Update on SEND school in Dorking

Councillor Margaret Cooksey, Mole Valley District Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “You may remember that our most recent update on proposals for a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) School in Dorking anticipated additional information the Department for Education (DfE) wanted to submit would be with us by the end of October 2024. Had that date been met, the earliest opportunity a new application could have been considered would have been the development management committee on 5 February 2025.

“We have sought an urgent meeting with DfE and its agent since the end of October. When a meeting was established with DfE’s representatives on Wednesday 20 November, they were unable to give clarity on when the additional information will be submitted to us.

“I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that we remain committed to making a new planning decision as soon as possible. We fully understand the importance of timely progress, however, the timeframe for bringing this application to a future development management committee meeting is entirely dependent on when the DfE provides the additional information it wishes to submit.

“It is now impossible to make a decision in February given the statutory timescales around the amount of consultation we wish to undertake on the proposals and new information from DfE. We will continue to keep you informed of the latest developments as and when we have further information to bring.”