Woking refused on 4 November a bid to turn Crown Place's community floors into commercial space and residents' amenity. Its reasons are not yet published.

Woking Borough Council has refused to let the developer of the Crown Place tower drop the community space it promised. The decision was issued today, Wednesday 4 November.

The application, AMEND/2026/0024, asked to change the scheme on the former Big Apple site on Chertsey Road (planning register, AMEND/2026/0024):

  • the ground-floor community space would have become flexible Class E use, which covers shops, cafes, offices and similar
  • the first-floor community space and its terrace would have become amenity space for the tower’s residents

The register records the decision as “Refused”. The decision notice was not on the register when we checked, so we cannot yet say why.

Why it was a “non-material” application

The developer applied for a non-material amendment, the route for small changes to a permission. There is no neighbour consultation period on these applications. So the refusal came without the public comment stage a full application would have had.

Crown Place has a long history. The council refused the scheme in March 2020, and it was allowed on appeal. The permission covers a building of 5 to 28 storeys with up to 366 homes, shops and “community uses” on the ground and first floors (PLAN/2019/1141 on PlanIt).

We reported the application in October, when the council’s target date was 19 October. The decision has come 16 days after that.

What is still undecided

A second application, AMEND/2026/0025, was still marked “Pending Consideration” today. It covers changes to the elevations, materials, windows, substation, rooftop, drainage and internal layouts, and to Condition 33 on environmental standards (planning register, AMEND/2026/0025).

Today’s refusal does not affect the appeal permission itself, which stays in place. It means the community floors remain part of the approved scheme unless the developer finds another route to change them.

What it means for you

  • If you use or run a community group in the town centre: the ground and first floor community space remains part of what was approved. The register does not say who would run it or when it would open.
  • If you want to follow it: the two application pages above are public, and the decision notice should appear under the documents tab.

We will update this story when the council’s reasons are published.