Pavilion marks final step of former barracks project

A new sports pavilion has been approved on a former military base in Surrey, the final step of the 1,200-home project.

The application for Deepcut was backed more than ten years after the scheme was first examined by planners.

The former Princess Royal Barracks, a 114 hectare area near Frimley, was first given planning permission by Surrey Heath Borough councillors in 2013, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Officers told a meeting on August 23: “The final application for infrastructure on Deepcut. We have finally got there. I think we are all delighted by that prospect."

The new pavilion forms part of the recreational facilities developers are building as part of the agreed benefits of the project.

It is considered "integral to the successful delivery of the sports hub and the wider community", planning documents say.

It will have changing rooms for cricket and football teams and feature toilets accessible from the outside to allow wider use – such as for people using nearby allotments.

The decision, passed unanimously, means the developers now have all the matters in place to complete Deepcut.

Between 1995 and 2002, four young recruits died of gunshot wounds at the Princess Royal Barracks, while another private was found dead after a suspected overdose in July 2001.

The closure of the barracks was announced in 2008.

On Friday, a BBC report revealed plans to use vacant military land for almost 35,000 new homes had been "quietly shelved" without a single house being built.

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