FINALISING a planning consent piecemeal for three new homes in Surrey Hills’ Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB) would be “inappropriate” objectors say.

Waverley planners granted full consent in May for a change of use for Haslemere’s Longdene House from office to residential, and outline approval to demolish existing dwellings and erect three new homes.

A reserved matters application has just been submitted to finalise the outline approval, but it only relates to two of the three houses proposed.

Longdene Action Group’s response – also copied to Surrey Hills AONB authority and Surrey Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) – states: “It is inappropriate for Waverley Borough Council (WBC) to consider these proposals on their own before it receives comparable proposals outlining the same level of plans for the site as a whole.

“There is wide agreement that the protection of the Longdene House site should be taken seriously.”

The group objected the scale of the two new houses is out of character and asks how WBC reconciles granting consent in May for new homes on the Longdene House site, following a planning appeal decision in January that rejected an earlier plan for up to 27 houses.

Surrey CPRE planning expert Dr Philippa Guest told the Herald: “This matter is indeed a cause for concern to CPRE which strongly supports the objections raised in the Longdene Action Group. CPRE will be making an independent submission.”

Haslemere Town Council planning committee agreed at its meeting last week not to object to the application.

The applicant’s design and access report supporting the plan stated: “These proposals have been designed to provide a feasible and sustainable proposition for the site’s redevelopment that would preserve the character and appearance of the Countryside beyond the Green Belt and the special character of the Surrey Hills AONB and AGLV.”