigated and driven led by the Red Court developers legal team based in Bristol- on the most minor of issues- that when they voted in favour of the town-wide Neighbourhood Plan in November 2019 they did not declare their membership of HSRA, or leave the room. None of the other 16 councillors declared any interest, no other councillor left the room, Cllr Barton and Ellis had no financial/pecuniary interest and it was NOT a planning meeting.
The investigation that has scandalously cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds, recently found that both Cllr Barton and Cllr Ellis had no financial, pecuniary interest of any kind, the only finding was the minor technical breach of not declaring their HSRA membership.
You may be interested to know that an Extraordinary General Meeting has been rushed through for this Monday, Sept 26th 7pm, Town Hall to decide the sanctions/punishment for Cllrs Barton and Cllr Ellis. I am most concerned that some town councillors, who inexplicably have voted in support of the Red Court development may use the EGM to try to remove both of our Independent councillors from the Planning Committee so they are unable to vote on the issue.
Removing both councillor representatives from this committee would be totally disproportionate given the minor technical breach they are accused of.
More importantly their removal would disenfranchise us all- we voted for these councillors to represent us objectively and fairly.
The timing is extraordinary- after 30 months of investigation, the EGM sanctions meeting has been called for next Monday, Sept 26th 7pm in the town hall- the day before the Haslemere Town Council Planning Committee will meet to discuss the Scotland Park Phase planning application- 130 homes on AONB land, including an access road on the Midhurst Road before the Coomers exit with the removal of the avenue of mature trees along the footpath.
Please do attend either/both of these meetings (7pm Town Hall) if you can to support our councillors and observe how our town council votes on the Scotland Park planning application.

And please submit your objections to the Scotland Park phase 2 planning application by the deadline of next Wednesday- Sept 28th. All information on HSRA protecting Green Spaces

Find the full press statements provided by Cllr Barton and Cllr Ellis to the Herald.

Article sent to Haslemere Herald (pub 8 Sept 2022)
Residents raise Red Court concerns: HASLEMERE South Residents' Association (HSRA) is calling on town residents to object to the latest plans at the Red Court site. A hybrid application has been submitted to Waverley planners consisting of an outline application for up to 130 homes and a full application for two dwellings. HSRA general secretary Howard Brown said: "Next Thursday, September 15 a decision of key importance to our community will be discussed at the Haslemere Town Council planning committee at 7pm when it will review the next Red Court development. "The green land around South Haslemere is under threat again as the Red Court developer tries to concrete over even more of our beautiful countryside. The second phase of the Red Court scheme wants to build a large development of more than 130 homes and associated major access roads on an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), further destroying the very special nature of our town with its ring of protected countryside. "This protected area lies outside Haslemere's Neighbourhood Plan settlement boundary and lies within the Surrey Hills AONB, borders the South Downs National Park and overlooks the National Trust Blackdown Hills and should be protected by national AONB policy. It is vital that all Haslemere residents who wish to protect our green spaces make their objections known to Waverley Borough Council via its website and these comments should also be copied to your local Haslemere town councillor. "We all need housing and many need affordable housing but it is important the house prices are in reach of the key-worker salaries available around Haslemere. "The Red Court site is not the correct location or price band. Visit https://planning360.waverley. gov.uk:4443/planning and search for WA/2022/01887 to view the plans.

Some consultation OBJECTIONS

“Residents urge Haslemere Town Councillors to back their adopted Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan to stay in council, which would reject the development.”
“The literature sent out to residents is misleading, biased and untrue”.
“The team outside Boots stated only the land adjacent to Bell Vale Lane was AONB.”
“Do we want Haslemere to be enveloped by the Gatwick sprawl?”
“this will decimate the biodiversity of the area and truly ruin Haslemere's appeal.”

plus many on common themes...

WATER - AGAIN
Wednesday 13 July 15 July & 23 July Thames Water texted residents on water supplies and water tankers appeared again in Haslemere - How can building houses resolve this problem? Someone in authority needs to take a real look at this situation. It's a Human right to have water in this Town.

All too familiar sight in Haslemere. Fleet of Tankers

Comments added onto Local Notice Boards
(not under HSRA Control & added in verbatim)
"It's clear they are planning a major PR push. They've already had one meeting with the Haslemere town councillors, and want to invite cllrs for a site visit - conducted by a lady from their PR agency. Of course they are presenting a positive spin on their plans. There is another side though."

"The main objection, raised by cllrs from ALL parties, is that this is AONB land, which is supposed to be protected. Even their representative presenting the planning aspects acknowledged the problem - but gave no answer. A second issue will be the price of the homes. They boast they will provide a high proportion of "affordable" homes: but a discount on a sky high price will still be sky high, not genuinely affordable. When I asked about pricing, once again there was no answer."

