Sunbury Golf Club housing plan: what it says and how to comment

A planning application has been submitted to build up to 507 homes, a care home and a medical centre on the eastern half of Sunbury Golf Club, between Charlton Lane and the Upper Halliford Bypass. We have read the main documents so you don't have to. Here is what is proposed, the arguments on both sides, and how to have your say.

What is proposed

The site is the part of the golf club bounded by Charlton Lane to the north, the A244 to the east, the River Ash to the south and the Shepperton railway line to the west. It is the green space you see between Shepperton and Upper Halliford.

Cater Properties is asking for outline permission. That means the council is being asked to agree the principle of development and how vehicles get in and out. The layout, the look of the buildings and the exact housing mix would come later, in further applications.

• Up to 507 homes. Half would be affordable housing, around 250 homes.
• A care home of up to 75 beds.
• A medical centre of up to 650 square metres. The application does not yet say who would run it or whether it would bring extra GPs.
• Open space of just under 8 hectares, including play areas. The large central pond and the veteran trees in the north-east corner would be kept.
• Access from a new junction with traffic lights on the Upper Halliford Bypass, with a second entrance on Charlton Lane.

Construction would run for around seven years. At its busiest, the developer expects about 30 construction vehicle trips a day each way, 20 of them lorries. Working hours would be 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.

What happens to the golf

The club, run by Crown Golf, currently has an 18-hole course, a 9-hole course and a 32-bay driving range. After the development it would have a 12-hole course and the driving range. That is a net loss of 15 holes.

The club had 644 members in May 2026, including 134 juniors. The developer's own golf report notes that junior membership is full with a waiting list. The same report concludes there is enough spare capacity at other courses within a 20-minute drive to meet demand, so the lost holes are not needed.

The Green Belt question

This is likely to be the heart of the decision.

The site is in the Metropolitan Green Belt. It was put forward for housing during the preparation of Spelthorne's Local Plan and was not taken forward. The Local Plan adopted in March 2026 does not allocate it. The developer accepts the scheme conflicts with the plan's strategy for where new homes should go.

The council's own Green Belt study from 2017 found that the site forms almost the entire undeveloped gap between Shepperton and Upper Halliford, and gave it the highest score for stopping settlements merging.

The developer's main argument is that the site now counts as grey belt. Since late 2024, national planning rules allow some Green Belt land that does little to serve key Green Belt purposes to be built on, if certain conditions are met, including a high share of affordable homes. The developer argues that the rule about stopping places merging applies to towns, not villages, and that Upper Halliford is a village. On that reading, they say the gap matters less than the 2017 study suggested.

If the council does not accept that, the developer puts forward a second case: that there are "very special circumstances", mainly the need for housing and affordable homes.

The developer also points out that Spelthorne built only 61% of its required homes in the latest government figures. Under national rules, that makes it harder for the council to refuse housing unless the harm clearly outweighs the benefits.

What the developer says the benefits are

• Up to 507 homes in a borough that is behind on housing delivery
• Around 250 affordable homes
• A care home and a medical centre
• Public open space and play areas
• Better walking and cycling links towards Shepperton station
• Around 270 construction jobs a year while it is built, and jobs at the care home and medical centre afterwards
• At least a 10% gain in biodiversity, which is the legal minimum

What the developer's own reports accept

Planning documents have to set out the downsides too. These are taken from the developer's Planning Statement and Environmental Statement:

• The loss of 87 trees and six groups of trees
• Significant harm to the local landscape and views, particularly during construction and the early years
• Significant pressure on water supply and sewers, which would need upgrading
• Conflict with the Local Plan
• No new school. The effect on school places would be dealt with through payments to be agreed later.

The land has a history too. It was a sand and gravel pit and then a landfill site, mainly for incinerator ash and construction waste, before it became a golf course. The developer's clean-up plan includes capping the ground with clean soil, gas protection for buildings and possible treatment of the pond water for PFAS, sometimes called forever chemicals. Their assessment concludes the site can be made safe.

What people told the developer

Before submitting, the developer leafleted around 3,450 local addresses and ran an online consultation from 7th to 22nd July 2026. It received 86 responses.

Of the 66 people who answered whether the homes would help meet local housing need, 50 strongly disagreed. The most common concerns were traffic (42 mentions), the number of homes (35), pressure on schools and services (32), the Green Belt (30), and wildlife and trees (22). The loss of golf and questions about the medical centre were each raised 19 times.

Those responses went to the developer, not the council. If you want the council to hear your view, you need to comment on the planning application itself.

How to comment

Anyone can comment, whether you object, support the plan, or just want to raise a point. The deadline is Wednesday 7th October 2026.

1. Online: go to application 26/00822/OUT on Spelthorne's planning site and use the Comments tab. You will need to register or log in.
2. By email: write to planningdm@spelthorne.gov.uk quoting reference 26/00822/OUT.
3. By post: Planning Development Management, Spelthorne Borough Council, Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames TW18 1XB, quoting 26/00822/OUT.

Include your name and address. Anonymous comments are not normally considered, and comments may be published on the council's website.

What the council can take into account

Planners can only weigh "material planning considerations". A short comment that sticks to these, in your own words, carries more weight than a long one that doesn't.

What happens next

Council officers are now gathering views from other organisations, such as the highways authority, alongside comments from the public. The council's target for a decision is 1st January 2027.

Officers can refuse the application themselves. If they recommend approval, it would go to the council's Planning Committee, a public meeting. If it is refused, the developer can appeal to the government's Planning Inspectorate.

We will follow this application and report what happens. Subscribe to The Sheppertonian to hear first.

Sources: Spelthorne Borough Council planning file 26/00822/OUT, including the applicant's Planning Statement, Environmental Statement Non-Technical Summary, Statement of Community Engagement and Golf Needs Assessment. Read on 17th September 2026. Figures are the applicant's own unless stated. If you spot an error, reply to any of our emails and we will put it right.