Godalming College

The College was supported by PMP through a planning appeal, with PMP acting as expert witnesses on sports pitch matters. The College’s proposal was to develop of an area of surplus playing field to provide 49 dwellings. The income from the development will pay for a new dual use sports hall and a new science centre. The need for the sports hall has been identified in a leisure needs survey for Godalming, which PMP undertook on behalf of Waverley Borough Council in 19999. PMP subsequently undertook playing pitch strategies which identified a surplus of sport pitches in the area. One of the key issues for the inspector at the inquiry, therefore was to judge whether the benefits of the development outweighed any harm arising from the loss of part of the playing field. He supported this conclusion.