THE delay in deciding a planning application for Undershaw will mean the project for a special needs school will runs into tens of thousands of pounds extra – money which could have been spent on students, fitting out a new school for Stepping Stones at Hindhead.

The planning applications due to be considered by Waverley Borough Council have been deferred because English Heritage has been asked to clarify its objections to the scheme which would see the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted and extended.

In a letter to The Herald, Norman Stromsoy, Stepping Stones' interim chief executive, said delays to the scheme now mean the new school will not now open until "January 2016 at best" and at a considerable additional cost "which we can ill afford".

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.