A GOVERNMENT inspector has advised Waverley Borough Council to tear up its Core Strategy (CS) planning blueprint and start from scratch after raising serious concerns about the plan's soundness.

Inspector Michael Hetherington halted a scheduled two-week examination of the council's CS on its first day last week, and he has now written to the council calling for fundamental changes to be made to its plan.

Waverley's CS already proposes building some 1,300 homes in Farnham and the surrounding countryside over the next 15 years – a greater share (36 per cent) of the 3,614 homes proposed across Waverley than any other town in the borough.

However, in the face of growing housing demand and the sluggish construction industry, the council is under pressure to increase the number of houses built in the borough by as much as double the quantity proposed.

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