Egham: Petition launched after firm told to demolish hotel wing

The owner of Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel has offered to demolish another site after a planning enforcement notice was served

A petition has been launched to stop a billionaire Tory donor's hotel firm from setting a "dangerous planning precedent" on Surrey green belt.

Runnymede Borough Council said an extension to the Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel has no planning permission.

In a bid to save the five-star hotel in Egham, its owner, Arora Group, wants to tear down a derelict mansion on the nearby Parkwood Estate in exchange.

A community group is calling on the council to "enforce planning laws".

Tina Dallman, of the Greenbelt Watch group, said: "Our main goal is to find a solution.

"We're not saying tear down the hotel, but what the solution is we don't know yet - it has to be strong enough to stop anyone else from doing it."

The council said the group's petition was "unlikely to be valid" as the borough did not have the power to make anyone withdraw a planning application.

"If a residents' campaign group wishes to seek their own legal or planning advice then that is their prerogative to do so," it said.

"The council will continue to consider these planning matters in line with its adopted policies and consider applications on their individual merits."

Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen agreed on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland at the hotel

Arora Group, which is owned by businessman and Conservative Party donor Surinder Arora, admits that its luxury hotel takes up 2,868 sq metres of unauthorised space.

Speaking last year after the council issued a planning enforcement notice, Mr Arora said: "We are truly sorry for the mistakes made."

An Arora Group spokesperson said it wanted to resolve "the current planning situation while maintaining operations at the world class hotel we have built and which provides employment and wider economic benefits to the area".

The hotel hosted the signing of the Windsor Framework last February, where Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen agreed on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].