Permission given to review stately home plans

Permission has been given by the High Court to proceed with a judicial review into a council's decision to approve redevelopment plans for a historic mansion.

Plans for Clandon Park, near Guildford, Surrey, were approved by the borough council in March 2025 following a fire at the site in 2015.

Anya Lucas, director of The Georgian Group, said if the consents were not quashed it would "set a dangerous precedent with far-reaching negative consequences for designated heritage assets".

The National Trust, which owns the site, said it remained committed to completing its proposed scheme, which will "conserve the surviving building at Clandon and renew it as a welcoming, fully functional building".

Guildford Borough Council said the review would look at the way the decision was made, not whether it should have been approved, and that it would defend its decision at the hearing.

Clandon Park, as it is today, was built in the 1730s. Before the fire, the buildings interiors were among the finest surviving examples from the period, The Georgian Group said.

Proposals for the building include transforming the roof into a public terrace, as well as restoring the exterior "so that it appears as it did before the blaze", according to the National Trust.

The trust previously said it hoped to reopen the building by 2029.

The Georgian Group argued that the council's decision-making to approve the proposals was unlawful.

The conservation charity added that it had been granted permission to apply for judicial review on eight grounds, including a flawed and inconsistent approach to heritage benefits and impacts, failure to consider alternative schemes, and failure to consider cumulative harm.

A date for the hearing has not yet been set, but the High Court has designated the legal challenge as a significant planning court claim, meaning it will be expedited and decided by a specialist judge, The Georgian Group said.

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