Goldsworth Park

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About Goldsworth Park
Built Heritage and Conservation
Green Belt
Residential Areas
Industrial and Office Development
Shopping
Recreation and Open Space
Community Facilities
Major Roads
Public Transport, Walking and Cycling
Useful Contacts

This Local Plan summary for Goldsworth Park is one of a series of guides covering Woking Borough. It aims to provide a general user friendly overview of how the Woking Borough Local Plan 1999 will manage future development in this area. The Local Plan sets out the Council's policies for the development and use of land and includes the key considerations for determining planning applications. The Council also produces a number of other key strategies which feature policies that are not covered by the Local Plan.

The Local Plan summaries contain a brief discussion of the development issues within each area and how policies will affect them. They also contain details of any specific proposals for the area, together with an extract of the Local Plan Proposals Map. As well as policies on specific development issues, the Local Plan also includes general policies on related matters such as design, landscaping, parking and the effects of traffic which apply to all developments. Although the summary provides an overview of the policies for Goldsworth Park, reference should be made to the Local Plan for the full text of any policies. Relevant Local Plan policies for each issue are shown in brackets. Those areas of Goldsworth Park ward within Woking town centre are described separately in the Woking town centre Local Plan Summary.

About Goldsworth Park

Goldsworth Park is a large housing development built during the 1970's and 1980's which lies to the west of Woking town centre and the recreation ground. The recreation ground features Goldsworth Park Lake which includes a water sport facility and adds character to the area. A supermarket, shops and other facilities are available at the Goldsworth Park Centre. The estate contains a variety of house types and sizes including bungalows, detached and semi-detached homes. Beyond the Goldsworth Park estate there are older properties and a small trading estate towards Woking town centre.

The focus of the Local Plan for Goldsworth Park is on protecting the environment and ensuring that any new development is in keeping with the existing character of the area. As a result, development of a modest scale, appropriate to the area concerned, will be permitted in the Goldsworth Park Centre and existing residential areas, while important open spaces and historic sites will be protected. Only very limited types of building will be permitted in the Green Belt areas south of Littlewick Road around the recreation ground.

For further information about Goldsworth Park please look at the Goldsworth Park Community Association web site.

The following includes a brief description of Goldsworth Park and the relevant Local Plan policies.

Built heritage and conservation

There are three Listed Buildings in the area which are recognised for their architectural or historic interest. These are the Bridge Barn Public House, Bridge Barn Lane; Long Lane Cottage, Clifton Way and Langman's, Langmans Lane.

The Basingstoke Canal lies in the south of the area and is a fully navigable waterway through the Borough. The Canal was restored in the 1990's and is a Conservation Area. The Canal is also protected as a Canal Corridor as it is an important landscape feature. Goldsworth (Langman's) Bridge is a nationally recognised historic site and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The Local Plan seeks to:

  • ensure that development does not harm the character or setting of Listed and Locally Listed Buildings within the area (BE10 - BE14)
  • ensure that any development preserves both the historic character of the Conservation Area (BE9) and its landscape value as a Canal Corridor (NE6)
  • ensure that development does not harm the Goldsworth (Langman's) Bridge Scheduled Ancient Monument (BE15)

Green Belt

The Goldsworth Park Recreation Ground and residential properties south of Littlewick Road lie within the Green Belt. Local Plan policies:

  • protect the Green Belt areas from new building for purposes other than outdoor recreation (GRB1)

Residential areas

The modern residential areas of Goldsworth Park are open plan although garden sizes are relatively small and "permitted development rights" have been removed to protect this character. This means that planning applications for any extension, wall, fence or other structure (e.g. garden sheds, garages, etc) will be required within this area.

