A TARGET of building 519 new houses each year in Waverley in order to provide 9,862 new properties over the next 16 years has been laid out in the borough’s new draft local plan.

Published last Friday, the draft document gives the green light for a settlement of 2,600 homes at Dunsfold Aerodrome, making the outline application submitted by Dunsfold Park for 1,800 houses, due to be determined in August, effectively a ‘done deal’.

By opting to build 2,600 new homes at the airfield by 2032 in its draft Local Plan, Waverley Borough Council will need to allow 2,300 homes to be built on greenfield land.

The Lib Dems accused the Conservative-led administration this week of “ignoring the clear results” of the council’s 2014 housing Local Plan consultation, in which the overwhelming majority of those who responded – 80 per cent – backed the council’s scenario of 3,400 at the airfield to reduce the number needed on greenfield sites.

The third version of Waverley’s blueprint for future development – now nine years in the making – gets its first airing on Monday, at the council’s joint overview and scrutiny committee. Time is now of the essence as the Government has told councils to produce their Local Plans by early 2017 – or it will take them over.

Input from Waverley’s ‘watchdog’ committee on Monday will be considered by the decision-making executive at its committee meeting on Tuesday, July 12, before it is presented to full council for final approval on Tuesday, July 19.

If approved, the plan will be submitted in November for examination by a planning inspector.

WBC head of planning Elizabeth Sims said: “The focus of work on the new Local Plan has been to update the evidence of housing need, infrastructure capacity and the availability of land to develop the most appropriate strategy for the borough.

“The plan is still a draft document – however I am delighted that after years of hard work we are now in a position where we can start the democratic process.”

The draft increases the number of new homes needed each year from Waverley’s 2014 target of 470 to 519, making 9,862 rather than 8,460 by 2032.

Waverley withdrew its draft Local Plan in 2013 after the planning inspector warned its annual housing target of 270 was too low.

In the 2014 consultation over where to build 8,460 houses by 2032, it suggested four scenarios. They were:

• 1,800 houses at Dunsfold Park and 2,650 on greenfield sites;

• None at Dunsfold and 4,450 houses on greenfield;

• 3,400 Dunsfold homes and 1,200 on greenfield

• 2,600 Dunsfold houses and 1,900 on greenfield

Objecting to the draft plan, Lib Dems chairman Stewart Edge said: “Eighty per cent of those responding to Waverley’s own consultation wanted 3,400 at Dunsfold Aerodrome – but the council have proposed only 2,600 for Dunsfold.

“The Conservative-dominated council has always sought to minimise development at Dunsfold – we will be working to demonstrate, eventually to the inspector, that the plan is flawed and should be changed.”

Housing allocations for the four main settlements to be met by 2032 are:–

• 2,330 for Farnham,

• 1,240 for Godalming,

• 830 for Haslemere and

• 1,520 for Cranleigh.

Referring to the lower target for Haslemere, the draft documents stated the town was “less constrained than Godalming in terms of Green Belt, but is tightly bounded by Area of Outstanding National Beauty and Area of Great Landscape Value, which wrap around the settlement.” No changes are proposed to Haslemere’s Green Belt.

Outline plans to build 135 houses in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Sturt Farm were agreed in February 2015, after planning officers recommended consent because the “immediate need for additional housing” and “lack of alternative deliverable sites” constituted exceptional circumstances.

In the draft Local Plan, Chiddingfold will be required to build 100 houses, with 380 for Witley and Milford combined.

Land opposite Milford Golf Club has been identified as a ‘strategic site’ and allocated 180 houses.

Explaining the decsion to allocate 2,600 instead of 3,400 homes at Dunsfold, the council said: “Dunsfold Aerodrome is a rural brownfield site but is in a relatively isolated location.

“The situation since the 2009 appeal has changed considerably and the council now considers the site can be sustainably developed for a mix of uses, including up to 2,600 homes, provided the necessary supporting infrastructure is provided, including highways improvements.

“Although many people responding to the consultation supported the scenario that included 3,400 homes at the site, the council is not convinced this number of homes could be built within the plan period to 2032.

“In addition, such a strategy, even if it was deliverable, would result in a high number of homes in the eastern part of Waverley, and a less balanced strategy in terms of the wider distribution and development.”

The document also noted Surrey County Council’s concerns that Dunsfold was “not a sustainable location” for a new settlement.

Nine ‘strategic sites’ able to deliver more than 100 houses – a combined total of 4,450 by 2032 – have been listed including 550 homes in Farnham. The council suggests 40 per cent of all new homes should be affordable housing even though it cannot meet the target of 314 low-cost homes identfied in the 2015 West Surrey housing assessment.