Jesses Hill, Pursers Lane, Peaslake, Guildford, GU5 9RE

1. 1.The proposed dwelling, due to its siting on undeveloped land, the creation of a new vehicular access and driveway, loss of vegetation along the Pursers Lane frontage, and the resultant intensification in residential use and domestic paraphernalia, would detract from the rural and undeveloped character of the existing site. As such, the proposal fails to conserve and enhance the natural landscape character and appearance of the Surrey Hill National Landscape and is therefore contrary to Policy P1 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 -2034, Policy D4 of the adopted Guildford Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, Policies P1 and P4 of the adopted Surrey Hills National Landscape Management Plan 2025-2030 and Paragraph 187 of the NPPF (2024).
2. 2.The application as submitted provides inadequate information to demonstrate that the proposed access off Pursers Lane can achieve the visibility splays required by the County Highway Authority. Moreover, the proposed driveway would provide inadequate space to park and manoeuvre vehicles associated with the proposed development in order to enable them to enter and exit the site in a forward gear. On this basis it has not been adequately demonstrated that the proposed development would not result in unacceptable impacts on highway safety and Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 4BB therefore the proposal would be contrary to Policy ID3 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 – 2034, the Parking Standards for New Development Supplementary Planning Document (2023) and paragraph 115 of the National Planning Policy Framework (December 2024).
3. 3.The application as submitted provides inadequate information to confirm the on-site presence or otherwise of bats, hazel dormice and great crested newts and inconsistent and inadequate information to determine the impacts of the proposed development on these protected species. In the absence of this information, the Local Planning Authority cannot be satisfied that the proposed development would not lead to demonstrable harm to protected species and therefore the application is contrary to Policy ID4 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015-2034, Policy P6 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, Circular 06/2005 (Biodiversity and Geographical Conservation - Statutory Obligations and Their Impact Within the Planning System) and paragraph 193 of The National Planning Policy Framework (2024).
4. 4.The submitted Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) and statutory biodiversity metric are inconsistent with the extent of the application site as defined by the red line boundary on the submitted existing and proposed site location plan (DNJH/PAD2.1) insofar as they omit parts of the application site including existing on-site habitat located in the north-west corner of the site adjacent to the proposed vehicular access. Furthermore, the PEA provides inadequate evidence to demonstrate that the application site comprises ‘lowland mixed deciduous woodland’ - a habitat of principal importance (HPI) - and that the proposed development would not impact upon this HPI. In the absence of a correct on-site habitat baseline and inadequate evidence to demonstrate that the proposals have been designed in accordance with the mitigation hierarchy and would not impact upon the HPI, the proposed development would be contrary to Policy P7 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023 and paragraph 183 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

GU5 9RE

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Medium

Parish

Shere

Date validated

27 November 2024

Consultation expiry

13 January 2025

Consultation start

29 November 2024

Consultation end

13 January 2025

Neighbour consultation start

28 November 2024

Neighbour consultation end

13 January 2025

Last date for comments

3 June 2026

Target decision date

3 June 2026

Applicant

Private applicant

Agent

Simon Best Associates Ltd

Architect profile

SIMON BEST ASSOCIATES LIMITED

Agent address

The Long Barn, High House Farm, Gomshall Lane, Shere, Guildford, GU5 9HZ

Case officer

Victoria Bates

Statutory period

553 days

Advertisement expiry

13 January 2025

Site notice start

23 December 2024

Site notice end

13 January 2025

Planning Portal ID

PP-13534975

Comments

0

Documents

29