THE former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is set to be the subject of yet another planning application from developers. Numerous proposals to adapt Undershaw, at Hindhead, to provide extra dwellings have been refused and withdrawn in the past. The new application to be put forward to Waverley Borough Council would see the historic building divided to provide four homes. The Haslemere Society has hit out at yet another set of plans for the famous building. Robert Serman, president of the society, said: "The fact that the owner, Mr Desmond Moore, now thinks that four houses will be more acceptable, (or perhaps more profitable), is a detail. "The fact is that once the house is converted into private residential units the public will no longer have access, and that would be a great pity, given its history. "We are not persuaded that the building is not viable. As a hotel it would perhaps be difficult, but there is a good market for places of character as a "restaurant with rooms". "As a country house hotel and restaurant with the Sherlock Holmes linkage, it would be a winner." Mr Serman also pointed out that the link to Sir Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes could make the site a popular tourist attraction. "The Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes connection provides this town with a world renowned location that appeals to visitors from both the UK and overseas," he told The Herald. "We must hope that the Waverley planners will show the necessary resolve to protect the house so as to safeguard our fragile and ever- diminishing heritage. "We are in touch with the Victorian Society, and hope that their pressure to have the listing elevated to Grade I is successful." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle built Undershaw on the heights of Hindhead in 1897. He hoped that its location would help to improve the health of his first wife, who suffered from tuberculosis. She died from the disease in 1906, but the famous author always maintained that the clean air of Surrey had considerably prolonged her life. It was also during his 10-year period at Undershaw that Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles. The building has been the subject of a number of planning applications in the past, which have either been withdrawn or refused by Waverley. In 2004 plans to build a detached building to provide 8 flats at the site were withdrawn, and this was followed by two applications this year to convert the hotel into 13 dwellings. The new application for four homes at Undershaw will now have to go before Haslemere Town Council's planning committee and Waverley planners. As The Herald went to press the owner of Undershaw, Desmond Moore, was unavailable to comment.
