Merrist Wood Golf Course
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For those who attended WPC annual event last night they will know that the recent notification about proposals for the golf course were a hot topic. I thought it useful to share below for those who didn’t make it.
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Planning – Application Summary
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24/CON/00011 | Consultation from Surrey County Council for the importation and deposit of inert materials and soils on 55 hectares of land to construct and remodel the existing golf course with associated water features and the creation of heathland and wetland habitat. | Merrist Wood Golf Club, Holly Lane, Worplesdon, Guildford, GU3 3PB
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Both the FLGCA management committee and the Worplesdon Parish Council have only become aware of this in past week or so. We, at the FLGCA, were informed at our meeting last week and have as yet not fully discussed to agree a position.
However, WPC had a meeting to which this issue was an added topic. Their discussion resulted in a decision to support the proposal – long term benefits to the environment relating to flooding mitigation and biodiversity outweigh the short-term issues of vehicle movements.
They also advised that recent traffic monitoring (Jan/Feb 2024) showed there are an average approximate 1000 commercial vehicle movements per day that use Holly Lane.
This suggest, to me, that there will be an approximate 30% increase (141 * 2 – something to be clarified).
Normandy PC have objected based on traffic movements and lack of pedestrian crossing for students. You can see other commentary on the SCC website.
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There has been lots of debate on the maths on Facebook, but the numbers come from the planning application:
“It is anticipated that works could take up to 2 years to complete with importation taking place up to 256 days of the year. The proposal would generate 83,211 (two-way) Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) movements on the local network over the 2-year period. This would equate to approximately 141 daily two-way movements. The vehicle movements are proposed to be split (50/50), with 50% accessing the site from the north via Junction 3 of the M3 and 50% accessing the site from the south travelling north on the A3.”
Aware that there are concerns WPC invited Merrist wood golf course to attend last night. They did so at very short notice and while answering some questions could not answer all and have proposed to hold a public meeting with experts attending who can do so. As there is only until mid-April to comment that meeting will be within the next couple of weeks. WPC are working with them on this, with co-operation of FLGCA; date, location, and time to be advised.
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It is important to note that as is a waste and materials issue then this is a Surrey County Council responsibility while WPC and Guildford Borough Council are consultees, able to input comment.
If you wish to comment, to object or otherwise then you can do so via the GBC planning portal – https://www.guildford.gov.uk/commentonaplanningapplication - using reference - 24/CON/00011 (or just search Merrist Wood).
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If you wish to read more detail on the application then the SCC site is better - https://planning.surreycc.gov.uk/Planning/Display/SCC_Ref_2023-0185#
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