LONG-awaited plans to build 17 houses in Hambledon, including 12 affordable homes, have been submitted by English Rural Housing Association (EHRA).

ERHA bought Orchard Farm, a nine-acre site in the green belt and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 2014 after being informed by Waverley Borough Council a large residential development to include low-cost housing, might be considered under Rural Exception policies.

Since acquiring the site in Wormley Lane, ERHA has held public consultations in Hambledon in January 2015 and in March 2016, and also consulted Hambledon Parish Council to ensure the scheme is supported.

Providing more affordable homes for villagers came out as the top priority in the Parish Plan and, in 2010, a housing needs survey found 72 percent in favour of affordable housing with seven local families identified as being in housing need. Waverley currently has 1,499 households on its housing needs register. The detailed application proposes 13 houses and four bungalows, comprising three, one-bed, eight, two-bed, four, three-bed, one, four-bed, and one five-bedroom properties.

EHRA said many of the site-specific concerns raised at the consultation events had been resolved through revisions to the scheme design.

The design and access statement supporting the scheme concluded: “Overall, this detailed planning application provides an important opportunity to provide an appropriately designed housing scheme within a highly sustainable location to meet Waverley Borough Council’s housing requirements and contributes towards the locally generated housing need.

“The landscaping approach acts as an integral part of the scheme design, creating a sylvan development set within a mature setting.”