A LANDMARK beauty spot on the outskirts of Haslemere could become the next housing development site in the town, if an outline application for nearly 40 homes gets the green light from Waverley Borough Council.

But the application is likely to set alarm bells ringing for local residents fronting and backing on to Sturt Farm where the 36, two and three-storey homes for key workers are planned.

With feelings already running high, one local resident has written to The Herald this week concerned about the proposals. In his letter, Mr Shelton from Sunbrow draws attention to a number of local issues among them, traffic hazards the new development is likely to create.

"Where is the extra traffic to go, with Sturt and Kings Roads now used as rat runs, and Kings Road also used as an ever-expanding free car park with no thought to speed limits, pedestrians and people trying to leave Sicklemill estate.

"Is it not time to carry out an urgent survey into the roads and parking around Haslemere, before the area comes to a grinding halt."

Once a working farm, the development site of more than 2.5 acres is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB, and an Area of Great Landscape Value.

Another resident, Ophelia Eldrige, who lives in one of the three refurbished and listed buildings on the original farm site, is aghast at the proposals.

"If we start building in Haslemere on land in AONB, what are we going to be left with in 40 years' time? Where there is urban land, that should be used first for building."

Mrs Eldridge said she had already sent letters to 120 residents of Sunbrow, Orchard Close and Sturt Road and Avenue to alert them to the planning application and ask them to write to Waverley Borough Council if they wish to object.

All the residents from the hamlet have written about the plans which, said Mrs Eldridge, "came out of the blue" and were published the week before Christmas.

"I nearly fell over when I saw the planning application this month. We've got badgers, bats deer and wildlife here and I see no reason to start building on that land," said an angry Mrs Eldridge.

And in the belief that the quota for new homes has already been met by Waverley Borough Council, Mrs Eldridge asked: "What are key workers' homes anyway?"

She believed they were being used as an excuse to make a great deal of money from the development. Mrs Eldridge felt that there was nothing to stop the homes being sold on to anyone.

One of the last pieces of open countryside close to the town, the land is located on the south-west side of Haslemere between the A287 Sturt Road with Longdene Road to the west. Access to the new development would involve a new junction on Sturt Road, with a public footpath linking up with Longdene Road for access into the town.

The land, which is understood to be owned by a Haslemere businessman at present, includes three homes, two of which are accessed from an adjoining lane, converted from farm buildings a number of years ago. It was also the subject of a planning application some 20 years ago when Barratt Homes lost a planning appeal to build on the land.

The outline application, which was set to be discussed by Haslemere Town Council last night (Thursday), shows a mix of two and three-storey houses and apartments set in the lower part of the valley to the east of the existing homes.

The intention, explained the developer in its design statement, is to provide a mix of units from one- bedroom flats, through to four bedroom houses, with the emphasis on two-and three-bedroom units.

Landscaping is intended to enhance the existing wooded appearance of the area and provide more than an acre of public space with planted woodland.

In conclusion, the design statement said that the development "will provide much-needed essential working housing in an urban and sustainable location. It will pay respect in terms of its detailed design and landscaping to its setting and reflect the local distinctiveness."

• Haslemere town councillors were also set to debate another outline application for the erection of a building to provide 14 flats following the demolition of an existing home and garages at Wakeners Court, Hedgehog Lane, Haslemere.

The application for the housing development off Longdene Road has been submitted by the current owners of Wakeners Court.