Woking Borough Council
Civic OfficesGloucester SquareWokingSurreyGU21 6YL
Telephone: 01483 755855
Local Plan
The Woking Borough Local Plan was adopted by the Council on 27 August 1999. It sets out the Council's policies for the development and use of land and includes the key considerations for determining planning applications. An electronic copy of the plan is available on the Planning Portal website www.planningportal.gov.uk
Paper copies can be ordered from the Council.
Context of Woking Borough Local Plan
The Woking Borough Local Plan is one element of the development plan for Woking Borough. The other elements are:
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Surrey Structure Plan - this is a strategic plan guiding development throughout Surrey.
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Surrey Minerals Plan - this is the detailed plan providing land use policy for dealing with proposals for mineral extraction.
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Surrey Waste Plan - this is the detailed plan providing land use policy for dealing with proposals relating to the collection and disposal of waste.
In addition, Regional Planning Guidance for the South East Region (RPG9) sets out the Government's broad guidance concerning development within South East England. RPG9 provides the framework for both the Surrey Structure Plan and Woking Borough Local Plan.
Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act RPGs are to be replaced by Regional Spatial Strategies. South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) will be replacing RPG9 with the South East Plan.
Saving policies and resulting changes to the Local Plan
Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 planning policies from the Woking Borough Local Plan 1999 were saved for three years from 28 September 2004, the date of commencement of Section 38 of the Act.
On 25th September 2007, the Council received a direction from the Secretary of State, through the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) that the majority of the policies in the Local Plan can continue to be saved and used until they are replaced. 14 policies were not saved because they were out of date, unnecessary, were not consistent with or repeated national policies. The 14 policies are outlined in this table.
The direction letter from GOSE made specific reference has been made to policy HSG21: Outlook, Amenity, Privacy and Daylight. We assume that this is because a representation was made by a third party to GOSE that this policy should not be saved. However, GOSE have considered that the policy should be saved, as requested by the Council.
Area summaries
The Council has produced 14 Area Summaries of the Local Plan which provide a general overview of how development within specific parts of the Borough will be managed. The summaries available are shown on the map and links are at the bottom of this page.
Supplementary Planning Guidance
The Council has also produced a number of Supplementary Planning Guidances (SPGs) to amplify the policies of the Local Plan. These can be viewed electronically or a paper copy can be purchased for a small fee.
Review of Woking Borough Local Plan
The Government has introduced the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 which changes the way in which development plans are prepared. The Council is required to produce a Local Development Framework (LDF) to replace its Local Plan. The LDF will take the shape of a portfolio of Local Development Documents (LDDs).
As part of the LDF the Council will produce a Statement of Community Involvement to detail how its community and stakeholders will be involved.
Have Your Say!
If you would like to be involved in the Council's Local Development Framework you can register online or telephone the Planning Policy team on: 01483 743871.
