On the decision of Cllr. Cundy, chairman of Woking’s Planning Committee, approval was given to the building of a new house in Highclere Gardens. The new house wil be attached to No. 40.

The residents came away from the Planning meeting disappointed and angry. Angry because not one of the officers involved in working on this planning application had acknowledged the parking problems the residents face on a daily basis.

The majority of the. Councillors who make up the Planning Committee agreed that the proposed development was cramped and contrived in additional to which there was no room for any more cars parking in Highclere Gardens. The word cramped is used because the developer in trying to fit in this additional house had reduced the garden of both the new house and the existing house at No. 40 were below the minimum private garden size as laid down in the Council’s own planning guidelines.

During the debate the Officers warned the Councillors that if they rejected the application and the applicant when to appeal and won the Council may have to meet the developers costs. This swayed the Liberal Dems. and Labour members of the Committee. Cllr. Morales stated that she was not prepared to risk tax payers money in defending a rejection of the application. Cllr. Hussain pointed out that the residents of Highclere Gardens were tax payers.

Cllr. Hussain proposed that the application should be rejected and this was seconded by Cllr. Harlow. The chairman announced that he would take the unusual step of voting. The vote was 4 for and 4 against so the chairman got the casting vote, this meant that he voted twice, and Cllr. Cundy voted to approve the application.