CHANGES to planning rules by central government were blamed by Waverley’s planning portfolio holder, Brian Adams, for the delay in producing its Local Plan to shape future development, which has left the borough open to speculative housing developments.

The council withdrew its original draft plan in October 2013, after a planning inspector objected, saying it proposed building only half the number of new houses he estimated were needed by 2031.

In July, Waverley announced a new timetable for its blueprint on where to build around 8,500 new homes in the next 16 years. It should be finalised and ready to be submitted for examination by July 2016.

Introducing a Local Plan progress report at this month’s Waverley’s executive meeting, planning portfolio holder Brian Adams said “We are proceeding with the schedule with some difficulty, mainly due to changes to rules by government. There are unknowns but at the moment we think we know where we are.”

Officers have evaluated 477 potential housing sites and rejected 670 as either too small or too far away from existing towns and villages. The council is now analysing which sites can be considered suitable and an updated strategic housing land availability assessment is due to be published shortly.

The officers’ report noted a “high level of support for a mixed use development” at Dunsfold Park in the borough council’s public consultation, which included four housing scenarios, three of which were for housing developments of 1,800, or 2,600, or 3,400 at the airfield. More than 80 per cent of those responding, supported a major residential development at Dunsfold Park.

Officers reported more work was needed to consider the implications on local infrastructure and particularly the impact on local roads if thousands of new houses were built at the airfield. Waverley has commissioned an expert report from Mott MacDonald on the potential impact on the A281 of building 1,800 new homes, but it has not been completed.

The next stage will be to consider the impacts of development scenarios on the other major transport ‘hotspots’ in the Farnham area, where ten major applications have been submitted this year for developments totalling more than 700 new homes.

Significant housing applications for the Farnham area this year that have been determined, pending, withdrawn or appealed are:

• Brightwells scheme, where work started in August to provide 239 flats on land south of East Street.

• Beavers Road hop fields: Outline plans for 120 houses approved, with a new access to Crondall Lane.

• Lower Weybourne Lane: Waverley refused plans for 140 new homes opposite TS Swiftsure in July.

• Bindon House, Monkton Lane: Decision pending on whether to allow 56 new homes.

• St George’s Road, Farnham: Outline planning permission approved for 71 new homes next to Badshot Lea recreation ground.

• Waverley Lane: Plans for 157 new homes refused by Waverley in August.

ª Little Acres Nursery, St George’s Road, Badshot Lea: Plans for 99 new homes withdrawn in September.

• Baker Oates Stables, Frensham: Plans for 45 houses refused by Waverley in January and an appeal lodged.

• Frensham Vale: Plans for 46 houses refused by Waverley in January and an appeal lodged.

• Farnham Park Hotel, Hale Road: Decision pending on whether to allow 198 houses.

Key dates in the timetable for Waverley’s delayed Local Plan are October or November, when Waverley members will approve a “preferred spatial strategy” that will identify the borough’s proposed housing target and distribution of new homes. A draft plan will then be written to incorporate the information.

The report noted that central government recognised further guidance on plan preparation was needed and also that Government had “recently advised that it will intervene where councils are too slow to put local plans in place, arranging for these to be written in consultation with local people. The timescale and detail behind these announcements is awaited.”

It concluded: “The council remains fully committed to getting a local plan in place as soon as possible. It is a challenging piece of work that depends on the completion of a number of strands of evidence.”

At the same meeting, Waverley executive agreed to recommend to full council that a special responsibility allowance of £3,100 should be paid to the chairman of the borough council’s joint planning committee, and £1,550 to the vice-chairman, following a review by the independent remuneration panel.

Executive committee chairman Haslemere ward member Robert Knowles said: “This is due to the very large change in the number of joint planning meetings. When the amount was first set it met once or twice but now meets so frequently it is a burden on the chairman and vice-chairman.”