The Surrey Hills National Landscape Board is shocked and deeply disturbedโฏat the decision by a Government Planning Inspector to approve up to 111 housesโฏon land off Midhurst Road in Haslemere,โฏwithin the Surrey Hills National Landscape designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). This decision overturns Waverley Borough Councilโs refusal of planning permission andโฏdisregardsโฏthe previous Inspectorate rulingโฏon this same application.โฏย
Kathy Atkinson, Chair of the Surrey Hills National Landscape Boardย stated.ย
โWe are not surprised that local communities and the manyย Haslemereย residents who expressed concern about this development feel let down by the Planning Inspectorate. Two Inspectors, only 16ย months apart, looked at the same application and came to completely different conclusions, despite both acknowledging the development will cause harm to the Surrey Hills. With no change in national policy on National Landscapes in the intervening period, youย can’tย help but feel concerned about major development decisions in the Surrey Hills being made by any single Planning Inspector. โฏAt best these decisionsย appear to beย inconsistent; at worst, you might call them random.โย
The Chair of Surrey Hillsย National Landscape Boardย will be writing to the Planning Inspectorate to express the Boardโs serious concernsโฏabout the way this decision was made.โฏThe process has underminedย the public’s confidence inย theย planning appeal systemย in this part of Surrey, and especially in the way decisions are made about major development applications in what is a nationally protected area.ย
The Board’s commitment to protecting the Surrey Hillsย remainsย unwavering, and they will continue to work with partners,ย communitiesโฏand public bodiesโฏto safeguard this nationally important landscape for future generations.ย