The library's five-year temporary consent at the Old Sorting Office expires on 26 August. Surrey County Council wants another year while Botanical Place is fitted out.

The planning permission that lets West Byfleet Library operate from the Old Sorting Office expires today. Surrey County Council has applied for another year, because the library that was meant to replace it, inside Botanical Place, is not finished.

The original consent, reference WO/2021/0736, was granted on 26 August 2021 and ran for five years. Condition 3 required the library use to stop at the end of that period, and the ramp and lighting installed for it to be taken out. The county’s application seeks to vary that condition and continue “for a further temporary period of up to one year”, to 26 August 2027 (Woking Borough Council planning register, PLAN/2026/0571).

Why the library is there in the first place

The Old Sorting Office on Rosemount Avenue was Royal Mail’s, then commercial offices. In 2021 the county council took temporary consent to use it as a library, because the site of the original West Byfleet library, the block formerly known as Sheer House, was being redeveloped into Botanical Place, and the new scheme includes a permanent library.

The supporting statement submitted with the application puts the reason for the extension plainly: the fit-out of Botanical Place is not complete, and the county needs the Old Sorting Office “to allow completion of the fit-out of Botanical Place at West Byfleet village, into which the library will be permanently relocated as soon as this becomes ready” (planning statement, 2 July 2026, Union4 Planning for Surrey County Council).

What the county says is coming, and when

Surrey County Council’s own page for the library sets out the plan for the new space at Botanical Place, 8 Station Approach. It will include:

  • study areas with individual desks, collaborative space and public PCs
  • height-adjustable desks and privacy screens
  • a children’s area with age-appropriate zones and reading nooks
  • a coffee and refreshments point
  • a meeting room for up to eight people, available to hire, with a digital screen, Wi-Fi, charging points and a small kitchenette
  • a public toilet with baby changing
  • movable shelving so the space can be reconfigured for events

On timing, the county’s page says works are planned to start on site in autumn 2026, with the new library opening in early 2027. Residents saw the proposed designs in the library between 11 March and 11 April 2026, and the council says there will be a second chance to comment on refreshed designs in early autumn (Surrey County Council: West Byfleet Library).

Put the two documents side by side and the extension request makes sense. If the new library opens in early 2027, a permission running to August 2027 leaves roughly six months of headroom. It is an extension asked for with room to spare rather than one asked for at the last possible moment, even though the current consent runs out today.

Who decides, and how to comment

This is a county matter, because the applicant is Surrey County Council and the development is on its own service. Woking Borough Council is being consulted rather than deciding: its register carries two linked records, PLAN/2026/0570 as the formal consultation and PLAN/2026/0571 as the substantive case. Surrey County Council determines it under its own reference SCCRef-2026-0112.

  • Determination deadline: Wednesday 23 September 2026, on Woking’s record.
  • Comments logged so far: none, when we checked on 26 August.
  • Ward: Byfleet and West Byfleet.
  • Where to comment: the comment form on Woking’s register. Surrey’s own planning register, at planning.surreycc.gov.uk, would not load for us today.

One quirk is worth noting. If the extension is granted to 26 August 2027, the authority that granted it will already have gone. Surrey County Council and Woking Borough Council both cease to exist on 1 April 2027, when a single West Surrey Council takes on both borough and county services across six boroughs (Surrey LGR Hub). The library service, and the permission, transfer with everything else.

The application does not seek to change any of the other conditions attached in 2021. The statement says condition 4, which restricts hours of operation, and condition 5, on the lighting specification, stay as they are.

The policy point the statement has to answer

The 2021 permission was time-limited under policy CS3 of Woking’s Core Strategy, which safeguards office floorspace in the West Byfleet district centre. The county’s answer is that no office floorspace is lost permanently, because it is only asking for a temporary consent again; that it is legally required to provide a “comprehensive and efficient” library service; and that there is an urgent need to keep the library going until Botanical Place is ready.

What it means for you

  • The library is not closing. Nothing in the application suggests a break in service. It is an application to keep the current building in use.
  • Current opening hours are unchanged: Monday 2pm to 5pm; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm; Saturday 10am to 4pm; closed Wednesday and Sunday. There is free parking for library users, with one accessible bay, and ramp access on one level.
  • It is shut on Monday 31 August. Surrey closes all its libraries on bank holidays.
  • If you have a view on another year at the Old Sorting Office, say so before 23 September. No comments had been registered when we checked.
  • Watch for the second design consultation on the Botanical Place library in early autumn. The first ran for a month in the spring.

Our Woking planning applications guide explains how to search the register and how long you get to comment on any scheme in the borough.

Sources

Planning applications can be amended or withdrawn, and dates on the register can move. Checked against the sources above on 26 August 2026.