Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

(i)    To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary and other interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

(ii)   In accordance with the Officer Procedure Rules, any Officer who is a Council- appointed Director of a Thameswey Group company will declare an interest in any item involving that Thameswey Group company. The interest will not prevent the Officer from advising the Committee on that item.

No declarations of interest were received.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 15 October 2024 as published.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 October 2024 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The Committee received a report on the planning appeals lodged and the appeal decisions.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

The Committee determined the following applications subject to the conditions, informatives, reasons for refusal or authorisation of enforcement action which appear in the published report to the Committee or as detailed in these minutes.

[NOTE 1: A written update had been circulated as detailed below;

Following further discussion with the Applicant, an additional condition is recommended to address the requirements of Surrey Wildlife Trust as well as Policy CS7 of the Core Strategy 2012, Section 15 of the NPPF and the BS 42020 2013 Biodiversity – Code of Practice for Planning and Development.

Recommended Additional Condition:

++ 12 months prior to the commencement of works on Phase 2 of the development, hereby approved, (including demolition, below ground works, groundworks or structural frame) a bat roost assessment and presence/likely absence surveys must be conducted on the buildings to be demolished to establish the presence or likely absence of bat roosts. The assessment results along with any mitigation required (with timetables for implementation of mitigation) must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of works. The development must thereafter occur only in accordance with the approved details and any mitigation required must also be implemented in accordance with the approved details and timescales specified therein.

Reason: To prevent bats being injured or killed during site works and to comply with Policy CS7 of the Woking Core Strategy 2012.]

[NOTE 2: In accordance with the procedure for public speaking at Planning Committee, Mr Paul Reeves attended the meeting and spoke in support of the application. There was no person registered to speak in objection.]

The Committee considered an application for the demolition of existing buildings and a phased redevelopment of the site to provide 2no flexible employment buildings (Flexible Use Class E(g)(i-iii)/B2/B8), 1no self-storage building (B8 Use Class) and retention of an existing building (E use Class) together with associated landscaping, new vehicular access points, car parking and other associated works.

The Chairman referred to the written update and informed the Committee that Surrey Wildlife Trust had been reconsulted on 30 October 2024. Following their response, an additional condition had been added, including an 18-month wait time in the phasing.

In response to a question about usage designation and potential noise increase, the Planning Officers clarified that the noise levels were deemed acceptable. Unit 1 was designated for self-storage, while units 3-9 were for flexible B2 use, which aligned with the existing general industry use on site. Additionally, there were units for flexible B8 use, primarily for self-storage, which typically did not result in increased noise.

Regarding a query about Active Travel England, the Planning Officer explained that they were usually consulted on residential schemes rather than industrial ones. Nonetheless, the site included 46 proposed cycle spaces, complying with policy requirements.

Addressing a further question on truck access, the Planning Officer noted that the swept path analysis was included in the plan, and there was designated space outside the units for loading and unloading.

RESOLVED

That planning permission be GRANTED subject to conditions.