Houseboat Morpheus Hermitage Bridge Hermitage Road St Johns Woking Surrey GU21 8XP

1. 1.The proposed development for the retention of 1no detached outbuilding does not fall within any of the exceptions to inappropriate development in the Green Belt and therefore constitutes inappropriate development within the Green Belt, which is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt. Furthermore, the 1no building is found to reduce the openness of the Green Belt by reason of their positioning, scale and massing. The case for very special circumstances have been reviewed and fail to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and loss of openness, nor is it considered that such very special circumstances would exist in this instance. The proposed development is therefore contrary to Policy CS6 of the Woking Core Strategy 2012, Policy DM13 of the Development Management Policies DPD 2016 and Section 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024.
2. 2.The proposed development, by reason of its siting, bulk and mass, would result in a discordant and incongruous development which would fail to respect the character and appearance of the surrounding area. The proposal would fail to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Basingstoke Canal Conservation Area/Corridor and would result in less than substantial harm to the character and appearance of the Basingstoke Canal Conservation Area/Corridor, with no public benefits arising so as to outweigh that less than substantial harm. The proposal is, therefore, contrary to Policies CS20, CS21 and CS24 of the Woking Core Strategy 2012, Policies DM4 and DM20 of the Development Management Policies DPD 2016, the Council's Supplementary Planning Document 'Design' 2015, Supplementary Planning Guidance 'Heritage of Woking' 2000 and the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024.
3. 3.In the absence of arboricultural information, it has not been demonstrated by the applicant that the works consisting of the construction of the 'outbuilding' have not caused damage to protected trees (including to their rooting environments) in and around the application site which have visual amenity and screening value and which contribute to the leafy and sylvan character of this part of the Basingstoke Canal Conservation Area/Corridor, and the surrounding area more generally, contrary to Policy CS21 of the Woking Core Strategy 2012, Policies DM2 and DM4 of the Development Management Policies DPD 2016 and the provisions of Sections 12 and 15 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

GU21 8XP

Application type

Full Planning Application

Scale / size

Small

Date validated

22 April 2026

Consultation expiry

28 May 2026

Neighbour consultation end

28 May 2026

Target decision date

17 June 2026

Statutory period

56 days

Documents

11

Constraints

12