PLANNING officers have warned it will take nine months to a year to revise figures for the number of new homes that should be built in Waverley borough, following the binning last week of its long-awaited draft core strategy.

The estimate came at a "watchdog" joint overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Monday night, at which councillors agreed they were powerless to reject the updated strategic housing market assessment for the borough, which showed how off-target they had been in their aspirations.

The assessment, indicating 470 new homes should be built annually, was more than double the figure of 230 the council had clung to, despite advice to the contrary from a Government inspector.

Now the borough council is facing a deluge of critisism that the withdrawal of its core strategy leaves Waverley without an adopted local plan and powerless to resist applications for major developments that could be won on appeal, given the assessment findings and the Government push to build.

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