All HTC Councillor's Emails - just click here Current as of 1st September 2022
jacquie.keen@haslemeretc.org
nikki.barton@haslemeretc.org
simon.dear@haslemeretc.org
david.dullaway@haslemeretc.org
kirsten.ellis@haslemeretc.org
terry.weldon@haslemeretc.org
peter.nicholson@haslemeretc.org
jean.arrick@haslemeretc.org
gary.lloyd@haslemeretc.org
claire.matthes@haslemeretc.org
isabelle.cole@haslemeretc.org
melanie.odell@haslemeretc.org
jerome.davidson@haslemeretc.org
brigitte.hewett@haslemeretc.org
john.robini@haslemeretc.org
david.round@haslemeretc.org
geoffrey.whitby@haslemeretc.org
conrad.waters@haslemeretc.org

30 June 2022
Redwood has issued their plans to residents outlining the damage they will inflict on the AONB green spaces at Red Court which are outside the Settlement Boundary. We believe they are trying to get Phase 2 (basically another set of housing) into the Local Plan as an allocated site. For those unfamiliar with this approach, basically allocated sites give an easier route to planning. see Waverley message below. The Phase 2 plan is not currently in the Draft Local Plan part 2 and it should not be as it works against the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan. The Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan was 'made' (adopted) on 12 November 2021 and is now used to help determine applications for development in Haslemere
Drawing attention to policy H1.3: Development outside the settlement boundaries will be strictly controlled. Development proposals in such locations will only be supported which otherwise conform with national and local planning policies.
.
Waverley Notice
"Draft Part 2 of the Waverley Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for examination on 22 December 2022.
The Examination Hearings are due to take place between 12 and 15 July and again between 18 and 21 July, as per the provisional programme attached. These are public meetings and may include hybrid in person/remote sessions (please see attached guidance note).

All WBC’s responses to the Inspector’s Matters, Issues and Questions (dated 17 June 202) can be found under the ‘View Waverley Borough Council’s examination documents’ tab, at the link below.
Local Plan Part 2 Examination | Local plan | Planning strategies and policies | Planning and building | Services | Waverley Borough Council
Any questions, please direct these to planning.policy@waverley.gov.uk in the first instance."

Read the full Plan

The area listed as Phase 2 is AONB and outside the Settlement Boundary - basically eradicating the beautiful ridge in the center of the picture.

The plan can be overlaid (removing all the wildlife first) on the green spaces map above. It is against HSRA policy to cover any green spaces, so please do this manually.

Please Note: Comments to your MP , Jeremy Hunt MP .

1st February 2022: The Planning Inspector has upheld the Appel and allowed 50 homes on the Red court Fields.
There are no winners in the approval for planning at Red Court. Everyone loses. We are apparently in a climate emergency, but the rare green spaces are to be concreted over; mature trees are to be felled, and resident wildlife slaughtered or displaced; the biggest loss being to Haslemere and the Haslemere community. Even the Inspector raises these points. The UK’s planning system is clearly broken as here we are with a valuable landscape with biodiversity and character, for an Inspector to simply discard all these attributes for an apparently low housing number which will be levelled by other Waverley sites in a comparatively short space of time.
Our valuable green area will soon be lost forever as a direct outcome of the government's planning policy. What other green parts of the borough will endure soulless housing estates already seen in Cranleigh and Farnham?
All the objection parties, from Waverley, Rule 6, down to us, the 550 local residents, are stunned by this swift outcome allowing such a development to take place on valuable and diminishing green land. Haslemere will never be the same.

Thank you for all your support over the last 3 years - we tried our best to preserve South Haslemere for you, but the developers and profiteers have other plans.

9 January 2022: As you are aware, the appeal hearing started before Christmas and extended to two days until the 7th January. Over the 7 days of evidence and cross-examination, both the WBC and the Haslemere Alliance were able to present landscape and planning arguments in great detail to the Inspector. Feedback has been received that the Alliance’s experts in both landscape and planning matters made particularly significant and high quality additions to the case submitted by Waverley. In addition, a range of individuals on a number of direct personal statements during the Inquiry which provided important evidence on ecology, amenity and highways safety (topics which the Alliance did not address in detail so as not to risk costs being awarded against us).
The toughest part of the proceedings was the roundtable on housing supply. It seems likely that the Inspector will insist on some reductions in the 5.2 year supply identified by Waverley. How significant those reductions are will directly influence the weight given to the developer’s housing numbers in the appeal. However, even if the supply dips under 5 years, it is still our hope that the Inspector will decide that, on the tilted balance, harm from the application will outweigh the proposed benefits. Of course, as you know, the further below the target of 5 years the supply actually is, the greater the risk of the appeal being allowed.
Lastly, the Inspector will be visiting the site, including approach roads and the Valewood area to the south, on Monday 10th January and Tuesday 11th January this coming week. She will have access to some gardens which will be overlooked by the site as well but no comment or interaction is permitted.

Fingers Crossed & Thank you to all for your support & contributions to date. We are still an amount away from the target so any late donations would be gratefully received.
Please watch this space for updates as they happen.

Appeal Extension Day 7 - Thursday, 6 January 2022 - 9:30am to 5pm
We have made no positive or negative opinion on this, as that is the opinion of the Planning Inspector

Round table session on conditions and obligation
Closing submissions
Costs (if any)
Site visit arrangements (Provisional date - Tues 11 Jan 22 tbc)

A new day added: Day 8 - Friday, 7 January 2022 - 9:30am to 5pm

The inquiry live stream will be available to view on the Council's YouTube channel: WaverleyBorough - YouTube.

