THE OPENING salvo has been fired ahead of a four-day public inquiry to determine the future of the former Haslemere Prep School buildings at The Heights later this month.
As previously reported, developer Twist Heights Ltd has appealed for the secretary of state to overturn Waverley Borough Council’s rejection of five separate schemes for the former school in Hill Road.
These propose demolishing the existing school buildings and replacing them with between four and 25 new homes spread across up to eight blocks of flats.
And as set out in a public notice on Page 43 of this week’s Herald, all five appeals will be heard together during a four-day inquiry, to be held remotely via Microsoft Teams from April 27.
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Ahead of this date, both the applicant and local authority have submitted their statements of case to the independent appeal inspector Owen Woodwards.
Twist Heights Ltd summarises its appeal as follows:
* The planning application represents the culmination of extensive technical, design and consultative work prior to submission, which has demonstrated there are no technical or environmental constraints to development.
* The proposals constitute sustainable development.
* Rather than the proposals failing to preserve the character of the surrounding area and having a harmful impact on the street scene of the adjacent Hill Road, the development will complement the existing built form and contribute to the established character of this part of Haslemere.
* Similarly, not only will the development maintain the existing wooded character of the site and of the Haslemere hillsides, but it will enhance it with a programme of tree retention and tree and hedgerow planting.
* The benefits of the appeal development far outweigh any perceived loss of a non-designated heritage asset.
* Notwithstanding the above, when assessed under earlier appeals, the local planning authority is not able to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.
Twist Heights’ statement of case concludes: “The reasons for refusal given by Waverley Borough Council are not justified, and a robust case will be presented to the inspector why planning permission should be granted and this appeal allowed.”
Waverley’s own statement of case has been prepared by principal planning officer Rachel Lawrence, and doubles down on the council’s position that the “appeal schemes would result in harm to the character and appearance of the area, and would result in the loss of an undesignated heritage asset”.
Ms Lawrence added: “The benefits in terms of temporary economic benefits, a modest boost to housing land supply and very limited environmental improvements, are significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the identified harm.”