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Pavement outside 28-30 High Street, Guildford, GU1 3EL

25/P/00230Full ApplicationRefused
Full

Refused on 2 May 2025

Council decision: RefuseDelegated (officer decision)4 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Installation of one internally illuminated static panelled cabinet with 86' digital LCD screens with defibrillator.

Received
20 February 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Public comments
4
Ward
Castle
Agent
JCDecaux UK Limited
  1. Received20 Feb
  2. Validated20 Feb
  3. Consult.5 Apr
  4. Target2 May
  5. Decided2 May

Decided in 71 days (council typically 63)

About this application

This is a full planning application at Pavement outside 28-30 High Street, Guildford, GU1 3EL. Guildford has handled 2,986 applications of this type. This one was decided in 71 days, 8 days longer than Guildford's typical decision time. The site is in the Guildford Town Centre conservation area, with 20 listed buildings nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 272 applications across Castle. We hold 772 applications in total for the GU1 postcode area.

85% of full applications at Guildford Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 9 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.See what's approved near your address

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed communications hub, by virtue of its significant scale and prominence, would result in unacceptable visual clutter, wholly at odds with the traditional architecture lining the High Street behind it. As such, the proposed communications hub would be detrimental to the character and quality of the public realm, in conflict with policies D1 of the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015, D4 and D10 of the Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, and the relevant provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework, 2024.
  2. The proposed communications hub, by virtue of its siting, prominence, scale, and digital nature, would fail to preserve the special character and appearance of the Town Centre Conservation Area and would result in harm to the setting of grade II listed 23-37 (odds) High Street and locally listed 39 High Street. No public benefits have been identified that outweigh this harm and as such, the proposal would not be in accordance with the provisions of Sections 66 and 72 of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, policy D3 of the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites, D18, D19, D20, and D23 of the Local Plan: Development Management Policies, and Chapter 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
  3. The proposed communications hub would impact the free flow of pedestrian movements and therefore prejudice highway safety. It would therefore result in unacceptable harm to public safety, contrary to policy D10 of the Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, and the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
  4. The proposed development would be located in an area at medium risk of river flooding, within flood zone 3. No flood risk assessment has been submitted as part of the application and the sequential test has not been applied. As such, insufficient application has been submitted to demonstrate that the development would not increase flooding elsewhere, and that there are no suitable alternative sites to accommodate the proposed development in sequentially preferable areas at a lower risk of flooding. The proposed development would therefore not comply with policy P4 of the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites, Chapter 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework, or the Environment Agency Standing Advice.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
GU1 3EL
Application type
Full Application
Scale / size
Medium
Parish
Castle

Planning application dates

Date validated
20 February 2025
Consultation expiry
5 April 2025
Consultation start
14 March 2025
Consultation end
5 April 2025
Neighbour consultation start
12 March 2025
Neighbour consultation end
5 April 2025
Last date for comments
2 May 2025
Target decision date
2 May 2025

Applicant and agent

Agent
JCDecaux UK Limited
Agent address
991 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9DN

Planning decision

Statutory period
71 days

Publicity

Last advertised
7 March 2025
Advertisement expiry
5 April 2025
Site notice start
13 March 2025
Site notice end
5 April 2025

Appeal history

3366566
Dismissed
Type: Planning AppealProcedure: Written RepresentationsDecision: 22 October 2025Dev Type: Other minor developmentsReason: Refusal

Additional information

Planning Portal ID
PP-13794378
Documents
24

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (20)

flood storage areas, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Guildford

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