Rundown of Day One of Appeal. (Thursday 16th)
We have made no positive or negative opinion on this, as that is the opinion of the Planning Inspector

Thursday, Day one gave opening from the Appellant (Redwood) and from the defendant (Waverley) and our Rule6 consortium.
The residents and Community provided the local view:

The highways & loss of verges
The parking and loss of parking permit
The virtual pavement
Loss of verges and landscape
The wildlife
Loss of privacy & proximity to Scotland Close
Questions over the Finance
Scotland Lane safety onto Midhurst Road
Child safety walking to the Park
Walking down Museum Hill and College Hill.

Clive Smith gave his view on the strength of the AONB
Cllr Hyman provided some aspects on policy
The initial Landscape review by Waverley was examined.
Meeting Closed at 5pm.

Appeal - Starts 16th December 2021 - This is it !!
The Red Court appeal is set to commence on Thursday 16th December, so please login below to see the residents of Haslemere either through the Rule 6 consortium or just a resident speaking at their pre allocated slot.
Copy from Waverley:
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 (As Amended)
Site: Land Coordinates 490217 132204 Scotland Lane, Haslemere
Proposed Development: The erection of a residential development including associated parking, landscaping, open space and infrastructure

Application Reference: WA/2020/1213
Planning Inspectorate Reference: APP/R3650/W/21/3280136
Planning Inspectorate Case Officer Details: Ms Alison Dyson – telephone 0303 444 5304 or email alison.dyson@planninginspectorate.gov.uk
Appellant’s name: Mr Tony Nobbs, Redwood South West Ltd

I refer to the Council’s previous correspondence and am writing to let you know that further to the Government’s Plan B instruction this will be a fully virtual inquiry hosted by the Council.
The Inquiry to determine the appeal will commence on 16th December2021 at 10.30am (rather than 10.00am) and is expected to last 6 days, the length of the inquiry will depend on how the evidence emerges. The inquiry sitting days are as follows: 16 December, 20-23 December 2021 and 6th January 2022.

The Inquiry will be a fully virtual event using zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83059168615?pwd=YzAvM250bngxMkt5ZkttVDhjVVJBZz09
Meeting ID: 830 5916 8615
Passcode: C5738c

The Appeal documents are available for viewing on the Waverley Borough Council website
https://www.waverley.gov.uk/Services/Planning-and-building/Planning-appeals-and-inquiries/Land-at-Scotland-Lane-Haslemere
Once determined the decision will be available on Waverley’s website and published on https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Red Court Appeal : December 2021
The Planning process is now focused on the Appeal commencing on 16th December. Our fund raising has produced excellent results, so Thank You to all who have helped the HSRA and the Rule 6 Legal Team to get this far as the documents are prepared to push back on this unwarranted development on Haslemere's beautiful green surround.
We still require funds, so please don't feel embarrassed to donate to help bring this home. We have a long way to go but the light is shinning at the end of the tunnel.
Thank you for your support to date.

H NP Letter

Haslemere Plan now in Place 17 Nov 21
Following the positive referendum result on 7th October 2021, Waverley Borough Council has decided to make the Haslemere Neighbourhood Development Plan 2013-
2032 (“the Plan”) under Section 38A(4); Section 38A (9) and (10) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended) and Regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).
Basically Haslemere in now in a good place.

8 November : Haslemere Town Council vote on LPP2. Now Closed
Apart from the two controversial sites, Cllr Dear proposed that all the allocations are agreed as presented in the current Waverley LPP2 Plan.
Red Court is subject of the Appeal in December so should not be an Allocation (Tick !)
The new DS06 Royal School (A3) was voted to remain but with a recommendation that the Buildings remain on the pre-build areas - ie the quality green areas remain. (Tick!)
The High Pitfold, although with a lower votes was also voted to remain.
HSRA believe this is a fair and democratic response to the housing situation. The decision will be passed to Waverley for the Friday 12 Deadline.

November 2021 Local Plan pt 2 Consultation Now Closed
Until 12th November the public can comment on the Local Plan Part 2

Waverley’s Local Plan defines the site allocations and settlement boundaries for the entire Waverley Borough and this final draft made a specific and significant change to remove the Red Court site in Scotland’s Lane in Haslemere, which as we are all aware was both controversial and rejected for planning by Haslemere Town Council and Waverley Borough Council.

.............. for details see the Local Plan Page

HSRA Support of LPP2

Comments on appeal now Closed (22 October 2021)
Written Submissions to the Planning Appeal has now closed (22 October 2021). We all now wait to see the Planning Inspectors outcome commencing late December.
The funding donations link is still open as HSRA still has loads of work to prepare. Click on Button above.....

