Green Belt build to go ahead
MAYFORD suffered its third green belt incursion this year on Monday as Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott gave permission to build a special needs school including a residential block and hydrotherapy pool at the Oaks Centre in Mayford.
The Office of Deputy Prime Minister announced that Surrey County Council, which is responsible for education and social care in the county, had been given permission to build the school to re-house Freemantles School, Chertsey.
For the residents of Mayford, home to the sensitive green belt land that separates Woking from Guildford, it is the third time this year that “very special circumstances” have been found to justify building on supposedly protected land.
In January, former councillor William Bocking was granted permission to build accommodation for the elderly at Loampits Farm and permission was granted at the end of last month for a development at Ladygrove Farm on the Sutton Place estate that incorporated a restoration of some of the existing buildings.
The application at the Oaks Centre was originally submitted to Woking Borough Council as a consultation in September 2004 and Woking’s planning committee raised an objection on green belt grounds at its meeting on October 26 that year.
The decision will mean demolition of existing two-storey buildings, the removal of roadways and parking and the construction of a part single, part two storey special needs school, residential block and hydrotherapy pool together with the provision of roadways, car parking, hard play area, grassed areas and landscaping.
As it was a consultation, Woking Borough Council had no power to refuse the application but as an exception to green belt policy and departure from the Woking Local Plan, the proposals had to go before the Government Office for the South East for a decision.
They were subsequently called in by the Secretary of State and a planning inspector conducted a public inquiry into the application in November 2005.
A decision letter sent to Surrey County Council on Monday admitted the building was in contravention of accepted green belt policy, which does not allow development that affects the open character of the green belt.
“The proposed development is accepted by all parties as being inappropriate development in the green belt,” said the letter.
“The Secretary of State agrees the development would have a significant effect on the openness of the green belt and there would be some degree of conflict with the green belt purpose of safeguarding the countryside from encroachment. To this extent the proposal would not accord with the development plan.”
Special circumstances were found to justify the application on the grounds there was a “clear need in this part of the county for the facilities of the new school, including the on-site respite care”, the letter stated.
Mayford Village Society chairman Madge Day told the News and Mail: “We are obviously very concerned about encroachment onto the green belt but are encouraged by one part of the inspector’s report where he said the development was a one-off.
“He acknowledged the concerns of residents and said he didn’t consider there was any risk of a precedent being set by this application, so we will be keeping his words to work from for future reference.
“We have no grudge against Freemantles but you try to protect something like the green belt in Mayford for years and then you get three cherries taken out of the bowl in one go, as it were.
“This represents an 87 per cent increase in development on the site, which is a huge amount.”
woking.co.uk, 16.02.2006