THE people of Farnham have voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan, setting out a community-led blueprint for development up to 2031.

A resounding 88 per cent of voters, 10,044 people, said they wanted Waverley Borough Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan to determine planning applications in the town area, with just 1,097 opposing the document’s adoption.

The turnout of 39 per cent was also far higher than the vast majority of neighbourhood plan referendums elsewhere in the UK - impressive given the Farnham blueprint holds the distinction of serving the second largest area of the 282 plans already adopted nationwide.

Farnham’s plan is the culmination of four years’ hard work on the part of Farnham Town Council, the Farnham Society and countless other groups, residents associations and individuals across the town, and provides a powerful tool to guide the long-term future of Farnham and its surrounding countryside.

It sets out where the community would like to see 124 homes built per year over the plan period, and includes strict policies dictating the style and scale of development, employment sites and the infrastructure needed to support development.

Following the outcome of the referendum, the plan must be “made” by Waverley Borough Council and adopted as planning policy within eight weeks of the referendum.

However, despite clearing its final democratic hurdle last Friday, the plan still has to overcome a High Court legal challenge in mid-June, brought forward by a consortium of developers questioning whether it meets the basic conditions of a development plan as set out by the Government.

Because of this, Waverley has agreed not to adopt the plan until the outcome of the hearing is known, at which time the borough council says it will “consider its position”.

As such, Carole Cockburn, who as leader of Farnham Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan working group has been instrumental in the plan’s development, hailed this week’s referendum result - but with caution.

She said: “This result means Farnham will be developed over the next 15 years in a way that the majority of residents, businesses and other interested parties in Farnham who have worked so hard want it to. It is Farnham’s plan written by Farnham for Farnham.

“We have to accept some development, we know that, we have to accord with national policies and Waverley’s policies. But now we can put it where we want it, and we will have some control over the design.

“That’s really the essence of this plan - it’s to give the control to us, not to the developers, which is of course why the developers are challenging it, because they don’t want us to have the control.

“It’s a shame about the judicial review, and we won’t be opening the Champagne just yet. But we’ll give it our best shot, and now it is in the hands of the lawyers.”

The Farnham Society also expressed its “delight” at the referendum result and has called on the legal challenge, as well as a number of pending appeals for housing on sites deemed inappropriate in the neighbourhood plan, to be “dismissed without delay”.

The planning watchdog said in a statement: “The plan has been prepared strictly in accordance within the legislation and examined by an independent inspector. It is time for the developers to listen to local public opinion and either build houses where the plan proposes or explore areas away from Farnham.”

David Howell, chairman of the society’s planning committee, also personally thanked everyone who supported the ‘Say Yes’ campaign for their “help, time and commitment” - including the hand-delivery of almost 12,000 leaflets in the build-up to last week’s vote.

Jeremy Hunt, Conservative parliamentary candidate for South West Surrey, said: “’I am delighted by the overwhelming support for the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan for which Carole Cockburn and the town council deserve great credit.”

And many of the town’s residents associations have also hailed the referendum result.

Zofia Lovell, chairman of the South Farnham Residents Association, said: “It was a terrific response by the community confirming their support for a neighbourhood plan which is in the best interests of Farnham and its surrounding settlements.”

Cliff Watts, chairman of the Badshot Lea Community Association, added: “Let us hope that this plan put together through open discussion, using data provided by professionally qualified consultants and involving a wide range of the local community, will be recognised at the judicial review as a good example of democracy in action and dismiss the case brought forward by a very small group of dissatisfied, commercially driven developers.”

Barry Powell, chairman of the Searle Road Residents Association, said: “Representatives of the many residents’ associations in the town have been actively involved in the preparation of the plan over the last three years in workshops and reviews of the drafts, and have a strong feeling of ownership of the plan.

“This result should send a clear message to developers that residents care strongly about how and where development should take place over the coming years.”