WAVERLEY could be hit by a hefty bill for costs if a developer’s appeal against the borough council’s rejection of a plan to build up to 157 houses on three fields near Farnham is upheld.

Wates Developments Ltd went to appeal after Waverley refused the application for a major residential development in Waverley Lane, on the grounds the harmful impact on the landscape outweighed the benefits of housing.

The public inquiry in Godalming closed last Thursday and an application for full and partial costs was made by Wates’ barrister Sasha White QC in his closing speech, who claimed the borough council had acted unreasonably both by refusing the scheme and by producing “fresh and substantial evidence” that caused the inquiry to be adjourned for nearly two months.

During the adjournment in which Waverley submitted updated evidence to prove it could now show a five-year housing supply, the appeal was called in by communities Secretary of State (SoS) Sajid Javid, whose decision is expected to hinge largely on the weight given to the emerging Farnham Neighbourhood Plan.

Urging the appeal should be upheld, Mr White said: “The only impact is to landscape character which is relatively minor, particularly when one considers the lack of visual prominence that exists, the level of mitigation that can be provided and the need to use greenfield sites in the district to provide housing.

“The planning system demands actual steps are taken to address the critical need for new housing, which means in reality granting planning permissions.

“Not a planning system which just becomes a talking shop or allows third parties through strength of objection to resist developments which should happen if government planning policy is actually to mean anything.”

Calling for the appeal to be dismissed, Waverley’s barrister Wayne Beglan said: “The appeal site falls outside the settlement boundary in the adopted plan. It also falls outside the settlement boundary in the emerging local plan. It is not allocated for development in the neighbourhood plan, which instead seeks its protection on account of its sensitivity and value.

“The council’s position in relation to having a five-year housing land supply should be accepted…but if the inspector concludes there is a deficit, but not a substantial one, that can influence the weight to be attached to relevant policies for the supply of housing in the national Planning Policy Framework when put into the planning balance with the other material considerations.

A final decision will probably not be taken for at least six months.

Speaking after the inquiry closed, Farnham Society planning committee chairman David Howell said: “This is the first inquiry or hearing to take place since consultation on the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan finished. Although the Neighbourhood Plan has not been examined, which is due on Friday, November 25, the Plan will have some weight in the SoS’s decision.

“We would be very disappointed if the appeal is allowed, in the light of the amount of the time spent by everyone involved in Farnham and the importance which the government attaches to Neighbourhood Plans.

Wates Developments stated: “We remain convinced by the merit of our proposals, which include significant contributions to local schools and highway improvements as well as 63 affordable homes and a 14 acre public parkland.