The Planning and Regulatory Committee of Surrey County Council will be provided with two reports: a proposal for a new school building, and an application for Village Green status for a plot of land.

Surrey County Council Proposal WO/PLAN/2024/0633

The most significant topic included in the report pack is a planning application submitted by Surrey County Council for the construction of a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) classroom building on the site of the existing St John the Baptist School in Woking.

The proposed development is located in the Green Belt¹ on the southern edge of the wider school site, with a new dedicated vehicle access point being created from Coniston Road.

The Green Belt is a planning designation that aims to prevent urban sprawl and protect the countryside. It is defined in national planning policy and is a material consideration in planning decisions. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the presumption against inappropriate development in the Green Belt and the very special circumstances that are required to justify it.

The Applicant has recognised that the proposal constitutes inappropriate development, but has argued that there are very special circumstances relating to the need for the development which outweigh the harm caused by inappropriateness to the Green Belt.

Surrey has seen significant growth in the number of autistic children and young people aged 4-19 years with additional needs and disabilities, with an identified long-term sufficiency gap in additional specialist school places for this cohort in Woking and north-west Surrey.

If approved, the new facility would provide for 30 students aged 11-16 years old who live locally and who require specialist school placement, thereby significantly reducing their current school journey times. The single-storey building would feature three classrooms as well as separate learning areas, staff and amenity areas, and toilets in accordance with Building Bulletin 104 requirements. External amenity spaces would also be provided, along with an associated 37-space car park with bicycle parking and electric vehicle charging provision.

A number of local residents submitted letters of representation to the Council about the proposal, raising concerns about:

• potential negative impacts on the Hoe Stream Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), the nearby White Rose Lane Local Nature Reserve (LNR), and the adjacent woodland protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO);
• the impact of construction-related noise, dust, and traffic;
• increased traffic on the roads surrounding the school, particularly during peak times; and
• potential impacts on parking and access to Derrys Field allotments.

In response to these concerns, the Applicant has stated they are willing to accept conditions on any planning permission granted:

• requiring them to submit a Dust Management Plan detailing construction hours and to implement a variety of mitigation measures to control dust during construction;
• restricting the hours during which construction can take place;
• requiring them to submit a Construction Noise Management Plan;
• restricting the operational hours of the car park associated with the development;
• limiting the use of the proposed vehicle access point to only those associated with the SEN building;
• implementing the proposed drainage scheme in full, and;
• to implement a landscape and ecological management plan to maintain a biodiversity net gain² of at least 10% relative to the pre-development value of the on-site habitat, for a minimum period of 30 years.

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is an approach to development that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than before. It is a requirement of the Environment Act 2021 for most new developments in England. BNG is achieved through the creation of new habitats or the enhancement of existing ones.

Officers are recommending planning permission be granted.

Application for Village Green Status - Land at Leach Grove Wood, Leatherhead

The Committee is also being asked to consider an application submitted by Mr Timothy Jones, to register a 2.9 hectare parcel of land at Leach Grove Wood in Leatherhead as a Village Green³.

A Village Green is a piece of land that has been used by local people for lawful sports and pastimes for at least 20 years. It is a statutory designation that gives the public the right to use the land for recreation. Village Greens are protected from development.

NHS Property Services Ltd., which owns the land, objects to the application. The company appealed against a 2015 decision to register the land to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which respectively overturned and reinstated the decision to register. NHS Property Services Ltd. appealed again, this time to the Supreme Court, which in 2019 quashed the registration of Leach Grove Wood as a Village Green, and ordered the registration authority to redetermine the application.

The central issue of the case revolves around the concept of 'statutory incompatibility', which is the idea that if land is acquired by a public body for specific statutory purposes, members of the public cannot acquire rights over it that would frustrate the continuing use of the land for those statutory purposes.

The Supreme Court concluded that the statutory purposes for which NHS Property Services Ltd. held the land at Leach Grove Wood, relating to healthcare, were incompatible with use of the land as a Village Green. In its judgment the Court stated:

The issue of statutory incompatibility has to be decided by reference to the statutory regime which is applicable and the statutory purpose for which the land is held, not by reference to how it is being used at any particular point in time…

Officers are recommending the application be rejected.