Woking Borough Council

Registers

Brownfield Land Register

The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 and the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 require local authorities to prepare and maintain registers of brownfield land that is considered to be appropriate for residential development.

Part 1 of the register comprises all brownfield sites that the Council has assessed as being appropriate for residential development. All sites included on Part 1 have been assessed as meeting the National Planning Policy Framework definition of previously developed (brownfield) land:

Land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface infrastructure. This excludes: land that is or was last occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings; land that has been developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill, where provision for restoration has been made through development management procedures; land in built-up areas such as private residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments; and land that was previously-developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape.

To be considered suitable for housing, sites must meet the definition of brownfield land and be:

  • Available for residential development;
  • Suitable for residential development and free from constraints that cannot be mitigated;
  • Achievable - development is likely within 15 years; and
  • Capable of supporting five or more dwellings, or have an area of at least 0.25ha.

Currently, there are 58 sites included in Part 1 of Woking Borough Council's Brownfield Land Register. Details of a further 31 sites which no longer need to be included as active sites on the register are retained for historical reasons in accordance with the Planning Practice Guidance. 3 sites were removed from the active list and added to the non-active list in 2024. This is due to development completions on two of these sites and one site no longer being available for development. 1 new site has been added '"The Anchor Public House', which has been granted planning permission for 8 dwellings.

The inclusion of sites on Part 1 does not give them any formal status, or grant permission in principle. Planning applications on these sites will be considered on their merits in accordance with the Local Development Plan, national policy and any other material considerations.

Woking Borough Council's Brownfield Land Register 2024 comprises:

  • Brownfield sites allocated for residential development, or mixed use development that includes a residential component, in the Council's adopted Site Allocations Development Plan Document (2021). These are assessed as being deliverable and developable against the criteria of the National Planning Policy Framework;
  • SHLAA Sites that have recently been reviewed and are assessed as being deliverable and developable against the criteria in the National Planning Policy Framework;
  • Brownfield sites that have been granted planning permission and have not started.

Brownfield Land Register 2024

Woking Borough Council's Brownfield Land Register 2024 (Part 1) can be found below:

Part 2 of the register will be a subset of the sites in Part 1 and will be used to identify sites that the Council considers should be granted permission in principle (PiP). PiP is a tool which is intended to work alongside existing routes for obtaining planning permission. It can only be granted on housing-led developments and is intended to offer an alternative route to obtaining planning permission.

At the current time, the Council is not granting permission in principle for any sites on Part 1 of its Brownfield Land Register, so is not publishing Part 2 of the register. This is something that the Council will consider further and decide on in due course.

Self-build/Custom-build Housing Register

The Council keeps a register for people or associations who are seeking to bring forward a Self- Build/Customised Building project within Woking Borough. Please visit the Council's corporate website here for further details.

Please contact the Planning Policy team with any queries: