Local Group of Friends of the Earth 

So much for public consutation………

In February 2012 Waverley published a draft planning brief for the site it calls Upper Tuesley and asked for public comments.  There were a number of problems with this draft  the most glaring of which was how anybody had managed to justify this isolated site which is remote from any facilities as suitable for 120 residential housing units including 40% affordable.  In addition there were factual errors about the bus services, particularly the 503, and a grossly misleading statement claiming that it is a 10 minute walk from the site to the buses on A3100 Portsmouth Road.

To be fair there has been some improvement in the final version such as the recognition that there needs to be some consideration of the safety of schoolchildren trying  to get to Rodborough School and that there is a potential traffic issue with the junction at the top of Station Lane.  However other fundamental problems with the site have been ignored.  These include access to all facilities but particularly nursery and primary schools.  Another omission is the outcome of the Surrey County Council bus review which has now been published. The mistakes about the walking distance to the bus service on Portsmouth Road persist as (quite incredibly) the document still maintains it is only a 10 minute walk from the site to the buses on Portsmouth Road.

In fact this claim of a 10 minute walk  is so blatantly misleading that we have even begun to wonder whether HCA, GL Hearn and LCA Design are reluctant to correct it because it could have other implications on the overall sustainability assessment of the site and the number of non-vehicular traffic movements.