To our inspiration, Mr Stewart Brown
"Hopefully you will be aware that the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan that we worked on for so many years has passed its referendum with almost 90% of YES votes.
This is an incredible result, in no small part due to Stewart Brown who chaired the Vision from its inception to the point at which leadership passed to Haslemere Town Council. It is with the greatest of sadness that we must inform you that Stewart passed away on Sunday 17th October, thankfully at home and surrounded by his family.
Stewart was an inspiring and dedicated man who motivated the team to continue when many would have given up. We are so very grateful for his staunch support of Haslemere Vision and the community it serves. He has left behind a legacy of community activists and we very much hope that his spirit continues to influence the way we conduct ourselves.
We are sure that you will join us in expressing sympathy to his family and friends at this difficult time."

Rule 6 Consortium Joins the Haslemere Community Together (18 Oct 2021)
We [HSRA] are pleased that all the key community groups have come together. Collectively, with Haslemere Town Council, the majority of Councillors support the Haslemere Community; that we all support the Neighbourhood Plan and the Planning Objection at Red Court. The Rule 6 members are:

• Haslemere Town Council
• CPRE - Campaign for Rural England
• Haslemere Vision
• Haslemere Society
• HSRA Haslemere South Residents Association
• HMERA Half Moon Estate Residents Association

Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan 87% Voted Yes (7 Oct 2021)
On 7th October 2021 the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan referendum took place. The Vote had 21% turnout, which is typical if not slightly higher for a Poll of this nature.
The results were:

YES 2,392 Votes
No 346 Votes

The Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan is now adopted.
However this is not the end of the story. The next piece of the jig-saw, Local Plan 2 now has to be passed which will link to the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan. HSRA will provide updates as they unfold.

Neighbourhood Plan Referendum 7 October NOW Closed
On Thursday 7th October you have the right to vote to support the adoption of the Plan.
Simple Question : Do you want Waverley Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Haslemere to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?
HSRA believe this is a solid plan, many years in the making and will provide the best outcome for Haslemere and will be supporting the plan. The answer is therefore 'YES ' from us.

Waverley Information Pack

News Release Issued by Waverley Borough Council 28 September, 2021
Waverley Borough Council’s Local Plan Part 2 Revised
Waverley Borough Council has approved a revised version of its Local Plan Part 2 – one of the key documents that sets out its vision for future development in the borough.
The plan was voted through at a Special Full Council Meeting on Wednesday (22 September) and will now be subject to consultation on some of the specific changes. Following this process, the council hopes to make its final submission to the Government for examination by Christmas.
The revisions were made following consultation on the previous draft which took place between November last year and the end of January 2021. During that consultation, 1,242 comments were received from 418 individual respondents.
A period of consultation will take place from 1 October until 12 November. The plan is available to view on the council’s website at www.waverley.gov.uk/LPP2.
Hard copies of the documents are also available at:

• Council Offices, The Burys, Godalming, GU7 1HR – by appointment only, please contact 01483 523333
• Bramley, Cranleigh, Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere libraries – see https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries for
addresses and opening times.

The new draft includes a new site at Hindhead comprising previously developed land, which, once it becomes available for development after the Royal Junior School relocates to the senior school in Farnham Lane, planning officers believe will be able to deliver a substantial number of new homes within the plan period to help in meeting identified housing needs for the area. Another site that has been identified as having additional capacity for housing is the Old Grove, High Pitfold, Hindhead.
Council leader Cllr Paul Follows said: “We are pleased to be able to take this plan forward now that the addition of these two sites will mean that Haslemere will be able to meet the required number of new houses without the need to include the Red Court greenfield site in Scotland Lane, which had been unpopular locally and was the subject of a recent planning application that was refused permission predominantly on the grounds of landscape harm.”

Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Services, Councillor Andy McLeod, said: “In approving the revisions to the plan it is recognised that we have been able to identify extra capacity at one site proposed under the previous public consultation, along with a new site utilising previously developed land that will deliver in accordance with our objectively assessed housing needs. Both of these are appropriate and sustainable. Once adopted, LPP2 will bring in a new suite of development management policies for determining planning applications that will replace the outdated policies previously adopted in the 2002 Local Plan and will strengthen our ability to insist upon more sustainable development.”
ends

For further information contact:
Tel: 01483 523296
Web : www.waverley.gov.uk
Email: communications@waverley.gov.uk
Chris Hutchings
Communications and Engagement Officer
Waverley Borough Council
Landline: 01483527149
Email: chris.hutchings@waverley.gov.uk

24 September 2021: Local Plan Vote (Waverley) - Red Court is no longer an Allocated Site.
The LPP2 was discussed at a Special Full Council at Waverley on Thursday 24th September. Although opposed by some Conservative Councillors who dominated the meeting, the final verdict was 38 FOR the Local Plan (with Red Court removed); 4 AGAINST & 1 ABSTENTION - 88% majority. Strangely our Mayor Cllr Dear was not in attendance for such a critical vote. LPP2 now has to go to the PI for completion by year end - coinciding with the Appeal for the Planning Application.
You can see the whole event on YouTube

Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan Referendum
Hopefully residents of Haslemere have received their Poll Cards for the Neighbourhood Plan Poll on Thursday 7th October 2021.
It is extremely important for the community to vote in the referendum to adopt the Neighbourhood Plan.
As you know, HSRA supports the proposed Neighbourhood Plan which provides for appropriate policies to protect our special countryside surrounding the town. The Neighbourhood Plan needs to be voted in by the town referendum in order to be effective in influencing future planning and development decisions.

