HOUSEBUILDING giant Wimpey has denied it is making preparations to build homes on a field near the Surrey Institute of Art and Design.
It has also refuted claims that it has "decimated" hedgerows while restoring footpaths in the area.
This week, The Herald received a letter from four nearby residents calling themselves the North Farnham Watchers.
They say they have seen a surveyor, reputedly acting for Wimpey, "on several occasions" surveying the fields and hedgerows between SIAD and Three Stiles Road.
They write: "At the same time old species-rich hedgerows have been decimated - just when birds are nesting - and wire fences have been put up.
"These events may not be connected but we do not think that development companies send out surveyors for no reason. The prospect of a large housing estate in this area is obviously being contemplated and is very alarming.
"Anyone who has walked the footpaths in these meadows where 20 varieties of butterfly and many birds including the skylark and the yellow hammer can be seen will know what a dreadful loss this will be."
Although Iain Harris, strategic land manager for Wimpey, told The Herald his company has "an interest" in the 12 acres of land, he categorically denied any imminent building plans.
"The work that's been done has absolutely nothing to do with housing. The footpaths have became overgrown around the boundary of the site and with the county council's footpath officer we've cut them back, but well within the confines of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
"We've reopened some public footpaths because they were unwalkable and to allow the tenant to put his cattle back on the land."
Mr Harris added: "We have land all over England which we hold for a long time for development purposes. Any development is probably years away. It's certainly not imminent."