Phoenix House, Ash Street, Aldershot, Guildford, GU12 6LA

1. 1.The application would result in the loss of a lawful office building. The application is not supported by any active and comprehensive marketing to justify the loss of this office building, contrary to Policy E3 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 - 2034.
2. 2.The proposed development inclusive of the dwelling's scale and mass and backland position, would create a poor relationship with neighbouring properties and represent overdevelopment of the plot. The development would not respect the prevailing character or building patterns of the surrounding area, contrary to Policy D1 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 - 2034, Policies D4 and D8 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023 and the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
3. 3.The proposed development would by virtue of its height, scale and proximity to the shared boundary, result in overshadowing of the garden and a sense of enclosure to 2 Alexander Road. Consequently, there would be an unacceptable adverse impact on the amenity experienced by the occupiers of 2 Alexander Road, contrary to Policy D5 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2024 and the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
4. 4.The application was not supported by sufficient information to confirm that the development would not result in unacceptable harm to any protected species, notably bats during the demolition of the office building. In the absence of this information, the development would not comply with Policy ID4 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 - 2034, Policy P6 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023 and the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
5. 5.The proposed development would not be exempt from providing biodiversity net gain in accordance with national and local requirements. Inadequate information has been supplied to demonstrate that the required 20% biodiversity net gain could be achieved in accordance with the Biodiversity Gain Hierachy. The development would therefore not comply with Policy ID4 of the Guildford Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015 - 2034, Policy P7 of the Guildford Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023 and the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
6. 6.The application is not supported by adequate information to demonstrate that a fabric first approach has been applied to the proposed development, including provision of SAP calculations or similar energy output documents. It therefore cannot be determined that the development would comply with Policy D14 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, the Climate Change, Sustainable Design, Construction and Energy Supplementary Planning Document or the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
7. 7.The site lies within the 400m to 5km zone of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (TBHSPA). The Local Planning Authority is not satisfied that there will be no likely significant effect on the Special Protection Area and, in the absence of an appropriate assessment, is unable to satisfy itself that this proposal, either alone or in combination with other development, would not have an adverse effect on the integrity of the Special Protection Area. In this respect, significant concerns remain with regard to the adverse effect on the integrity of the Special Protection Area in that there is likely to be an increase in dog walking, general recreational use, damage to the habitat, disturbance to the protected species within the protected areas and road traffic emissions. As such the development is contrary to the objectives of policy P5 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015-2034 and conflicts with saved policy NRM6 of the South East Plan 2009. For the same reasons the development would fail to meet the requirements of Regulation 63 of The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 as amended, and as the development does not meet the requirements of Regulation 64 the Local Planning Authority must refuse to grant planning permission.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

GU12 6LA

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Ash

Date validated

11 December 2025

Consultation expiry

31 January 2026

Consultation start

9 January 2026

Consultation end

31 January 2026

Neighbour consultation start

5 January 2026

Neighbour consultation end

31 January 2026

Last date for comments

5 February 2026

Target decision date

5 February 2026

Agent

FORM Design Group

Architect profile

FORM DESIGN GROUP LTD

Agent address

The Control Tower, 12 De Havilland Drive, Brooklands Estate, Weybridge, KT13 0YP

Statutory period

56 days

Advertisement expiry

31 January 2026

Site notice end

31 January 2026

Planning Portal ID

PP-14480502

Comments

0

Documents

30