Legal challenge launched over stately home plans

A heritage charity has launched a High Court challenge over plans to redevelop a fire-damaged Georgian country house which it says sets a "dangerous precedent" for how historic buildings are maintained.

Renovation plans for Clandon Park, a Grade I listed 18th Century property near Guildford, were approved by the borough council in March 2025 after a fire burnt through its floors and ceilings in 2015.

The Georgian Group, which is launching the challenge, says the plans will have "far-reaching negative consequences".

A spokesperson for the National Trust, which owns the building, said it was "committed to completing its proposed scheme which will conserve the surviving building".

The trust said it was committed to renewing Clandon Park "as a welcoming, fully functional building for current and future generations".

Clandon Park, as it is today, was built in the 1730s, and 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 re-open the building by 2029.

The Georgian Group is arguing that the decision made by Guildford Borough Council was unlawful.

It says its legal challenge relates to "planning and listed building consents granted in November 2025 for proposals put forward by the National Trust".

A spokesperson for the society said: "The consents were granted without adequate consideration of heritage law and policy, despite objections to the proposals earlier this year."

Dr Anya Lucas, director of the group, said: "This unusual case is about more than Clandon Park.

"We are very concerned about the precedent these consents set for heritage assets more generally."

A Guildford Borough Council spokesperson said: "A judicial review looks at the way a decision is made, not whether a planning application should be approved or rejected.

"We will respond to argue our decision is lawful. It will then be for the High Court to decide whether to allow the appeal to proceed to a judicial review hearing."

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