Herald article 9 Sep 21. LPP2

Local Plan Part 2
The LPP2 consultation is posted today - 9th September for the consultation to start on 6th October 2021.
Everyone who supports Haslemere as a idyllic rural town will be pleased to see Red Court is no longer an allocated site. This will raise the determination of the out of town developer to get planning at the appeal. For the full story, please buy your local Haslemere Herald.

Red Court Appeal
As predicted Redwood have requested an appeal at the refusal on building on AGLV (AONB designate land).
All the case documents are on the Waverley Planning >> Link << dated 7 September onwards.

Local Plan Referendum (2 Sept )
The Haslemere Local Plan referendum is due to commence on 7 October 2021 which will determine the future of the development Haslemere until 2032. Emails an updates will appear here.
It should also be noted that the Barons Hindhead site also has planning application pending for 38 houses. Interestingly Surrey Wildlife Trust has not objected, but it is a brownfield site. See Waverley Planning The original DS08 is listed here
As an allocated site this will not influence Red Court but will add to the completed houses number.

Waverley rejects Red Court planning application! (20 July 2021)
As many of you have heard, Waverley’s Western Planning Committee voted 7-5 (with 2 abstentions) to reject the Red Court development. Apologies for the delay in getting this email to you - we have simply been digesting this good news!
The debate can be seen on YouTube >>LINK<< It is clear that many councillors took notice of HSRA’s arguments and HSRA was mentioned a number of times, so thank you to all your efforts so far. Only one objector was permitted to speak and this was Haslemere Vision who explained the contradiction of approving the application when the Neighbourhood Plan would not favour development on that protected land.

Click to see REFUSED letter

However, former mayor and new Surrey County Councillor John Robini, along with Haslemere’s Borough Councillors Robert Knowles and Jerome Davidson, as well as Haslemere Vision’s Philippa Guest, Haslemere South Town Councillor Kirsten Ellis all contributed important statements in the meeting with reasons to reject the application.We are grateful to Farnham Residents showed solidarity with our cause wishing to protect this important ecological habitat for threatened woodland species and biodiversity even though they have historically had to turn greenfield sites over to housing themselves. It’s important to state that this decision is based on statutory requirements to conserve and enhance protected AONB and the scenic beauty of the landscape. Waverley Borough Councillors who voted against this application also commented on the importance of protecting biodiversity and habitat at Red Court.
We noted that Haslemere South's Ward councillor Simon Dear (our current mayor) spoke once again in favour of the development and voted for its approval, against the wishes of his ward’s residents.
Anyone viewing the meeting may be shocked at the way the planning officers seemed committed to their recommendation to approve the application and advocate in its favour, notwithstanding the planning decision being a matter for the councillors to judge. We will be following up on this concern.
The decision was particularly focused on the impact on the surrounding AONB, which was the Court of Appeal decision reached against the developer Monkhill Ltd for their proposed development application at Longdene by Justice Holgate in January. The developer will no doubt appeal the decision but this is an important victory in the defence of our local countryside.
Waverley rejects Red Court planning application!

PLANNING MEETING. The Red Court planning is being considered on 20th July 2021.
See the HSRA Comment on this >> HSRA <<
See Agenda Items on Waverley portal.

Wildlife displacement: A normally serene Bank holiday was disrupted again with several complaints that the fields were mown while families were trying to hold BBQ and garden events to reunite after lockdown. Two things wrong, one it was a Bank Holiday -Why? Second, the displacement of wildlife. Scotlands Close saw Slow worms and field mice seeking sanctuary.

We would also ask Waverley and Councillors, even with the now quality-cut field below within the beautiful AONB tree line with multiple bird populations, why would you allow a chainsaw simply to clear this for what, Housing which an be accommodated on brownfields? Picture taken Bank Holiday Monday with a flock of birds feeding / nesting.

LATEST UPDATE Neighbourhood Plan Consultation - NOW CLOSED :
This has 199 Responses. 198 supporting the N-Plan or commenting - only 1 Objecting to every point, fighting the local community POV.
Waverley Borough Council is currently holding its public consultation on Haslemere’s Neighbourhood Plan.

The volume of responses reflecting our community’s views will really matter! This public consultation is viewed as an important barometer of public opinion. Interested parties who support Red Court being concreted over will be submitting their objections, so it is really important, especially if you wish to support the Plan, for each of us to individually submit our responses.

As you will be aware, the HSRA are very supportive of most of the policies set out in the Plan.

This is a simple process. You can submit your response itemising your key comments

consultation on the Haslemere Neighbourhood Plan is Open: See Waverley Site
by emailing your comments to: planningpolicy@waverley.gov.uk
or by writing to: Planning Policy, Planning Service, Waverley Borough Council, The Burys, GU7 1HR.

Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Regulation 16, Waverley are required to hold a public consultation for Haslemere’s Neighbourhood Plan.
It began on Friday 5 February 2021 and ends at 11.59 pm on Friday 19 March 2021.

