We have now submitted the formal Objection Report to Elmbridge Council on behalf of Stoke D’Abernon Residents’ Association. As previously communicated, this has been developed by professional Planning and Transport Consultants paid through your generous contributions to our Go Fund Me campaign. You can click below to read the full document.

What our professional advisors found

Our consultants have highlighted the technical and legal issues with the Developer’s additional information and also pointed out where evidential gaps exist and policy conflicts arise. We have copied the objection report overview section below for your convenience.

Objection report overview

This application seeks permission to develop designated Green Belt land between established rural settlement edges. The applicant has responded to statutory and non-statutory consultees during the consultation period, channelled principally through the cover letter by Lichfields to Elmbridge Borough Council dated 27 October 2025. Based on a review of the applicant’s documentation, the statutory consultee responses and planning policy, this application does not meet the necessary legal or planning requirements for approval.

Key failures include:

• No demonstrated Very Special Circumstances for Green Belt development
• Incomplete ecological surveys and evidence, contrary to the Habitats Regulations
• Transport access that does not meet safety standards, particularly LTN 1/20
• Drainage evidence not yet validated, contrary to NPPF requirements
• The landscape sensitivity of the site is not adequately addressed
• Scale of development and its massing described by parameter plans is inconsistent
  with local settlement character and The Council’s Design Code

While the applicant has submitted some amended documents, the updated material does not resolve the core policy conflicts or evidential gaps identified by statutory consultees and planning policy requirements.

Much of the submission remains conceptual rather than proven and relies on deferring essential lawful tests to future conditions, which is not permitted where matters concern safety, protected species, drainage feasibility, transport compliance or Green Belt justification. Some of the responses to specific concerns raised in the SDRA Objection Report fall into the category of subjective discourse. Some are not responded to at all.

Further, there are references to pre-application dialogue between the applicant and the Council couched in a manner that requires no further discussion. Pre-application advice does not constitute support in principle. It is expressly non-committal and does not override the statutory requirement to determine the proposal in accordance with the development plan, the NPPF and evidence submitted at the application stage. Where substantial policy conflict and evidential gaps remain, any pre-application discussion is irrelevant to determination.

Accordingly, the amendments carry limited weight, the amount of technical detail that is being left to future determination is unacceptably large and, as a result, the application remains unsuitable for approval.

What you can do now

If you haven’t already submitted further objections, please do send in your comments. Your original objections remain valid, but it is helpful to have further objections highlighting the inadequacy of the Developer’s additional information. Multiple objections demonstrate the strength of community concern. The original deadline was 2/12/25, but comments will still be accepted until the Planning Committee meeting date (to be confirmed).

Next steps

The Planning Officer will now produce their report and recommendation, which will obviously be crucial and will determine the actions we will have to take. We will keep you informed as soon as we hear any news or updates.