Those of us in Leatherhead fighting to save the Green Belt countryside, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Great Landscape Value from a golf course might be concerned by the recent poll in last week’s Epsom Guardian were it not for the fact that these things can be easily fixed by those desperate enough. Longshot’s planning application at Cherkley Court started more than 2 years ago and I doubt many Epsom residents have followed this Leatherhead planning case very closely.
Perhaps your readers could relate to this by imagining what might happen if wealthy Chelsea developers strolled into Epsom and took a large slice of Epsom Downs for an elite 5* golf course with, say, The Durdans or Downs House for a separate 5* hotel and spa. Epsom people might say that it could never happen on such a protected piece of land and anyway there is already a golf course on the Downs and several in the area. Sadly none of that had any bearing on the Cherkley Court application and, according to Longshot, the number of courses is irrelevant as theirs would be the best in the world and only accessible for the super rich with a six figure sum to join.
Those of us seeking to save this highly protected landscape were encouraged when the local professional planning officers recommended refusal of the application in an extremely detailed report only to be appalled and astonished when the local councillors met and voted twice by a margin of one to overturn that recommendation. Those councillors who voted in favour of sacrificing this beautiful landscape for a golf course ignored all advice from the CPRE, the National Trust, Natural England and other specialist bodies who warned that the landscape would be damaged irrevocably by such a development. The overwhelming majority of local letters were of objection, these were also ignored and so permission was granted.
Several of us felt strongly enough and so Cherkley Campaign was formed and battled on against Longshot & their PR propaganda working overtime. A judicial review was sought and granted, a High Court injunction to restrict the bulldozers pending a decision was largely ignored as can be witnessed by the devastation of the landscape and last September a High Court judgment (50 pages) quashed the "perverse" planning permission whereupon our councillors voted to spend more taxpayers’ money (a six figure sum) on an appeal which took place on 12 and 13th March.
We trust that justice will prevail and the land will be restored for the enjoyment of all.
However, should the decision go Longshot’s way by a legal thread then the precedent set will be too worrying to contemplate.
Jennifer Harvey
Leatherhead
- Send your letters to: letters@epsomguardian.co.uk
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