Guildford Borough Council has posted a planning application 26/P/01289 on its website from Berkeley Homes applying for 600 dwellings on Effingham Lodge Farm, Lower Road, 300 of which would be “affordable”. The plans do not include a replacement for the Howard School but do include a nursery.
The details are available here
Berkeley Homes is holding a public meeting on Thursday 22nd October at 6.30pm at King George V Hall, Browns Lane, Effingham, KT24 5ND. EFFRA recommends that as many residents as possible should attend to understand what is being proposed for our village and to give their views. A low attendance might signify lack of interest by residents to Guildford Borough Council planners.
Berkeley Homes states:
We are inviting the community to attend a public meeting to view our updated proposals. People will have the opportunity to meet the Berkeley team, find out about how proposals have evolved since consultation took place in July this year, and ask questions.
The EFFRA Committee has a number of major concerns about this application including:
- EFFRA does not believe this Green Belt land can now be classed as grey belt and available for development as claimed by Berkeley Homes. The land is a continuation of the Green Belt that restricts the outward spread of Leatherhead, Fetcham and Bookham.
- 600 extra dwellings would represent a 50% increase in the number of dwellings in Effingham. They would be concentrated on the site opposite the Howard School and accessed from an already busy and congested road. The roads in the village and other infrastructure including the Howard School cannot cope with such an increase. Public transport is poor in Effingham and the increase in vehicle traffic from this proposed development will be unsustainable.
- Effingham is a historic village with a protected Conservation Area. This development will be out of character with the village and will damage the Conservation Area which it will border.
- There are many other recent housing developments nearby including the 2,000 Wisley development. We understand that the completed developments are not fully sold and do not believe there is demand for 600 extra dwellings in Effingham.
- 300 affordable homes are inappropriate in a small village with few local jobs and poor transport links and it is contrary to Government policy which is to build them in urban areas with good infrastructure.
