The Surrey Hills National Landscape Board is shocked and deeply disturbed at the decision by a Government Planning Inspector to approve up to 111 houses on land off Midhurst Road in Haslemere, within the Surrey Hills National Landscape designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). This decision overturns Waverley Borough Council’s refusal of planning permission and disregards the previous Inspectorate ruling on this same application.
Kathy Atkinson, Chair of the Surrey Hills National Landscape Board stated.
“We are not surprised that local communities and the many Haslemere residents who expressed concern about this development feel let down by the Planning Inspectorate. Two Inspectors, only 16 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, you can’t help but feel concerned about major development decisions in the Surrey Hills being made by any single Planning Inspector. At best these decisions appear to be inconsistent; at worst, you might call them random.”
The Chair of Surrey Hills National Landscape Board will be writing to the Planning Inspectorate to express the Board’s serious concerns about the way this decision was made. The process has undermined the public’s confidence in the planning appeal system in this part of Surrey, and especially in the way decisions are made about major development applications in what is a nationally protected area.
The Board’s commitment to protecting the Surrey Hills remains unwavering, and they will continue to work with partners, communities and public bodies to safeguard this nationally important landscape for future generations.