RESIDENTS have called the unauthorised use of a storage yard in Betchworth as a rest stop for buses "absolutely appalling".
The landowner, Michael Moore Property Developments, has applied for permission from Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) for a change of use at Barley Mow Storage Yard, off Old Reigate Road, to allow for the parking of 18 buses there on a daily basis.
The spaces would be used by provider Coaches Excetera for routes run by Surrey County Council covering Dorking, Box Hill, Epsom and Leatherhead.
However, neighbours to the yard have told the Advertiser the landowner has been allowing the use of the land for buses since late April.
A total of ten letters of objection to the change of use have been submitted to MVDC, including one from Betchworth Parish Council.
Debbie and Ian Docwra have lived in Mill Hill Lane for a year. Their garden backs onto the facility. Mrs Docwra said: "We are not just going to lie down and let this happen to us. The council seem to be letting him get away with it.
"The buses are there and they are just idling for half an hour at a time – and this is on a Sunday. It's absolutely appalling."
Planning permission was granted by the district council to the landowner to extend the yard last year, but with no reference made to the potential use of the land for buses.
This permission was granted under the condition that a new access road was constructed to provide access to the yard from the A25.
However, this access has not yet been built, and buses currently travel to the site on the Old Reigate Road.
Mrs Docwra continued: "They are just using Old Reigate Road at the moment, which is an old, narrow country lane.
"It's in use seven days a week and we're having to put up with all that noise and pollution.
"Nothing should have happened until the new access route was done.
" I just can't believe that one person could get away with going against absolutely everything the council asked of them.
"It seems like getting planning through the back door."
Mr Docwra added: "They granted planning permission last year for an extension to the yard which we didn't object to, because there were various provisions on it that we thought would protect us. I was outside yesterday and there was a bus idling there for 45 minutes – it's a nuisance.
"Because it's in a rural area it doesn't affect hundreds of people, so it's slipping under the radar."
Information submitted by the landowner with the application states that provisions made, if permission were granted, would include "strict control of hours of operation to ensure drivers do not slam doors, a restriction on idling times for buses to a maximum of five minutes, an on-site 10mph speed restriction, and deactivating reversing alarms on site".
As the Advertiser went to press, a request for a comment from the landowner, sent via his agent, had not been answered. Mole Valley District Council officers were unavailable for comment on the case.