Cranleigh Village Health Trust is delighted to receive the support of Cranleigh Parish Council’s planning committee, which yesterday evening voted in favour of our revised planning application.
Councillors commented that CVHT had responded to the prior reasons for refusal by reducing the scale of both the care home and accommodation block within the new plans. As a result, the overall impact of the proposed scheme was reduced.
There were also many positive comments about the likely lack of traffic generated by the proposals. Two Councillors explained that cars were rarely seen entering or exiting Cedar Court care home on Elmbridge Road, despite the site sharing a driveway with Elmbridge Retirement Village, where many residents have their own cars. As a result, Councillors felt the CVHT proposal would not result in any significant uplift in traffic volume in Knowle Lane.
Councillors did, however, suggest there could be a need to improve the traffic junction of Knowle Lane and the High Street, and we look forward to input from Surrey County Council Highways on this matter.
A strong case was made for the return of Community Beds in Cranleigh, providing a valuable asset for the local population, allowing for short-term recuperation close to loved ones, instead of in a distant hospital or care home facilities.
It was confirmed that the appropriate healthcare authorities will seek to place people close to where they live, which at present is impossible due to the removal of Community Beds from the Cranleigh Village Hospital.
One member of the planning committee explained that the remote nature of Cranleigh made it unlikely the new Community Beds would appeal to users from outside of the village catchment area, arguing that Cranleigh Community Beds were most likely to be used for Cranleigh residents.
Members of Cranleigh Parish Council’s planning committee voted 3 to 2 in favour of the application.
Cranleigh Village Health Trust has submitted a Full Planning Consent Application to Waverley Borough Council.
The application is for the erection of a building to provide a 64-bed care home, including 16 Community Beds, together with a building to provide 14 health workers’ accommodation units, with access from Knowle Lane, associated parking and ancillary works.
CVHT is proposing the return of 16 Community Beds within the new care home setting, in collaboration with care home provider HC-One, and also NHS Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group, Surrey County Council, and the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
You can view the proposal at cranleighhealthtrust.org/exhibition and we encourage you to submit your feedback to Waverley Borough Council ahead of their determination of the planning application.
