COUNCILLORS have again refused planning permission for more than 250 homes on the site of the Hogs Back Brewery’s hop garden in Tongham.

Developer Gleeson Homes’ initial application for 254 homes on a 32-acre greenfield site at Manor Farm was refused last October after councillors expressed concern over the proximity of the new homes to the busy A31 Hogs Back and A331 Blackwater Valley roads.

Gleeson has an appeal pending with the Secretary of State to overturn this decision - but at the same time submitted a revised application seeking to address councillors’ concerns.

This parallel bid was refused by Guildford Borough Council on October 4, however, amid fresh concerns about the strain the development would put on the area’s healthcare system and transport infrastructure.

And Waverley’s joint planning committee followed suit on October 11, dismissing the revised plans over concerns that Gleeson had not suitably mitigated the development’s impact on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

It gives the Hogs Back Brewery’s award-winning hop garden a further stay of execution, having been planted on a leased area of the Manor Farm site in 2014.