Council rejects its own £250k planning application

Spelthorne Borough Council said its own planning applications face the same scrutiny as everyone else's

A Surrey council investigated by the government for how it handles “extreme” debt spent nearly £250,000 on a planning application - only for its own councillors to reject it.

Spelthorne Borough Council wanted to build 17 homes on land next to White House homeless accommodation in Kingston Road, Ashford, but the application was refused.

Councillors said the proposed designs were of a “poor standard”, “cramped” with a “poor level of amenity space”.

The council said its planning applications are subject to the same process, consideration and scrutiny as any other applicant, meaning approval is not guaranteed.

A Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found the council spent £244,452 on the failed plans.

None of the 17 homes were affordable housing, but the plan was recommended for approval.

Unanimously rejected

The council said it had always planned to approach Homes England for a grant to allow the homes to be made available at affordable rates, once the application had been granted.

The plans were rejected by 13 votes to zero.

The only councillor to abstain was Lawrence Nichols, due to him being a board member for Knowle Green Estates - the company which would have built the homes.

A spokesman for the council said there was "no conflict of interest" on Mr Nichols' behalf as "this was a council application not a Knowle Green Estates Ltd application".

As of March 2023, Spelthorne Borough Council had £1.96bn of debt, the second-highest level of debt for a district authority in England.