PLANS to build 1,800 new homes at Dunsfold Park look set to get the green light if Waverley planners support the findings of the latest Local Plan housing document, which identifies “a number of clear advantages”.

Waverley’s watchdog community overview and scrutiny committee get the first opportunity to air their views on the draft spatial strategy document on where to build 9,861 houses by 2032 in order to meet increased government targets, on Monday night.

The document has already come under fire as being premature, for spelling out the advantages of building a major residential development at the airfield before Waverley’s detailed transport assessment on the knock-on effects is completed.

Dunsfold Park is due to submit a planning application to build 1,800 houses within the next few weeks.

The “clear advantages” for Dunsfold identified in the draft spacial strategy document published on Monday, are it would maximise use of brownfield land and avoid development on greenfield sites.

Building a large settlement would provide an opportunity to create a “balanced community including jobs, homes and services” and a co-ordinated approach to providing a proper infrastructure.

Dunsfold Park is promoting the site as somewhere people could live and also work. Currently the borough’s largest employment site, the airfield was given planning consent to expand its business park last week, with six new industrial units in a move that could create up to 200 new jobs to add to the existing 700.

Waverley’s draft document states: “Given the uncertainty around the transport assessment, the potential of Dunsfold Aerodrome is it may have capacity for 1,800 homes. However, it is recognised that, subject to the outcome of the transport assessment and other evidence, delivery of 2,600 or 3,400 homes could be a longer-term opportunity.”

The document states if 1,800 houses are built by 2027, the borough will still be 1,200 short of its housing target. The options, it says, are to build more at the aerodrome, or more on greenfield sites around Farnham and Cranleigh – or a mixture of both.

“In relation to greenfield land, the most suitable locations are around Farnham and Cranleigh, as these are the largest settlements that are beyond the green belt and not significantly affected by areas of outstanding natural beauty,” the document states.

“By contrast land around Godalming and Haslemere is much more constrained by the green belt and areas of outstanding natural beauty.”

Criticising the document as “premature,” Chiddingfold Parish Council chairman Richard Hogsflesh said: “I struggle to see what ‘satisfactory’ transport assessment could find building that many houses on Dunsfold was viable short of building a tunnel underneath Bramley. It was deemed not suitable for 2,600 houses by central government in 2009 and nothing has changed – in fact, traffic has got worse since then, especially on the cross-country lane from Dunsfold to Chiddingfold.

“There is a petition currently running to get the speed limit on that road reduced to 40mph, as residents are worried about the volume and speed of traffic. Build houses on Dunsfold and the situation will deteriorate much further.”

Chiddingfold was one of seven parishes neighbouring the airfield that joined forces to commission their own traffic impact assessment into the impact on local roads of building up to 3,400 homes there.

The parish council was concerned by the findings of Surrey’s strategic transport assessment report, which concluded most of the commuter traffic heading for the A3 and the nearest rail station from the new homes would go east to Guildford through Shere and Newlands Corner, rather than heading west to the A3 through Chiddingfold, Witley, Hambledon and Milford.

The parishes’ transport report backed their concerns.

In stark contrast, pushing for 5,000 houses rather than 1,800 to be built at the airfield (see letters page), Farnham Independent borough councillor Andy MacLeod condemned the document as a “disappointing” response given that building 3,400 houses at Dunsfold Park to limit greenfield development, was the favourite choice of 80 per cent of those responding to Waverley’s 2014 consultation on where to build the thousands of houses required.

He writes: “The draft spatial strategy appears to offer a small step in the direction favoured by the public by indicating support for the scenario two option of 1,800 new dwellings at Dunsfold Aerodrome.

“However this is illusory as the strategy indicates the ‘housing need’ has now increased, over the 18-year planning period, from 8,450 (470 a year) to 9,861 (519 per annum). This is an increase of 1,411 which largely negates the effect of building 1,800 houses at Dunsfold in terms of limiting greenfield development elsewhere in the borough.

“What essentially is being offered is a variation of scenario one – the least preferred option of 80 per cent of those responding, with almost maximum greenfield development plus an additional 1,800 dwellings at Dunsfold. The proposed spatial strategy is a very poor solution to Waverley’s housing needs which would lack public support, cannot be realistically delivered and, insofar as it could be delivered, would greatly overstretch the borough’s infrastructure and services.

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“Fortunately, a solution is available, which is to include in the plan a 5,000 house garden village at Dunsfold Aerodrome. This would be deliverable as an imaginative contribution to, not just Waverley’s, but the nation’s housing shortage and, properly planned, would overcome the infrastructure and services issues.”