St Catherines Court, 46-48 Portsmouth Road, Guildford, GU2 4DU

26/P/00584Refused

Discharge / amendments

Refused on 31 July 2026

Council decision: Refuse1 reason for refusal

Approximate location: the centre of the postcode, not the exact property.

Proposal

Application under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to vary condition 17 (Pupil Occupancy) to amend the condition so that the crossing is required only when pupil occupancy reaches 24 students of planning permission Ref:25/P/00762 for the 'Proposed change of use from offices (Class E(g)(i)) to SEN independent day school (Class F1(a)) including provision of fenced recreation play area,automatic security gate, car parking, bicycle parking, bin store, acoustic fence, and associated works.

Received: 30 April 2026
Council: Guildford Borough Council
Ward: Castle

ReceivedReceived30 Apr
ValidatedValidated30 Apr
Consult.Consultation
TargetTarget Date
DecidedDecided31 Jul

Decided in 92 days

About this application

This is a planning application for a change of use at St Catherines Court, 46-48 Portsmouth Road, Guildford, GU2 4DU. Guildford has handled 7,095 applications of this type. This one was decided in 92 days, 4 weeks longer than Guildford's typical decision time. The site is in the St Catherines Guildford Town Centre conservation area, with 6 listed buildings nearby. There have been 7 other applications at this address. In the past year there have been 272 applications across Castle. We hold 831 applications in total for the GU2 postcode area.

Why it was refused

The proposal has not demonstrated that a material change in circumstances had occured and neither has robust and reliable technical justification been submitted (supported by evidence) that can be relied upon to justify varying the approved trigger for Condition 17. Without this justification it cannot be demonstrated that a safe and suitable access for all users from first occupation would exist. The proposed variation is therefore considered contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, in particular paragraphs 116 and 117, and Policy ID3 of the Guildford Local Plan: Strategy and Sites.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode: GU2 4DU
Parish: Friary & St. Nicolas

Planning application dates

Date validated: 30 April 2026

Applicant and agent

Applicant: Private applicant

Planning decision

Case officer: Lisa Botha

Site constraints

Checking the site

2/3

Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

Conservation area: St Catherines Guildford Town Centre
Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

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 (21)

flood storage areas, listed buildings, 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.

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.

Associated applications

2026
30 Apr
Application under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to vary condition 17 (Pupil Occupancy)…
This applicationRefusedVariation of conditions (s73)26/P/00584
2026
23 Apr
1826-100E Site Plan as Proposed 1826-150 Landscape Plan Biodiversity Enhancement Statement Walnut Acoustics…
ApprovedDischarge of conditionsFiled alongside26/D/00029/3

Planning history at this site

6 other applications at this property, newest first.

Source: Guildford

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