CHIDDINGFOLD doctors have defended their plans to build a new 5,000 sq ft doctors' surgery on green belt land in the village, after letters were sent around the area, protesting against the proposals.

And they have warned if the scheme does not get the green light, it could force the doctors to look for a new site outside the village.

The new surgery is planned to be built on an almost two-acre plot of land at the top of Ridgley Road, to replace the current 40-year-old outdated and small surgery in Woodside Road.

Included in the proposals are four consulting rooms, two nurses' treatment rooms, a dispensary, room for health promotion and staff training facilities.

But an anonymous letter and maps showing the location of the proposed surgery, believed to be from a neighbour close to the plot of land, calls on villagers to object to the scheme.

"This application needs to be rejected out of hand; it breaks every single condition of the Green Belt bylaws that were introduced to protect exactly this type of land.

Similar attempts to build on the plot, said the letter had failed in the past and the writer claims "there are more central sites in Chiddingfold that could be used".

"Do not let them get away with the easy option of spoiling this lovely green pasture," the letter demands.

The letter warns that with 200,000 houses planned to be built in the South and with high-density housing applications likely to be approved, "any planning application approved on Green Belt land could have devasting repercussions".

Calling on people to write to Waverley to voice their objections, the letter said the surgery could reduce the value of surrounding homes.

Tthe doctors disagree and have branded it an unofficial document "full of glaring inaccuracies".

A spokesman for the Chiddingfold doctors - Gwen Cameron-Blackie, Darren Watts and Claire Willett - said they had been looking for a suitable site for the past six

years. "The area in Ridgley Road, opposite Woodside Road junction is the only site that is available in Chiddingfold.

"Unfortunately there are no available sites within the development area, nor are there any suitable premises for conversion. We realise the surgery site is outside of the development area and will obviously try to keep it as environmentally friendly as possible," said the spokesman.

"It is essential that we provide premises that fulfil the recommendations for disabled access and to meet the standards for a modern GP health centre."

The doctors warn: "Should this application be unsuccessful, we will reluctantly have to look outside the parish boundaries."

In an appeal to the 4,600 patients within the rural practice, which crosses the Surrey and West Sussex borders and covers 100 square miles, the doctors said: "We hope that we can rely on your support to prevent the further erosion of village amenities."

The proposed building with a total of 24 parking spaces plus two for disabled people have also been included in the plans for the site which lies within the Green Belt and in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Last week, Chiddingfold Parish Council gave the plans for the new doctors' surgery its blessing.

Chairman Graham Ball said after the meeting: "We very much agreed with it and wrote a letter of support to Waverley Borough Council. We felt that although this building was planned for Green Belt land, it was a facility that is long overdue in the village."

The application will now be discussed by Waverley planners.