Design concerns derail approved homes application

"We need to get this right because once it’s here, it’s here forever" - councillor

Plans for hundreds of homes on the outskirts of a Surrey town have been delayed.

Waverley Borough Council approved planning permission in 2023 for developer Cala Homes to build 326 homes near Farnham.

But councillors have now blocked the development over concerns about its impact on the community and details around its layout, appearance and scale.

Conservative councillor Jane Austin said: “If we are going to do this as a big development we need to get this right because once it’s here, it’s here forever."

The 11.4-hectare site, off West Street near the A31, is currently farmland and greenfield.

It is bordered by residential housing on Hazell Road to the east, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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The council expects to collect £11m from the developers for community use once the project is completed.

Primary and secondary schools are set to be expanded to deal with the influx of families.

The plans included 96 affordable homes when outline permission was granted in June 2023.

Ben Bailey speaking on behalf of the application said that from a design perspective developers were trying to “set the bar” in how it “responds to the unique character of Farnham town centre.”

“We do not seek to create any harm", he added.

Councillor Carole Cockburn said the developers needed to go back to something closer to what the council originally wanted.

She said: “We have to get it right, it's big, it's important, it's the entrance to the town and we have to protect the community.”

Ms Austin said she would be "absolutely distraught" if she had had to look at the side of a house that had been a field.