Commentary on the Consultation and why it matters

The HSRA Submission on LPP2

Local Plan Pt 2 Consultation is Now Closed

Extract from WBC Website :
Responses
We will now process all of the responses to the consultation that we have received. Once this is complete, we will make all the responses publically available and provide a link to where you can view them.
What happens next?
The Council will decide whether to submit the Local Plan Part 2 to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for examination by an appointed Inspector.

NEWS FLASH
A new development site for 125 homes has just emerged on a brownfield site near the A3. It is an alternative site owned by The Royal School, which would keep its Farnham Lane campus.

This new site must now be considered by Waverley and should relieve all pressure on the town’s housing needs, which has been Waverley’s only reason to allocate AGLV and AONB land (including Red Court) in LPP2, and has been a central argument used by Redwood in its planning application.

Waverley has received a great many objections to its proposed allocation of development on protected greenfield land, from yourselves along with many others, including the Town Council. These will be critical in helping secure changes to LPP2.

Every letter or comment of objection counts - let’s make sure Waverley and the Planning Inspector hears our views!

Download the Information leaflet on the LPP2 Consultation

Local Plan Part 2 Consultation : Closed on Friday 29th January 2021.

Note : Anyone can respond - so all family members, friends, even outside the area, providing they have a real concern on this issue, can make their own representation.

More than ever during lockdown, we are all appreciating the beautiful countryside and environment, rich in biodiversity, that surrounds Haslemere. The proposed housing development on protected countryside in south Haslemere near Blackdown matters to everyone who values this.
The proposals at Red Court off Scotland Lane, are now at an extremely critical stage. Last October we asked you to object to the developer’s Planning Application, which generated a massive 530 objections. This was backed up by Haslemere Town Council and Statutory Bodies such as Natural England & Surrey Hills AONB. This planning objection alone is not enough to be certain of preventing development on Haslemere’s protected ring of greenfield land.
Waverley Borough Council is preparing its local development plan (LPP2) and includes Red Court for a large-scale housing development. This goes against the community’s views which are set out in the town’s own Neighbourhood Plan, approved by the Town Council. Public consultation on LPP2 is open now and this is the last chance for Haslemere residents to object and stop Waverley riding rough-shod over our Neighbourhood Plan.
Your opinion to Waverley is vital as Haslemere is the only town whose Neighbourhood Plan is not reflected in the proposed Waverley Local Plan and the Planning Inspector, who reviews LPP2 before finalisation, will take account of each of your opinions.

Key forms for Waverley
1. Waverley LPP2 Link

Download your Consultation Guidance on submitting comments here

Key points for objecting to the LPP2 site Red Court on the Local Plan
Note: Please do not copy and paste this text - please use you own interpretation which may be based on these key points.

1. Contravenes National and Local Planning Policy: NPPF requires planning permissions for development on protected countryside to be refused unless there are “exceptional circumstances” AONB/AGLV land are afforded the highest protection due to their landscape and scenic beauty In the case of Haslemere, there are no such exceptional circumstances and housing quotas is not sufficient reason and can be met elsewhere. NPPF Clause 172.

2. Natural England and Surrey Hills AONB object: These statutory bodies have objected to building on the Red Court site on environmental and ecological grounds It will have an adverse effect on the Wealden Heath and significant impact on the setting of the Surrey Hills NE also state that it will not pass Regulation 62. Waverley must adhere to this advice.

3. Contravenes our town’s Neighbourhood Plan: After years of work and consultation, as requested by WBC, the town’s residents and the Town Council created a Neighbourhood Plan that protects the countryside and keeps development inside the current Settlement Boundary or on brownfield sites Waverley’s Local Plan contradicts these priorities by promoted the Red Court site This is against NPPF Clause 50.

4. Allocation of Brownfield Sites first: Waverley has proposed the Red Court site since its inception without any valid justification other than convenience Haslemere’s required housing number 320 by 2032 can be achieved through existing sites and sensible allocation without damaging our local greenfield spaces. Waverley’s approach contravenes National Planning Policy Framework Clause 118 as it does not give preference to existing brownfield sites within the Settlement Boundary.

5. Destroys a rich and diverse Ecological Habitat: Many protected species, including migratory birds, will be displaced by this development, with significant harm to biodiversity and impacts for wider ecosystems The Council’s climate emergency pledge is to act to protect the environment Professor Tom Oliver of DEFRA’s research programme has reported to Waverley that the site falls within a 10 km 2 zone of high biodiversity with "unique importance for regional ecological networks” Species in the corridor from Hindhead to Blackdown will be permanently affected and the development will result in “substantial net biodiversity loss” For this reason alone Red Court should not be in the Local Plan This contravenes NPPF Clauses 172 174 (wildlife corridors), 175 (harm to biodiversity) 180 (mature trees).

6. Windfall sites will increase: Waverley’s predictions for new dwellings on ‘sites in the town are too low, especially given the recent trend for change from commercial to residential use in the town centre Haslemere Vision has stated that housing numbers can be met without needing development on greenfield sites outside the current Settlement Boundary and this is reflected in the Neighbourhood Plan.

