An application by Charterhouse School to create 68 extra parking spaces has been given permission by Waverley councillors - but with conditions.

Waverley's Eastern Planning Committee passed the plans yesterday (Tuesday).

The school was seeking permission to reconfigure an existing car park near the sports club and create the extra spaces, which will be used by school staff and pupils, and visitors to the sports centre.

The parking area will be lit by column and wall-mounted LED lighting.

The school was granted permission in 2011 to demolish a building, called Stainers, on another part of its site, to create more parking spaces, and to make alterations to the sports club. The meeting heard that that permission had been partly implemented, with the work to the club being carried out, but the house was still standing, meaning the 65 extra parking spaces have not been created.

Planning officials had agreed that the current proposals would have a harmful effect on the Green Belt, but the harm would be outweighed by policies that promote the provision of education. They had recommended granting permission.

Neighbour Andy Lyon described the scheme as inappropriate development, and said the planned changes would have an adverse effect on the Green Belt and the visual amenity of the area.

He said that Charterhouse Club had told members in its August newsletter that it would be opening for fewer hours, meaning, he said, that fewer parking spaces would be needed. And he said that the school didn't have plans for any developments in the area that would make the extra parking spaces necessary.

"The residents unreservedly believe that the planning officer's report fails to demonstrate that very special circumstances apply, fails to recognise the reduced need for parking in this area, fails to demonstrate that the benefits of this development on Green Belt more than offset the considerable damage being done," he said.

David Armitage, the school's director of finance and strategy, told the meeting the parking spaces were needed to accommodate the extra staff being taken on to facilitate the school's move to totally co-educational education next September.

He said the school would be taking on girls from the age of 13, in two new boarding houses, and the total number of pupils would increase from 800 to 1,000.

The school had conducted reviews of the security of the site, he said, as part of a wide-ranging review across the school.

"Members of the community using the sports club are parking anywhere on the site, and particularly close to the boarding houses, because of the lack of parking spaces." He said the school was trying to minimise interaction between pupils and members of the public because of safety concerns. He said the extra spaces would benefit users of the club, which include local state schools as well as hockey, football and athletics clubs, which, he said, generated most of the cars that visited the school.

And he said the school would work to minimise the effect of the changes on its neighbours.

"The decision to build a new car park at significant cost isn't taken lightly," he said. "It was taken to address child protection and health and safety concerns."

"Without these additional car parking spaces it will be difficult to offer the same level of access after 2021."

Ward councillor Steve Williams called the planned parking area "a significant development and intrusive to neighbours," adding that it would generate extra traffic, noise and fumes.

Referring to the 2011 planning permission which allows for 65 extra parking spaces following the demolition of Stainers, he added: "If there is a proven need for between 60 and 70 additional car parking spaces, Charterhouse School already has planning permission."

The two planning applications, when added together, would give the school an extra 133 parking spaces, he said.

"If members grant the application to allow trees to be felled, green spaces to be concreted over, lampposts erected, habitats threatened, neighbouring properties blighted and a significant increase in traffic flow as a result of an inappropriate development on Green Belt land, on AGLV, with no special circumstances I think members will be not doing their duty of due diligence if they do not object to this proposal," he added.

Cllr Martin D'Arcy pointed out that allowing the school to create more parking spaces ran counter to the council's long-term plans for reducing carbon footprint and sustainability. And he said that the council needed to know how many bat boxes and bird boxes would be provided.

Cllr Liz Townsend added: "We should be encouraging people to cycle to this particular site, and I wonder whether any provision has been made for that, and if there is anything we can do to encourage use of bikes on this site."

Councillors agreed to grant permission, with the conditions that extra cabling is put in to allow extra electric vehicle charging points to be installed in the future; that the school must produce a travel plan outlining how visitors can travel to the site by bike or on foot, and that plans are drawn up detailing provision of bat and bird boxes.

They also added a condition that permission will only be valid if the school agrees to a clause that permission for the previous approval of car parking is withdrawn.