Land on the north side of, Orestan Lane, Effingham, KT24

1. 1.The proposed development would not constitute an exception under paragraphs 154 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), nor would it constitute grey belt and satisfy the requirements of paragraph 155 of the NPPF. For these reasons the development would constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt, which would cause definitional harm and harm to its openness by virtue of the extent of development, scale, bulk, massing, height, spread, and paraphernalia associated with its use. In addition, no very special circumstances exist which outweigh this harm. The development is therefore contrary to Policy P2 of the adopted Guildford Borough Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015-2034, Chapter 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024 and the guidance within the adopted Green Belt Supplementary Planning Document 2023.
2. 2.The application has insufficient information to confirm the presence or otherwise of protected species, and the extent that they may be affected by the proposed development. 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 Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 4BB Management Policies 2023, and Chapter 15 of The National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
3. 3.The application provides insufficient justification to classify on-site woodland habitats, and as such there is insufficient information to assess the impact of habitat removal within the site. The proposal therefore fails to demonstrate that it accords with Policy P6, P7 of the LPDMP and chapter 15 of the NPPF.
4. 4.The proposed development fails to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of Effingham Conservation Area by virtue of the extent of development, and its layout and design, and would result in less than substantial harm to the Effingham Conservation Area classified at the higher end. This harm would not be outweighed by the public benefits associated with the scheme and therefore it is considered to be contrary to Policy D3 of the LPSS, Policy D20 of the LPDMP and the NPPF as a whole.
5. 5.The development fails to demonstrate that all dwellings follow a Fabric First approach. There is insufficient information to justify that the fabric of the buildings eliminates energy use in the first instance, and as such the development fails to follow the energy hierarchy and provide resilience against climate change in conflict with Policy D2(2), Policy D14(1) and the Council's Climate Change SPD and the aims and policies of the NPPF.
6. 6.The development would fail to deliver the required amount and minimum size requirement of vehicle parking and visitor parking. Insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that a lower level of parking would be acceptable and not result in adverse impacts on the road safety or movement of other road users as a result of overspill parking in conflict with Policy ENP-R1 of the Effingham Neighbourhood Plan, Policy ID10 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023 and the Guildford Borough Parking Standards for New Development SPD.
7. 7.The proposed development would fail to deliver a high quality design which would respect and enhance the character and appearance of the surrounding area. The development would result in a weakening of the established building line, rear parking courts without surveillance, dwellings with a lack of architectural variation and quality that respects conservation area, facade detailing which results in uneven elevational treatments, and car dominance with an urbanising impact. Overall, the development has failed to have regard to its setting and context and would fail to establish or maintain a strong sense of place, in conflict with Policy D1 of the LPSS, Policy D4 and D7 of the LPDMP, Chapter 12 of the NPPF, and National Design Guide.
8. 8.In the absence of a completed and signed Section 106 legal agreement, the Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 4BB development would fail to provide necessary infrastructure to mitigate the developments impact. This includes (but not necessarily limited to): - highways works and sustainable transport improvements - the delivery of affordable housing - securing on and off-site Biodiversity net Gain The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy P7 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies 2023, Policies H2, ID1 and ID3 of the Guildford Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 2015-2034, the Council's Planning Contributions SPD (2017), and the NPPF.

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Large

Number of dwellings

37

Parish

Effingham

Date validated

15 January 2026

Consultation expiry

28 February 2026

Consultation start

6 February 2026

Consultation end

28 February 2026

Neighbour consultation start

30 January 2026

Neighbour consultation end

28 February 2026

Last date for comments

16 April 2026

Target decision date

16 April 2026

Applicant

Private applicant

Agent

Savills

Agent address

244-246 High street, Guildford, GU1 3JF

Case officer

Jessica Riches

Statutory period

91 days

Last advertised

30 January 2026

Advertisement expiry

28 February 2026

Site notice start

30 January 2026

Site notice end

28 February 2026

Planning Portal ID

PP-14487098

Documents

156