Hambledon Parish Council has given its conditional support to a planning application to build nine houses, seven of them affordable, at Orchard Farm, Wormley Lane.

At its monthly meeting on Tuesday (April 2) councillors were unanimous in agreeing its response to Waverley Borough Council which, as the local planning authority, will determine the application.

Full details can be found on the Parish Council section on this website, under the heading Legislation and Planning. http://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?page_id=166

English Rural Housing Association is seeking approval for a scheme to build seven 1, 2 and 3-bedroom properties for affordable rent or shared ownership and two open-market bungalows. Priority will be given to local people with a connection to Hambledon.

This application follows the rejection of a previous proposal to build 17 homes – 12 affordable and 5 market – on the site, which occupies land between Wormley Lane and Petworth Road.

In its response, Hambledon Parish Council stated that it continued to support the provision of affordable housing in the village and noted the reduction in the size of the proposed development, which is on land within the Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Waverley would need to determine whether the proposal satisfies the requirements for it to be considered a rural exception site.

The original scheme proposed demolishing Orchard Farmhouse and gifting land not required for the development to the Parish Council as community open space. However, the new application excludes the farmhouse, which is to be refurbished and sold on the open market. And the adjoining land will no longer be gifted to the council.

Before making its response, Hambledon Parish Council wrote to ERHA asking what its intentions were for the adjoining land. ERHA replied saying that the land will be sold, either with the farmhouse or separately, and the sale would be accompanied by “appropriate legal safeguards to ensure the land cannot be developed in the future”. Copies of these letters are also on the Parish Council section of the website.

The parish council also noted the need for drainage and surface water issues to be satisfactorily addressed.

The parish council supported the application with various provisos, and in particular that Surrey County Council commits to the required drainage work, and conditions attached to the sale of adjoining land are satisfactorily concluded between ERHA and Waverley.

Details of the application can be found here http://planning360.waverley.gov.uk/planning/search-applications?civica.query.FullTextSearch=Orchard%20Farm%20Hambledon#VIEW?RefType=GFPlanning&KeyNo=332587&KeyText=Subject

Details about the ERHA proposal can be found here https://englishrural.org.uk/developing-homes/our-projects/hambledon-surrey/