Chairman of Hindhead Together, Poul Christensen, told members: “It is intended that the Plan will be on Waverley Borough Council’s Executive agenda in May and go to the full Council in July, at which point the Concept Statement can then be used in decisions regarding planning applications for the Hindhead area.”

“It is already obvious,” he said, “that the Concept Statement generated high levels of interest amongst local people and that the overwhelming number of comments were very positive about the approach we are taking.”

“Some of the main points which came up in the discussions with the many people who have now seen the exhibition, or taken part in the various discussions with landowners and others, were that the characterful older buildings in the London Road area should be retained and that there should be a quality village feel to the design of new buildings, allowing a heart to develop for the village. Leisure activities and the natural beauty of the area were also important to people,” he said.

Suggestions from the many people who came to the workshops and exhibition included:

•       A preference for retention and restoration of the older buildings on both sides of the London Road;

•       A slight preference for mixed use throughout the area tying the two areas together to create a unified high quality space with development focused around the periphery;

•       A ‘village’ feel to the design of new buildings, so that there was only small scale, locally-focused shops, services and activities intermixed with new housing, and no new industry;

•       A desire to be rid of the urban atmosphere imposed by the traffic and to see the emergence of a heart to the village.

•       Undershaw restored to its former grandeur incorporating artifacts and exhibition material celebrating the close association with the hill-top writers; perhaps with a statue to Conan Doyle as a piece of civic art;

•       Good parking, free and convenient, in tandem with improved public transport and the promotion of non-car based movement; and

•       Quality is an absolute requirement otherwise the community will feel let down.

Stephen Mulliner, Town Mayor of Haslemere, was pleased with the unusually high degree of consensus that emerged from the public consultation. “75% of over 350 people who attended the Public Exhibition expressed their support for the principles, process and outcome of the Concept Statement. This gives it real credibility as an expression of planning policy and means that a planning application made in contravention of the principles expressed in the Statement will have little chance of success, whether before the local planners or on appeal. Instead, we all hope that the Hindhead landowners will seize the opportunity to work together to produce developments which meet their legitimate business interests, together with meeting the aspirations of local residents and the other stakeholders as expressed in the Concept Statement,” he said.

Poul Christensen added: “This, as has been said before, is a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to make major improvements in the heart of Hindhead and we have had a wonderful and very positive response from the local community. As well as this focus on the area covered by the Concept Statement, we will be working to relate this work with the opportunities in the wider area affected by the Tunnel and the related tourism and environmental issues and opportunities.”

Richard Silson, director of the Planning Cooperative who ran the Concept Statement process, said: “The exhibition was very lively and well attended and was the best we have run in terms of engagement with the local community and its usefulness in confirming the principles for the regeneration of the area.”

Issued by John Rennie on behalf of the Hindhead Together Partnership. For more information please contact John Rennie on 07976 666969, or at jrennie@dsl.pipex.com or contact the Hindhead Together co-ordinator, Caroline White, on 01428 681055