HISTORIC Farnham Park is set for an altogether different immediate future, as Waverley Borough Council (WBC) rubber stamped plans to thaw Farnham's freeze on planning applications. Once the preserve of deer, WBC now sees the site used by dog walkers as an alternative to the protected heathland of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA). The plan - unpopular with Farnham residents - sailed through at WBC headquarters on Tuesday night, as planning officers ensured that public caution for the scheme was "90 per cent ignored" - according to Liberal Democrat councillor Mary Hunt. "People write in with their comments and it doesn't seem to have done them any good because we are going to have this mini plan whatever, want it or not. Why is if that officials have not taken notice of these complaints?" she continued. "The representations were brought together in the report before you, showing how officers recommend that you take the representations into account, so they have been taken into account," replied planning officer Paul Hartley. Thirty eight planning applications were refused in the town over the last year due to a European dictat, imposed to protect three rare species of birds: the Dartford warbler, nightjar and woodlark. English Nature (now known as Natural England) ruled restraints on development within five kilometres of the SPA, with 80 hectares of protected heathland nestling near Sandy Hill and north of the Odiham Road. Natural England decreed that unless a developer could provide mitigation for the pressure on the species caused by increased development, then the ban would continue. WBC unveiled its "miniplan" to see Farnham Park used as mitigation in June, hoping to attract more visitors to the site, with the provision of an on-site ranger, information and interpretation at Park Lodge, pedestrian access points and car park improvements. The matter went to public consultation in August and September, and through 247 representations, they were vociferous in their opposal. On Tuesday, Mr Hartley outlined his version of the scheme. "This mini-plan is an interim strategy. Its purpose is to ensure that we can have an interim way of dealing with mitigation until such time as the full work on the delivery plan can be considered by this council. "A number of people in their representations have made the point that the mini-plan has been designed solely to enable the hospital and East Street redevelopments to go ahead. This is not so. The purpose of the mini-plan is to ensure that the adverse impacts of all residential developments on the integrity of the Thames Basin Heath as a site of international significance are properly mitigated. Tory councillor David Harmer questioned the length of "interim", and when the council would arrive at something more permanent. "I can't say how long it will be in terms of years. What I can say is that the full delivery plan is being examined in detail in terms as part of the South East plan examination in public. It could be three to five years, but I wouldn't like to be held to that," replied Mr Hartley. "Is there a finite amount of dwellings that the mini-plan can sustain in total, or is Farnham Park so big that numbers are virtually unlimited?," continued Mr Harmer. "The miniplan indicated that Farnham Park will be able to provide for the needs of the Farnham area until at least 2018. "But yes, in due course the capacity of Farnham Park to meet the mitigation needs will get filled up and we will have to find alternative sites. The need for mitigation will never stop - it will go on forever," admitted Mr Hartley.
