Land off Midhurst Road at Scotland Park, Midhurst Road, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3DH

Authority: Waverley Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Ware P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the landscape, with particular regard to the National Landscape (NL).
The effect of the proposal on housing land supply in the area.
The effect of the proposal on the biodiversity of the site.
Whether there are exceptional circumstances to justify development in the NL.

What decided it

The exceptionally poor five year housing land supply (1.28 years) combined with the acute affordable housing need and the absence of realistic alternative sites constituted exceptional circumstances under NPPF paragraph 190 justifying major development in the National Landscape.

The residual landscape harm from the housing element in LCAs 1 and 2 was outweighed by the substantial package of benefits (housing and affordable housing delivery, landscape enhancement across most of the site, biodiversity net gain, SANG, scout/forest school facilities and recreational benefits), leading to a finding of exceptional circumstances and overall compliance with the development plan.

Framework references: 11, 58, 189, 190

Plan policies cited: SP1, SP2, RE1, RE3, NE1, NE2, DM15, DM11, DM4, DM1, ALH1, ALH2, H4, H9, H12, LRC1, ST1

Judgments cited: R(CPRE Kent) v SSHCLG [2025] EWHC 1781 (Admin); R (Wadhurst PC) v SSHCLG [2025] EWHC 1735 (Admin); R (New Forest Park Authority) v SSHCLG [2025] EWHC 726 (Admin)

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.