Mini sports pitches approved amid traffic concerns

Plans to build two mini football pitches near Milford have been approved

Two mini sports pitches have been approved near Milford despite objections from neighbours.

The football grounds will form part of a development of 200 homes and a farm shop north-east of Milford, currently part of Hurst Farm, says the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils formally approved the scheme on 20 December after councillors agreed to it at a planning meeting in September 2023.

Neighbours claimed the scheme would make the "ancient country lane" more dangerous and damage its "rural character".

The plans include two mini football pitches with real grass, a small spectator area, 30 car parking spaces, and a toilet at the northern site of the development.

There is a lack of 7-a-side grass football pitch provision in the Godalming area, for both current and future needs, according to planning documents.

The proposed sports pitches are said to be allocated to Milford Pumas Youth Football Club, according to council documents.

Access to the playing pitches will be solely off Eashing Lane, a two-lane, single carriageway with a current speed limit of 30 mph.

Parts of the road are narrow, with no footpath or curb and no street lighting.

Surrey Highways raised no objection to the plans and was satisfied the development would not cause extra strain on the transport network.

An aerial site map of the 200-home development superimposed onto existing land

But neighbours to the site are not too pleased with the proposed pitches, fearing it would increase traffic and make the surrounding roads more dangerous.

Neil Smith said driving along the lane was already "challenging" enough, especially when "confronted" by delivery vans and lorries, making it "not appropriate to generate even more traffic on the lane".

Part of the road safety measures would include cutting back 120m of existing treed hedgerow along the western boundary of the site and replacing it with new native hedgerow.

But residents argued cutting the long-established hedgerow would put it "in danger of completely losing its character" and the "traditional rural environment will disappear forever".