Woking Planning: Adviser Opposes Anchor Pub's Canal Awning

The Anchor at Pyrford Lock wants to cover its canal-side seating with three new awnings. The council’s own conservation adviser says two of them are fine. The third, a 16-metre awning on a permanent frame beside the towpath, would be “unacceptable”, according to the adviser’s response to planners.

It leads 37 applications validated by Woking Borough Council since our last planning roundup. Below are the ones that matter most, then the full list. Comment deadlines are from the council’s planning register.

The ones to know about

The Anchor, Pyrford Lock. The pub sits beside the Wey Navigation, inside the Wey and Godalming Navigations Conservation Area. Its application asks for three things (PLAN/2026/0704):

• two 4 by 4 metre “Jumbrella” umbrellas over the southern deck by the lock
• a retractable wall-mounted awning in the small northern courtyard, where the hot-food catering trailer would be removed
• a retractable awning of 16 by 3 metres over the raised western deck, held up by a metal “goal post” frame

Lighting, heating and planters are part of the scheme. The pub’s design statement says the decks are “restricted during inclement weather” and that the plans “intentionally avoid solid or enclosed additions alongside the waterway” (design and access statement).

The council’s historic buildings and conservation adviser replied on 21 October. The adviser called the umbrellas “appropriate and proportional” and the courtyard awning “acceptable”. But the long awning by the footpath and canal, the response says, “would be disproportionate and dominant and harm the setting of the Navigation Conservation Area”. The response adds that its frame “would be permanent even when the [awning] was retracted” (consultee comment).

That view is advice to the case officer, not a decision. Comments by 9 November; the council’s target date is 4 December.

Edwins Garden Centre, Egley Road, Mayford. Buildings at the garden centre would become Adventure Paws, a dog play and training centre, with an outdoor lawn, covered decking and a green roof (PLAN/2026/0607). The planning statement sets these limits (planning statement):

• no more than 12 dogs on site at once, and 10 in a public session
• owners stay with their dogs: no daycare and no overnight boarding
• open 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends
• up to three staff, with customers using the garden centre’s 100 shared parking spaces

The garden centre is a safeguarded site for future development in the council’s Site Allocations plan. The statement calls this “an interim, small-scale reuse” that would not stop a later redevelopment. The council’s environmental health team raised no objection on 23 October (consultee comment). Comments by 10 November.

126 High Street, Old Woking. The rear building, now used by a testing and consultancy firm, would be converted and extended into six flats: five one-bedroom and one two-bedroom (PLAN/2026/0692). With the existing homes at the front and a garage that already has approval to become a home, the site would hold seven homes. Each flat gets one parking space, according to the applicant’s planning statement. The council’s conservation adviser has “no design or conservation concerns”. Comments by 10 November.

Heather Farm, Horsell Common. Heather Farm Ltd wants to turn 122.2 square metres of storage in the barn off Chobham Road into indoor sport and fitness space (PLAN/2026/0680). The tenant would be First Dance Studios, an adult dance, fitness and choir group. The planning statement says it also runs movement sessions in care homes. Nothing changes outside the building, which already houses gymnastics space and a cafe. Comments by 2 November.

Lloyds, Commercial Way. The bank would move one cash machine and replace the other with an accessible one, with new railings and graphics (PLAN/2026/0707). Comments by 9 November.

New Life Church, Old Woking. More parking at the front and back, and a new vehicle entrance from Trentham Crescent (PLAN/2026/0695). Comments by 10 November.

New homes on existing plots. Five small housing schemes:

• Acre Holt, Golf Club Road, Hook Heath (PLAN/2026/0661): the house split in two and two new detached houses built, four homes in all. Comments by 3 November.
• Unit 4, Park Court, Pyrford Road, West Byfleet (PLAN/2026/0702): offices to three homes under permitted development rights. Comments by 2 November.
• Chinthurst, Kingfield Road (PLAN/2026/0617): a bungalow replaced by two chalet bungalows. Comments by 5 November.
• Shrubbery Cottage, Triggs Lane (PLAN/2026/0706): a bungalow replaced by a pair of semi-detached houses. Comments by 3 November.
• 27 Mabel Street (PLAN/2026/0474): a three-storey house on part of the garden. Comments by 12 November.

Everything else

The other applications are household and minor works:

Still waiting

Several applications from earlier roundups are still undecided on the register. They include the Crown Place community space change, the 14 homes at Red House in Brookwood, the nine-person HMO at 40 Chobham Road, and the sports pavilions at Sheets Heath and Brewery Road. The next Planning Committee is on 9 November; the 20 October meeting was cancelled (committee meetings).

From 31 October, new national rules mean most smaller applications must be decided by officers, not councillors. Full Council approved the local changes on 15 October (how call-ins end).

What it means for you

• Anyone can comment on an application until its deadline, using the reference number on the council’s planning register. Comments must be about planning matters, such as design, noise, parking or heritage.
• If you use the towpath at Pyrford Lock or drink at the Anchor, the awning plan is the one to read: the drawings show where the frame would go.
• Neighbours of Edwins on Egley Road can read the operating plan, which sets out how barking would be managed.
• Our Woking planning applications page explains how to search the register and what each type of application means.