PLANS to build 25 new homes on the site of Haslemere Prep School were refused by Waverley planning officers on Monday.

There were 135 objections to the scheme, which includes four affordable homes and involved demolishing all the existing school buildings, including the headmaster’s house.

Waverley Borough Council head of planing Elizabeth Sims rejected the application on the grounds the “scale, pattern and quantum” of the development would have a harmful impact on the street scene in Hill Road; that it would result in the loss of a non-designated heritage asset; and that the applicant had failed to enter into appropriate legal agreements concerning both the provision of affordable housing and infrastructure contributions.

Planning officers considered The Heights school building, which was built by town architect Herbert Hutchison in an arts and crafts style, deserved to be a non-designated heritage asset and reinforced the character of the surrounding Half Moon Estate.

The school buildings are set back and accessed via a long drive and officers believed that building new homes – mainly three storey – further forwards and in three banks of terraces on the side of the hill would be out of keeping with the street scene.

Nearby Hambledon-based company Twist Heights acquired the 2.35-acre site for £3.6million in June 2017.

Its director Guy La Costa is the father of a former pupil, who left the school ten years ago.

The closure of the school because of dwindling numbers in July 2016 – after 60 years at the centre of town life – sent shock waves through the community.

Plans for the proposed development of the site went on show as part of a public consultation in August 2018 and the application was submitted by Twist Heights in September, with further amendments in November and early January.

Haslemere Town Council backed objections to the scheme on the grounds it was over-development and out of keeping with the street scene and didn’t include enough affordable homes.

Neighbour Sheila Johnston launched an online petition Save Our Hillsides at Change.org, urging objectors to make their views known to Waverley planners.

She said: “We would like to point out the local residents are in favour of its redevelopment and recognise the need for new housing in the Haslemere area.

“However, the proposed plan has raised some real concerns, both in the short-term construction phase and for the longer-term impact on the town.”

Urging the plan be approved, the applicant’s design and access statement states: “This application is a sensitive redevelopment of a previously developed site.”

The supporting document says it will provide ‘generous’ on-site parking to ‘minimise overspill’ on to neighbouring roads and ‘much needed’ smaller homes. But planning officers, using their delegated powers, refused the scheme.