7. Our Water Supply is at breaking point: The town has suffered water shortages in recent months and years. An additional large housing estate will make this worse and Thames Water has made no adequate provision for Haslemere.

8. Traffic High Safety Risk Congestion: Pedestrians using narrow lanes and more cars from this and other developments in the vicinity will increase the risk to safety of all.

9. Waverley’s Local Plan is not final: All comment from the public must be considered by Waverley under the Localism Act and passed to the Planning Inspector

Regulations 62(2) makes clear that in respect of sites which host a priority natural habitat type or priority species, social and economic reasons will not suffice to overcome a negative assessment.

Neighbourhood Plan
On Monday 30th November Haslemere Town Council held an extraordinary meeting to pass the Neighbourhood Plan to the inspector and Waverley to become part of the Local Plan pt 2 in May 2021. Naturally the key feature is the protection of our AONB land around Haslemere and keep development inside the Settlement Boundary where possible unless on existing brownfield sites. This was not a controversial decision as after 7 years of work and local consultation, most agree it was fit for purpose and further work would just produce diminishing returns. All agreed that the original version was not suitable as it did not contain the view of the local residents, hence the revision.
However, some Councillors, as is their right, tried to vote out the Reg 16 but unfortunately in a rather Dickensian manner as stated in the Haslemere Herald (3 Dec 2020 Titled “Council sexism Row” following a derogatory interruption from Cllr Dear over Cllrs Barton’s praise of the Vision Team).
Important Policy Line: The Council agreed that Policy H14.3, and the associated intent and reasoned justification wording, be amended to show a 20% net gain for biodiversity, plus any other typographical errors or non-material changes to be made by the Neighbourhood Plan Working Party prior to Regulation 15 submission to Waverley Borough Council.
Resolution: the Neighbourhood Plan be sent to Waverley Borough Council for Regulation 16 consultation.
In favour of the resolution: Cllrs Barton, Cole, Davidson, Dullaway, Ellis, Keen, Lloyd, Nicholson, Robini, Weldon & Whitby
Against the resolution: Cllrs Dear, Isherwood, Odell and Round
Abstained: Cllr Arrick
Councillors who support their local constituents (voters) are clearly visible as recognised in the above vote.

Rebuttal on the current Planning and Development - related to Red Court.
Waverley has repeatably stated their process on the submitted planning application (WA/2020/1213) and allocation of sites for LPP2 are two sperate issues. However, the submitted planning application and the draft LPP2 (Oct 2020) appear to be merging through statements submitted by Savills (Letter on Objections 26 October 2020) and through Waverley Committee statements. Waverley is allowing the interjection of an argument which does not support or object a specific point in a planning application or site allocation which is incorrect as it sets a biased view.
Waverley simply stated that they have to build houses and statements such as “rock & hard place “ and “someone will complain wherever the houses are put” are not counter arguments to the fact that the Red Court site is an AGLV / AONB under Policy RE 3 site and the development will damage the decades of established biodiversity as stated by Prof Tom Oliver, HSRA and two Waverley Councillors. The requirements in the NPPF clearly state they are separate issues as did the Judge Mr Justice Holgate in the Longdene Case No: CO/539/2019. South Haslemere must not be plunged into negative biodiversity for the sake of a property developer.

A fair & transparent system must be in place, not a one sided, biased approach.

News Flash: On Tuesday 6th October the Waverley Executive Committee discussed the allocations for Local Plan. Red Court is still on the list while the team work on Alternative sites.
The October meeting focused on the Housing Numbers. This can be viewed here (HSRA & HV are on in the first 30min)
In summary, we expected this to be voted through as written as Waverley appear to be fixated on publishing this document with their blind-view housing allocation. HSRA plus many others stated that alternatives are available. The 505 Objections on the Waverley Planning Portal sets a dangerous precedent by building on this strong Biodiverse land area appears to be secondary. The serious Water issue, which affects all of Haslemere was raised, but TW just state all is well. It is not. TW themselves have no plans to upgrade the water (regardless of building) for 5 years. The £55M suggested in the July Webinar when the water first went off, although muted as a saviour to Haslemere, actually stops at Shalford.

The Haslemere Town Council voted to OBJECT to the Redwood Plans to decimate the green ring around Haslemere. The site is still part of the LPP2 but this should be removed as it contravenes the Housing numbers and Biodiversity statements. HASLEMERE can meet its numbers without Red Court on AONB.

Click to see the real evidence why Red Court should not be Developed

The Postcode spread of all objections showing that the rejections are not a NIMBY cluster

Click to Download the Flyer

The developer of Red Court, Scotland Lane, Haslemere has submitted his planning application to Waverley for the first phase of 50 houses on AGLV (Area of Great Landscape Value), eradicating a large part of the town’s beautiful, protected green landscape that rings the town.
Even worse, if successful, it is clearly stated that the developer’s real plan is to build a total of 180 houses with Phase Two across large sections of southern Haslemere’s ridge of AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with a devastating impact on the neighbouring areas of National Trust Blackdown, Marley Common and the South Downs National Park.
The developer, claiming to be environmentally friendly, has already felled many trees, with hundreds more proposed to be cleared resulting in the displacement of a great many protected and endangered wildlife species. The developers themselves acknowledge that the site is currently a habitat to species including redwing and honey buzzards on the endangered Red List, as well as bats, skylarks, woodcock, hen harrier, greater spotted woodpecker, owls, dormice and slow worms.