Closer to the town centre, there is an area of older Victorian housing which has a distinctly different character to the modern part of Goldsworth Park. Opportunities to build more housing within the built up area are limited, particularly within areas with less housing where new development could be harmful. However, house builders may seek to redevelop sites to provide more houses. In these cases, Local Plan policies aim to:

  • allow the construction of new housing in the urban area, provided the development reflects the character of the area (HSG18)
  • allow house extensions which reflect the form of the building and do not harm the character of the area (HSG23)

Industrial and office development

Goldsworth Road and Poole Road Industrial Estates lie in the eastern part of the area and provide a range of local employment opportunities. In addition, the Goldsworth Park Trading Estate which lies to the north east of the area (in Horsell & Woodham) also provides employment opportunities. However, some of the buildings in these estates may need redevelopment to provide suitable accommodation for modern business needs. The Plan seeks to address this by:

  • allowing industrial or warehousing development at Goldsworth Road and Poole Road Industrial Estates provided it does not harm the environment of the area (EMP4, EMP5)
  • allowing the redevelopment of existing employment sites elsewhere in the area to provide suitable modern business accommodation. These should be broadly in scale to the existing buildings (EMP3)
  • not permitting the loss of any existing employment sites unless the business activity adversely affects local residents. In such cases, a less harmful employment activity or housing development will be permitted (EMP7)

Shopping

The Goldsworth Park Centre is the most modern local centre in the Borough and includes a major supermarket. In 1999, the centre provided shops and other services for the surrounding housing estate and a limited range of other business uses. The Local Plan aims to:

  • allow the change of use of shops to other uses appropriate to the area (financial services and restaurants/takeaways) which maintain the economic health of the centre, provided it does not involve the loss of the supermarket which performs a key role and should be retained (SHP1, SHP3, SHP4, SHP8)
  • Planning permission was granted in 1997 for the development of a Safeway superstore at Goldsworth Road, near its junction with Poole Road (Proposal Site 25/S). Development began in early 2000 and will provide a 5,510 sq.m. (59,300 sq.ft.) new foodstore with instore créche, coffee shop and dry cleaners, 560 car parking spaces, a new car dealership and highway improvements. In comparison, Waitrose in the Goldsworth Park Centre, has a floor area of 1,545 sq.m. (16,640 sq.ft).

Recreation and open space

Goldsworth Park Lake and Recreation Ground lie in the north of the area providing major sports facilities which are well used. However, there is very limited open space in the south of the area, other than small areas of open space such as the land at the Triangle, Parley Drive, De Lara Way or alongside the Basingstoke Canal. The Canal also provides recreational opportunities which could be enhanced. Goldsworth Park also includes a number of areas of Urban Open Space which contribute to the character and appearance of the area. The Local Plan:

  • resists the loss of formal and informal recreational space (REC3, REC4)
  • protects the important areas of designated Urban Open Space at Goldsworth Park Lake, off Kirkland Avenue, off Lockfield Drive, on Parley Drive, alongside the Basingstoke Canal and the school playing fields at Goldsworth County Primary School because of their contribution to the character and appearance of the area (BE7)
  • seeks enhancement of the recreational potential of the Basingstoke Canal (REC15)

Community facilities

There is a wide range of community facilities serving the local area including schools, a youth and community centre, health centre and a church. Local Plan policies:

  • resist the loss of community facilities unless there is no longer a need for the facility or where adequate alternative provision is made (CUS2)

Major Roads

The A324 (Lockfield Drive) is a major route which passes through the area providing good road connections with other areas of the Borough and beyond. It is an important through route which suffer from heavy traffic, particularly at peak times. As well as being inconvenient for road users, this can damage the quality of the environment in the area. To address this, the Local Plan:

  • supports the implementation of a route management study for the A324 by Surrey County Council, which will establish and examine the needs of all road users whilst taking account of environmental considerations (MV26)

Public Transport, Walking and Cycling

Local Plan policies aim to support initiatives which reduce the demands on the road network by ensuring that alternatives such as public transport, walking and cycling are safe, convenient and accessible. Currently (2000), public transport accessibility in the area varies from very good close to the town centre to good in the western part of the area. Local Plan policies:

  • support proposals which lead to improvements in pedestrian and/or cycle facilities (MV17, MV18)
  • support infrastructure developments and priority measures which lead to improvements in bus services together with increased links with other types of public transport (MV20, MV21)

Detailed proposals for maintenance and improvement of roads, cycle and pedestrian routes and public transport are not part of the Local Plan. These are set out in the Surrey Local Transport Plan (Woking Area Implementation Programme).

Useful Contacts

For any other information, please contact the Council on 01483 755855, email wokbc@woking.gov.uk.