Lion House 147 Oriental Road Woking Surrey GU22 8AP

1. 1.In the absence of a Noise Assessment, it has not been demonstrated by the applicant that the proposed change of use of Lion House, 147 Oriental Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 8AP to a use falling within Use Class C3 (Dwellinghouses) is appropriate for its location taking into account the likely effects of noise pollution on health and living conditions of future residential occupiers, and that future residential occupiers of the proposed new dwellinghouses would not be adversely affected by unacceptable levels of noise pollution from adjoining and nearby commercial premises, which include Units 1-6 Lion Retail Park and the associated access route off Oriental Road and taking account of those hours of operation and activities that such commercial premises may carry out in the future. The proposed development is therefore contrary to paragraphs 187e), 198 and 200 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024 and the Planning Practice Guidance (Paragraph: 009 Reference ID: 30-009- 20190722, Revision date: 22 07 2019). Given the above, the proposal fails the assessment required under point MA.2.-(2)(d) of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) regarding the impacts of noise from commercial premises on the intended occupiers of the development.
2. 2.In the absence of a Daylight and Sunlight Assessment, it has not been demonstrated by the applicant that the proposed change of use of Lion House, 147 Oriental Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 8AP to a use falling within Use Class C3 (Dwellinghouses) would provide adequate natural light to habitable rooms of all of the 25no dwellinghouses. Of concern are the positioning of windows serving habitable rooms in the cases of Units 3 and 17; in conjunction with the layout of the building; whereby the outlooks of five habitable rooms across these two units of accommodation are located within a recess in the north-eastern part of the building. Also of concern is the overly small size and awkward positioning of the bedroom window of Unit 9. It has not, therefore, been demonstrated by the applicant that the proposal would achieve adequate natural light in all relevant habitable rooms of the dwellinghouses, 'natural light' being a combination of skylight and sunlight, as per the definition within the Glossary to the BRE Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: A guide to good practice (Third Edition, 2022) (the BRE Guide). The proposed development is, therefore, contrary to paragraph 135(f) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024. Given the above, the proposal fails the assessment required under point MA.2.-(2)(f) of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended).

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

GU22 8AP

Application type

PA - COU commercial/service to dwellhs

Scale / size

Medium

Number of dwellings

25

Date validated

26 September 2025

Consultation expiry

27 October 2025

Neighbour consultation end

27 October 2025

Target decision date

20 November 2025

Permission expires

19 November 2030

Agent

Woolf Bond Planning Ltd

Agent address

The Mitfords Basingstoke Road Reading RG7 1AT

Statutory period

55 days

Documents

37

Constraints

8