Location:
Mole Valley District Council
Issue:
Increasing the number of Use Class C2 elderly care bedspaces by 53 at a vacant site within the green belt and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
How we helped and added value:
Our long-standing client acquired a vacant care home site, that due to being too small and out-dated, had become unable to provide the quality of accommodation required by the Care Quality Commission, and was therefore economically and operationally unviable. Of the two buildings on-site, the client aspired to extend the more recent, award-winning building, and completely redevelop the smaller building to achieve an uplift of 45 bedrooms, whilst retaining two operationally separate buildings for improved infection control.
We identified that the site was located within the green belt, Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Area of Great Landscape Value. A number of Tree Preservations Orders were also located on-site and the topography of the site constrained development options. To overcome these constraints, we took a two-stage approach to securing planning permission. The first application included securing planning permission for the extension of the more recent building that had previously received an award for its outstanding architecture.
The second, and more challenging, application included the redevelopment of the second existing building that was no longer fit-for-purpose. The existing building was small (only 8 bedrooms), broken up, and secluded, yet the proposed building (30 bedrooms and ancillary uses) increased the floorspace by 50%. The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Board agreed with our argument that the proposed redevelopment was not ‘major’ in landscape terms. Despite the site’s location in the green belt, the Council accepted our justification for the increase in floorspace, and the impressive architectural design was commended by the planning officer. In response to Covid-19, amendments were also made to the previously approved application to allow better facilities for visitors to visit their family in the care home.
A significant amount of pre-application engagement was sought, despite the Council not conducting formal pre-application meetings at the current time. Site meetings were held with the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Board, and the local residents’ association. Further engagement was also sought with local residents at various stages of the project.
Our extensive preparation work resulted in there being no technical objections and only 3 public objections for this major development proposal. As a result, councillors made the unanimous decision to approve the application at the Development Management Committee.
