There is still no news about the public consultation regarding the Ash Ranges. In January 2020, the MoD published a “Communications Plan for the Proposed New Aldershot & District Military Lands Byelaws”, which stated that public consultation would start in April. A subsequent update said that this had been delayed, although both documents now appear to have disappeared from the web. In the meantime there is a Petition calling for there to be no reduction in public access to the ranges, which has already attracted nearly 11,500 signatures.

NAG attended this hearing 3 July; we were not able to speak as there had been no prior warning of a site in Normandy/Flexford’s being up for discussion. In any event the Inspector made clear he would not allow a detailed discussion of the sites Guildford Borough Council [GBC] had put forward in response to his challenge to find ways of bringing forward house-building in the early years of the plan period; he simply wanted to be able to assess whether or not they would be effective in helping to deliver this objective. CPRE Surrey, who were able to speak, said there would be objections, no doubt, from the communities affected should these sites be included in the final plan. GBC had very little to say about the Normandy/Flexford site and even struggled to show the Inspector a map giving its location.

On 17th July Guildford Borough Council’s Executive Committee will vote on a recommendation to confirm the Wanborough Fields Article 4 Direction. The meeting, at 7pm in the council chamber, Millmead, is open to the public as observers.

All the signs are that the executive will confirm, in which case the Article 4 will remain in force indefinitely. If they don’t confirm, it will be terminated.

As residents in Wanborough had hoped, Guildford Borough Council’s Executive Committee voted at their meeting 17 July 2018 to confirm the Wanborough Fields Article 4 Direction. Eleven Wanborough residents attended the meeting to observe the vote.

The report recommending confirmation states in clear terms the benefits of retaining the open landscape provided by Wanborough Fields.

You will have seen work beginning on the barn being redeveloped for residential use, with the wooden barn frame dismantled to make way for the proposed parking spaces, although no decision has been published on the planning application [18/P/00765]. The plan is to construct three 5-bedroom dwellings within the envelope of the present concrete and steel barn.

On 18 July 2018, GBC approved a planning application [18/P/00207] to demolish the farmhouse and outbuildings on the site to make way for the erection of four dwellings (one x one-bed, one x two-bed and two x five bedrooms) on the footprint of the existing buildings. Although beyond the current settlement boundary, the officer report highlights a sympathetic proposal that will not impact on the openness of the Green Belt as the mass and footprint of each proposed building are effectively identical to the existing structures. In addition, this is a self-build project.

Residents at The Paddocks were shocked to receive notification from Guildford Borough Council in early July 2017 of a planning application 17/P/01451 for outline permission for 25 homes on land at Little Flexford. The close date for residents' comments is 11 August 2017.

The owners of land at 140 Glaziers Lane have initiated an appeal against the refusal of the application for outline permission for the erection of 30 new houses. Residents that previously commented received a letter from Guildford Borough Council [GBC] dated 11 July 2017 informing them of the appeal. The close date for residents' comments is 8 August 2017. The PINS appeal reference is APP/Y3615/W/17/3173871, GBC reference 16/P/00649. The appeal will be determined on the basis of written representations.

Due to the hard work of Worplesdon councillors and all 345 residents across Wood Street, Normandy and Flexford who wrote to object, the planning application to turn 34 hectares of agricultural land at Russell Place Farm, Frog Grove Lane, Wood Street into Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace [SANG] was refused in the vote during the GBC Planning Committee meeting on 20 July 2016. It is likely the applicant will appeal.

While residents were focussing on their replies to the Guildford Local Plan, the architect retained by the owner of land opposite The Paddocks on the east side of Glaziers Lane and to the north of the North Downs railway line was submitting a planning application [16/P/01452]. The application is proposing 42 dwellings on land that currently falls outside the settlement boundary of Flexford and is "washed over" by the Green Belt.

Normandy and Flexford residents joined the last minute rush to submit their comments before the consultation period ended at 11.59 pm., Monday 18 July 2016. Normandy Action Group submitted its  22 page critique along with an 8 page addendum that challenged the Habitats Regulations Assessment that covers the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area [TBHSPA].

Location: Land to the north of Grassypiece Copse, Aldershot Road, Normandy, Guildford, GU3 2BE

Ref: APP/Y3615/X/15/3032668

Appeal Open Date: 21 July 2015

The owner of the land to the north of Grassypiece Copse recently submitited an appeal against the refusal by Guildford Borough Council [GBC] to grant a certificate of lawful use.  

The appeal for the development of North Wyke Farm was refused by the Planning Inspectorate in the report published 14 July 2015. Some of the inspector's observations characterised the rural nature of the Normandy settlement and placed the decision in the context of evidence from documents in the last version of the draft Local Plan. In particular, the lack of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace [SANG] within a 5 kilometre radius was a contributing factor in the inspector's decision.

Having failed to convince Guildford Borough Council planning officers of the benefits of a 29-room residential care facility on the former Duke of Normandy public house site, the same applicant has submitted a proposal for four semi-detached residencies