Plans for Effingham Green Belt Developments Called In

Published on: 14 Mar, 2017
Updated on: 14 Mar, 2017

Aerial photograph superimposed with the site outlines for the school development and two of the three housing developments.

A planning appeal, covering three major development sites in Effingham, on green belt land, has been called in by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid.

The Berkeley Homes and Howard of Effingham School appeal hearing, which had been due to start this month, will now start on May 16 (2017) and is expected to last three weeks.

The decision to refer the application to the Secretary of State was taken following a tour of the sites by a planning inspector. The reason for the “call in” is that the appeal involves proposals for significant development in the green belt.

Effingham Lodge Farm is one of the three proposed sites facing development

Most of the hearing will take place at the council offices in Millmead, Guildford apart from two days, May 16 and 23, when it will take place at G Live.

If the appeal is successful and the building of 295 homes and a 2,000-pupil school gets the go ahead then Effingham Parish Council, that is objecting to the plans, hope that developers Berkeley Homes will make a compensation “Section 106” payment of as much as £2.5 million. The payment, if agreed, would go towards rebuilding the KGV village hall’s sporting facilities.

Map showing the position of all the outlined sites in Effingham.

At last month’s (February 2017) parish council meeting new plans for the sporting section were put on display by the hall and playing fields management committee trustees but The Guildford Dragon NEWS was not given permission to publish the artist’s impressions displayed as they were only at an early stage of development.

A decision to call in plans for another major development at Dunsfold, to the south of Guildford, in Waverley Borough, was announced earlier this month. See: Dunsfold Planning Application ‘Called In’.