The former ambulance station scheme was withdrawn on 24 August. The register logs 1,631 objections, 1,079 letters of support, and an enforcement case still open.
Plans to convert the former ambulance station on Dorset Road, Belmont, into a place of worship and community hub were withdrawn on 24 August 2026. The council’s planning register had by then logged 2,712 public comments on the application.
The register splits them: 1,631 objections and 1,079 letters of support, plus two neutral comments. (Sutton planning register, DM2025/01591)
Withdrawal is not a refusal. No decision was ever made on the planning merits, and nothing stops a fresh application being submitted for the same site.
What was proposed
The applicant was the Belmont and Sutton Muslim Assembly (BASMA), the working name of Cheam Muslim Welfare Services Limited, a charity registered as number 1198897. (BASMA)
The application sought a change of use from Sui Generis (ambulance station) to mixed Use Classes F1 (place of worship) and F2 (community hub), with a part one, part two storey front and side extension. The applicant’s own planning statement, revised in July 2026, set out:
- a main prayer hall in the former garage, a multi-purpose hall, and a female prayer and multi-use area in the proposed extension
- accessible toilets, ablution areas, a kitchen and an imam’s office
- proposed community hours of 7am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday, with prayer use varying by the solar cycle up to 11pm
- 10 to 12 general parking spaces plus two accessible bays, which the statement’s summary totals as 14 spaces including two EV-ready bays
- cycle storage for eight or more bicycles, and a publicly accessible defibrillator
The statement described the site as roughly 0.12 hectares of previously developed land, vacant and surplus to NHS operational requirements. It said BASMA currently holds only Friday prayers, in rented space at St John’s Community Hall, which it puts at a seven-minute walk from the site. (Application documents)
Where the comments came from
We read all 2,712 published comments on the register and grouped them by the postcode district of the address each commenter gave. The totals reconcile exactly with the council’s own stated figures.
The pattern is a gradient. The closer to Dorset Road, the higher the objection rate:
| Postcode district | Comments | Objecting | Supporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| SM2 (Belmont, south Sutton) | 1,637 | 1,145 | 490 |
| SM1 (Sutton, Rosehill) | 328 | 174 | 154 |
| SM6 (Wallington) | 141 | 48 | 93 |
| SM3 (Cheam, North Cheam) | 132 | 58 | 74 |
| SM5 (Carshalton) | 128 | 83 | 45 |
| SM7 (Banstead) | 78 | 36 | 42 |
| Everywhere else | 268 | 87 | 181 |
SM2 covers the streets around the site, and it produced 60% of all the comments. Seven in ten of them objected.
Beyond the SM and KT4 districts that cover the borough, the balance flips: 187 supporting comments against 98 objections. A small number came from well outside London, including addresses in Cornwall, Bristol and Buckinghamshire.
The timeline on the record
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Application received | Monday 22 December 2025 |
| Application validated | Thursday 5 February 2026 |
| Original expiry date | Monday 16 March 2026 |
| Revised documents published | Thursday 23 July 2026 |
| Agreed extended expiry date | Friday 4 September 2026 |
| Withdrawn | Monday 24 August 2026 |
The council and the applicant had agreed to extend the decision deadline to 4 September. The application was withdrawn 11 days before that date, at delegated officer level rather than at a planning committee.
The council recorded eight internal consultations, covering highways, environmental health, biodiversity, trees, crime prevention, sustainability and waste, and logged five responses.
An enforcement case is still open
The register also carries a separate enforcement case at the same address, reference EC2025/0103, recorded as “Unauthorised Works Priority 3” and still at Pending Consideration.
Its stated nature of complaint is an allegation that, without planning permission, the building’s use changed from ambulance station to a place of worship and community hub, including a single storey side and rear extension and a partial first floor. (Enforcement case EC2025/0103)
That is an allegation under investigation, not a finding. No breach has been established on the register, no notice has been issued, and the case remains undetermined. Withdrawing the planning application does not close it.
What it means for you
- The scheme is not refused, and it is not dead. A new application for the same site can be made at any time, and would restart the consultation from the beginning.
- A withdrawn application stops accepting comments. If a fresh one is submitted, everybody who wants a say has to write in again. Comments on the old reference do not carry over.
- Watch the address, not the reference. The quickest way to see anything new at the site is the property history for the former ambulance station on the Sutton planning register, or our guide to planning applications in Sutton.
- The enforcement case is the live thread. It is the one part of this that is still running, and its outcome will appear on the register rather than in any announcement.
BASMA’s own website carried no statement on the withdrawal when we checked on 2 September, and its most recent news post is dated May 2026. We will report the charity’s account, and any resubmission, when either appears on the record.
Every figure here is taken from the London Borough of Sutton’s public planning register and from the applicant’s own submitted documents, read on 2 September 2026. Comment totals were counted from the register’s published list and match the council’s own stated totals of 2,712 received, 1,631 objecting and 1,079 supporting. No individual commenter is named.
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