Tonight there is an important opportunity for Hambledon residents to express their views – for, against or anything in between – on the proposal to build 17 new homes, 12 designated as affordable, on land at Orchard Farm, off Wormley Lane.
The meeting has been arranged by Hambledon Parish Council so that it can hear the opinions of residents before it responds to an anticipated planning application by the English Rural Housing Association, which has bought Orchard Farm.
The ERHA presented its plans at a display at the Village Hall two weeks ago. Now is the chance to let the parish council know what you think.
As yet no planning application has been submitted and feedback from tonight’s meeting will be passed on to the ERHA before it does so.
The council will open the meeting with a briefing on Affordable Housing and on the Housing Needs Survey, currently in circulation in the village. ERHA will not be in attendance, nor will representatives of Waverley Borough Council, the planning authority.
This is a Hambledon meeting of Hambledon people and it is hoped that residents from across the village will attend. It is not a question-and-answer session; it is for your comments. However councillors will try and offer guidance and clarification if they can.
Ultimately it is not the parish council that will decide on any planning application. That will be the responsibility of Waverley Borough Council. But the parish council will be invited to comment and its comment will be informed by tonight’s meeting and any further open consultation.
The picture below shows the entrance to Orchard Farm, a former riding stables which is in the Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Photographs of the site can be found on the Photos section of this website and more information is contained in previous news stories.