An 80-year-old charity for the disabled may move out of Leatherhead if plans to redevelop its site with new facilities and housing are refused by councillors.

The Queen Elizabeth Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) is applying for planning permission to modernise its site in Leatherhead Court, Woodlands Road, Leatherhead.

The charity, which provides employability training for the disabled, independent living accommodation, education and rehabilitation, plans to create a modern campus with learning, sport and leisure facilities, accommodation for 48 trainees and a "charitable hub".

It will also include the construction of 76 homes in order to help to fund the redevelopment.

But the charity’s chief executive, Jonathan Powell, hinted that QEF's time in Leatherhead may be up if the application is refused by Mole Valley Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, August, 6. 

The council’s officers have recommended refusal.

Your Local Guardian:

Mr Powell said: "The most positive outcome after 80 years in Leatherhead will be we are able to modernise our outdated facilities which are no longer appropriate for disabled people. 

"We have had to vacate some accommodation blocks as they’re not fit for human habitation.

"With the redevelopment we can continue and improve what we do. 

"40 per cent of the people who are referred to us with disabilities and are unemployed obtain employment because of our training.

"To be able to redevelop we absolutely need to realise the value of the land we would release and hope to do that in a way that is acceptable to the local authority.

"If the application is refused we will have to consider our future because all of our work over the last five years has been focused on our ability to redevelop and modernise."

Your Local Guardian:

The first phase of the £22m development would include an initial accommodation block and industrial training space costing around £7.8 million and would funded from cash reserves.

Further development, including the creation of charity hub facilities, would be funded by the sale of land for private housing development.

Council officers said the 75 homes would be "inappropriate development", harmful to the greenbelt, and the charity had not demonstrated the ‘very special circumstances’ required to develop in the greenbelt.

In a remote location, officers also said the site would be unsustainable for housing.

In its application, QEF said the proposed development demonstrated the ‘very special circumstances’ required - that it would not have a greater impact than the current buildings have on the openness of the greenbelt and the redevelopment as a whole would be in the public interest.

Mr Powell added: "This is land that is actually developed. 

"It is technically greenbelt land, but it already has buildings on it and our plans significantly enhance the character of the greenbelt rather than cause detriment to it."   

Your Local Guardian: