Wisley Airfield

The Surrey Advertisers has carried a story about the proposed composting on the former Wisley Airfield site. In it, Elm Corner resident explains some of his objections.

“I have four children aged between one and nine and we spend a lot of time, as do all the residents of Elm Corner, walking on the footpaths and enjoying the brilliant views around the airfield,” he said.

“It’s very clear that what we enjoy currently would be destroyed, notwithstanding the effect of pollution coming from the site.”

The plant would be open six days a week with waste lorries making 36 round trips to the site each day.

Householders fear approval for the scheme could open the door for future development on the old airfield.

“It would lead to increased access at the Ripley roundabout [at the junction with Portsmouth Road] and allow for a massive increase in traffic,” Mr Barklam added.

“At the moment there’s a huge volume of traffic going down the A3. The number of HGVs thundering around would have a dramatic impact on the area.

“There’s been no form of development on that land for 35 years. The fact that there’s some hard standing on the airfield does not stop it from being green belt land.”

Aerial view of Wisley Airfield

The owners of the Former Wisley Airfield have taken their application for a waste site to appeal as Surrey County Council have not determined the case within the allotted time frame.

This application will now be heard by one inspector appointed by the secretary of state, we are very concerned, and we need you to write to the inspector now.

The site chosen for an incinerator (Capel) have recently won a judicial review means that there is a much GREATER risk of a waste site on Wisley Airfield.

Please write this week to the inspector - sending three copies of your letter. Here is a draft letter which you should edit and make as personal as possible. Please get your neighbours to do the same.

The address to send it to is: The Planning Inspectorate, Room 3/21, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN. Reference LCM/LA/38754 Former Wisley Airfield

It is more than 60 years since the farmland north of Ockham was requisitioned and turned into an airfield.

Ever since the end of the second world war the use of the land has been contested. In 2004, local resident Wendy Lloyd wrote the definitive history of the site for a neighbourhood newsletter - and we have now made this available here online for the first time.

The RHS has urged its members to oppose planning applications for Waste Management facilities at the Former Wisley Airfield Site. Saying

We have lodged objections to both applications and are working closely with the Wisley Airfield Action Group (WAAG) and adjacent Parish Councils. We are especially concerned about the potential risk to plant health from bioaerosols originating from the proposed large scale waste-composting facilities. The RHS has commissioned research from independent environmental consultants, Environ, which indicates that there is a principled scientific basis to anticipate an identifiable risk from bioaerosols to plant health at the garden and ecological health at the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

Find out more at their site.

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Find out more about WAAG here