EIGHT GOOD REASONS WHY THIS PLANNING APPLICATION MUST BE REFUSED:- Consultation now Closed
Ignores the Voice of Haslemere citizens
The developer expressly dismisses our community’s Neighbourhood Plan which prioritises protection of countryside against this type of scheme and has been approved by the Town Council after years of effort and Haslemere-wide consultation. 89% of surveyed residents did not want large developments on this category of greenfield land.

Contravenes National and Local Planning Policy
The National Planning Policy Framework as applied by Waverley requires “exceptional circumstances” to build on AGLV. The developer argues the town’s need for housing justifies this scheme, but it is not actually needed since 50 homes (including flats and affordable homes) can be provided inside the town’s settlement boundary – that’s only 5 per year over 10 years. This is consistent with our community’s Neighbourhood Plan.

Erodes Haslemere’s unique Green Circle
The development swallows up swathes of Haslemere’s surrounding countryside and damages its intrinsic character and beauty. It has a cumulative detrimental effect on the natural environment given the loss of AONB to developers at Sturt Farm.

Destroys a rich and diverse Ecological Habitat
Many protected species, including migratory birds, will be displaced by the development. There will be deliberate harm to biodiversity with knock-on impacts for wider ecosystems. The council’s climate emergency pledge is to act to protect the environment.

Sets a precedent for destroying Protected Countryside
The developer wants another 130 houses and approval of this AGLV site will open the door for further housing estates on protected countryside around Haslemere.

Our Water Supply is at breaking point
The town has suffered water shortages in recent months and years. An additional large housing estate will make this worse.

Adds to Safety Risks & Congestion on the Transport Network
Pedestrians flowing onto narrow lanes and more cars from this and other developments in the vicinity will increase risk to safety for all.

Waverley’s Local Development Plan is not final
It cannot be right that the developer’s plan should be approved on his request simply because planning officers took his site into consideration in a draft development plan (LPP2) that was withdrawn in 2018 and still has not been approved or finalised; to do so will prejudice LPP2.
Click here for the Link to the NPPF (Feb 2019)

>> Click here for help on submitting Objections <<

The Explanation

The Redwood (Southwest) Ltd development plan for Red Court is now a live Planning Application. To obtain the full document set please go to Waverley site or search Waverley WA/2020/1213). This is a major development in Haslemere’s protected green spaces which we do not believe can be completed in an acceptable way. The proposed development will have severe negative impacts on landscape, biodiversity, transport, heritage and infrastructure given the site’s location.

For really obvious reasons, the development site is designated as an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) which Waverley’s policy requires be protected on the same basis as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) for planning purposes. In addition, the site sits outside the town’s Settlement Boundary and nearly 90% of Haslemere residents surveyed by Haslemere Vision did not want large developments like this outside the Settlement Boundary. This whole area must be protected or Haslemere will lose to urbanisation a large section of its green surrounding ring made up of AGLV, AONB and National Trust countryside.

In the same way that we benefit from prior generations’ protection of Haslemere’s countryside – Robert Hunter’s vision in founding the National Trust here – so we too should continue to protect it from being destroyed in pursuit of the financial ambitions of commercial developers, their agents and investors.
HSRA calls on all town and borough councillors to reject this planning application. The Neighbourhood Plan clearly envisages development with appropriate densities inside the Settlement Boundary or on brownfield sites in order to meet Haslemere’s housing needs.

Haslemere and Waverley Councils have pledged to take action on climate change and declared an emergency to protect our natural environment – approving the destruction of our open green spaces would be a violation of that pledge and an outrage in the minds of our children and grandchildren.

Wildlife
The proposed development site has been fallow for 20 years or so and has built up many nests and roosts for all the wildlife which crosses over from the South Downs into the fields. The top field suggested as the highest density of housing actually has the highest wildlife count because it is on the crest where all the animals feel safe and can freely move about.

Species currently present on site, extracted and confirmed from the Engain report (eg17812.002) are listed below. HSRA do not dispute any of these finding but do suggest there are actually additional animals in residence and some in higher volumes.[BJ1]

Dormice (Protected)
Badgers
Slow worms (Multiple nests – Protected )
Grass snakes
All the common migratory and resident birds, too many to list
Passerines family of birds including firecrests
Bats, majority are Pipistrelles but serotines and noctules Brown long-eared bats are all present, the same as in Swan Barn.
Woodpeckers; (green plus Greater spotted woodpeckers)
Owls - Long eared, Barn & Tawny

Local residents also Report

Hedgehogs
2 family harem of Pheasants
Voles
Shrews
Toads
Green snakes
Sand Lizards

However many artificial attempts are made by a developer to keep some species present on a housing estate, the ecological value and biodiversity of this site will self-evidently be lost forever.

Red Court "Ridge" looking north from SDNP. Red Court in centre.

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