An outline planning application to build some 650 homes on the site of Sutton Green Golf Club has been submitted to Woking Borough Council.

The application (PLAN/2026/0042) reads: Outline planning application comprising the erection of up to 650 homes with associated parking, infrastructure and open space; a care home and commercial and community uses and a publicly-accessible SANG country park. Sutton Green Golf Club, New Lane, Sutton Green, Woking, GU4 7QF.

Item 1.2 of the 74-page planning statement states: “This planning application is the result of extensive technical work and engagement carried out over a number of years. The submitted proposals have been carefully informed by the site’s constraints and opportunities and represent a considered response to the surrounding context in terms of layout, infrastructure, building height and design quality.

“The scheme will deliver much-needed family housing in a sustainable and logical location for growth, while also securing significant public benefits – including the provision of 50 per cent affordable housing, specialist housing for older people, supporting service infrastructure and substantial network of green infrastructure throughout the site to create an outstanding place to live.”

However, the proposals have already drawn significant local opposition with almost 30 objections quickly on the application.

Many of the objections note that the site is Green Belt and helps check Woking’s urban spread while providing a buffer between the coalescence of Woking and Guildford.

Others reference, among other points, the generation of noise level, an over-density of development, traffic volume, parking and the loss of trees to the site.

The development of Sutton Green Golf Club, which opened in 1994, has simmered for a number of years - the News & Mail reported a proposed outline planning application as far back as 2022.

Then, as now, opposition was just as strong, with Woking MP Will Forster, at that time a county councillor for Woking South, a leading voice against the proposed development.