Councillors have secretly voted to withdraw their reasons for refusal for an application on Tolworth’s Toby Jug site that could see the “thumbs up” for more than 700 homes built next to the A3.

European investment firm Meyer Homes, which bought the site off of Hook Rise South from Tesco last autumn, launched an appeal against a refused outline planning application submitted for 705 homes, as well as a doctor’s surgery, cafe, nursery and offices.

From JULY: Outline plans for 705 homes in Tolworth rejected

Councillors had voted in July to refuse the application, which had removed the two tallest 15 and 18-storey tower blocks and added a “town square”, on the grounds of density and the impact the plans would have on traffic near and around Tolworth roundabout.

A Meyer Homes spokesman told the Comet in October that the application had been “strongly supported by officers, the GLA and TfL as well as Design South East”, while presenting separate plans to deliver nearly 1,000 homes in its place, claiming there was an “aspiration to see this site deliver more homes than previously proposed”.

The original application was due to go before a public inquiry of the Planning Inspectorate of Kingston Council in April.

From OCTOBER: Tolworth Toby Jug developer wants to build even more than the 700 homes previously planned for Tesco site​

But at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the development control committee on Wednesday night, councillors voted to withdraw their reasons for refusal after seeking “independent legal advice from leading Counsel.”

Furious Liberal Democrats blasted the decision, saying they believe it will give Meyer Homes the “thumbs up”.

An outraged Lorraine Rolfe said the Conservative administration had “sold residents of Tolworth down the A3”.

She said: “To have done this behind closed doors after residents have campaigned for so many years is adding insult to injury.

“I am allowed to say, we voted against this decision. Frankly, I’m disgusted - residents will now see how they cannot trust this Conservative administration.

“We have always been against cramming too many units on this site. We need homes - we need affordable homes but let’s make sensible decisions about the number of homes that can be reasonably accommodated on any site.”

Lib Dem leader Liz Green said that there were two aspects to the decision – one being to ask the developers to withdraw their appeal, the other being that if it were to go before the Planning Inspectorate, to ask that it be done by written representation rather than by an “expensive” public inquiry.

She said: “The upshot is that it’s effectively to give planning permission whichever of those methods Meyer Homes choose. The council has not given planning permission but the committee has overruled that. The Planning Inspectorate will give planning permission if council doesn’t defend their reasons for refusals.

“To do it behind closed doors is just wrong. The decision to refuse this was made in public, the decision for changing your mind should be in the public too.”

Surrey Comet:

The outline application was rejected in July

Council leader Kevin Davis said that the meeting had been kept behind-closed-doors “due to the legal advice” so as not to prejudice both live appeals and new applications from the developers.

He blamed the cost of an appeal as the reason why the decision was taken.

He said: “To have lost this appeal would have cost us a considerable sum of money and with huge cuts to our grants from central government (totalling a gap of nearly £40 million in 4 years) we cannot gamble with our residents' money when the clear advice is that we would lose the appeal.

“The scheme that was considered is for outline planning permission only. The application, as it stands, is not one I would ever wish to see built.

“Fortunately, as an outline permission it means that it will not be built in that form without further planning applications.

“The council will now be encouraging Meyer Homes to bring forward more detailed proposals that do more to satisfy the aspirations of the local community.

“We also ask that they no longer pursue the high density scheme that was encouraged by the Mayor and that they recently submitted.”

Councillor Davis added that a separate scheme for the Tolworth roundabout was being prepared by Transport for London after “intense lobbying”.

Vicki Harris, chairwoman of the Hook Rise residents’ association, who has been fighting “inappropriate” development at the site for more than ten years, said challenging the application was like “David and Goliath”.

She said: “Meyer Homes have more money than anyone, they have the money to fight it. We’re a little residents’ association, what chance do we have against them?

“It stinks, it absolutely stinks. It’s not democratic, it seems very shady. I’m just disgusted and horrified.”

Meye Homes refused to comment.