Hi Deeday,
I don't know why the planning app was withdrawn - I haven't had time to dig further yet. If you've been following things at Redhill, then over the years planning apps for a hard runway seem to come and go, so to be honest I'm not hopeful.
On the basis that every cloud has a silver lining, then I guess that RAVL won't be in too much of a hurry to build houses on the site which would appear to be their 'end game'.
In the meantime, I'd your PPL and look forward to experiencing life off the taxiway. Whilst the instructor will do the actual touchdown, it certainly makes for sharpening your approach speeds etc. Hope you enjoy it. What school are you with?
Regards,
C23