Liberal Democrats oppose new development at Clewborough (Surrey Heath Liberal Democrats

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Liberal Democrats oppose new development at Clewborough

November 21, 2009 12:00 AM

Clewborough School Playing Fields

Residents and councillors voiced their concerns about proposals to turn the derelict Clewborough House School, in St Catherine's Road, into the second largest housing development in Surrey Heath.

The borough council's planning committee debated a second application from Banner Homes to develop the site at a meeting on Monday.

The developer's first attempt, for a larger 67-home project on the site, was shot down earlier this year when it was rejected by a planning inspector.

At this week's meeting, people living near the old school and representatives from Banner Homes were allowed to address the committee.

Cathy Whitcroft, speaking on behalf of the Mytchett, Frimley Green and Deepcut Society, said St Catherine's Road had no pavements and was too narrow to qualify for a white-lined partition.

She said many children used the route on their journey to school and the hundreds of extra car trips would make it more dangerous.

"The highways department says we will see a situation where there are 240 additional car journeys a day on what is essentially a country lane," she added.

Her concerns were echoed by other councillors, including Frimley Green's Alan Whittart, who said the extra traffic would exacerbate already overcrowded roads in the area, which has four large schools