Development Intent
AtlasWestminsterOfficersSara Spurrier
Case officer · Westminster Planning

Sara Spurrier.

Last recorded decision Jan 2023 — no decisions in this record since

A case officer at Westminster with an approval rate of 94% across 37 decided planning applications, spanning 4 wards.[1] Decision speed and appeal performance publish when decision notices are ingested.

Planning officer37 decisions94% approvalSave
Westminster · ward map
Approval rate — by ward
Lower ~68%
Higher ~90%
ShowingAll years · subscriber →across all years on record — a period re-scopes the headline figures and the trend
At a glanceEach metric links to the investigation behind it
All investigations →
37
Applications
2020–23
Approval rate over time — tougher or softer 🔒Dashed line = London average
avg 81%86%202091%2021100%2022100%2023
Approval-rate trend is subscriber dataSubscribe to see the trend →
What they decide — by application type
How they compareVersus peers
Approval rate94% · 16th of 76
higher is betterdashed = London avg
Decision time · publishes with decision notices
in development
Appeal overturn · publishes with decision notices
in development
How this officer decides — from their own reports37 officer reports parsed
25%
Approves despite concerns
of approvals record a documented reservation
38%
Negotiated approvals
approvals mentioning revisions/amendments
3%
"On balance" reports
reports using explicit balancing language
97%
Bespoke reasoning
of report text written for the case, not recited
What they write about — vs Westminster's average officer

Topic mentions per 1,000 words of their own report text (boilerplate stripped), indexed against all parsed Westminster reports. Attention, not stance.

Transport & parking
2.74× borough avg
Energy & sustainability
2.66× borough avg
Daylight & sunlight
2.3× borough avg
Noise & disturbance
1.54× borough avg
Outlook & amenity
1.19× borough avg

Mark = borough average (1×). Bar capped at 2×.

How they reason — coded from their reports

Spurrier accepts a modest floorspace shortfall (6sqm below the National Technical Housing Standard) where the shortfall is limited and the overall accommodation is an improvement, but refuses a mews demolition/rebuild scheme on design/townscape grounds where the building is identified as a non-designated heritage asset in the Council's own conservation area guidance, naming the specific traditional features (winch door, coach doors, bressumer) that would be lost. On CLEUD lawful-commencement applications she is exacting about whether submitted site-inspection photographs are actually DATED, treating undated evidence as insufficient on its own to prove works occurred by the deadline.

Observable habits

· accepts a modest, limited floorspace shortfall against the National Technical Housing Standards where the overall dwelling represents a genuine accommodation improvement

· identifies a mews building as a non-designated heritage asset via the Council's own conservation area guidance, naming the specific traditional features (winch door, coach doors, bressumer) at risk of loss

· on CLEUD lawful-commencement evidence, checks explicitly whether submitted photographs are DATED, treating undated photographic evidence as insufficient on its own

What their reports consistently look for

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether a space-standard shortfall is modest/limited and offset by an overall accommodation improvement

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: the specific named traditional features (winch doors, coach doors) that identify a mews building as a non-designated heritage asset

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether submitted site-inspection photographs are actually dated, not just showing relevant activity

Assigned Sara Spurrier on a live case?What they pay attention to, how they reason, and what their reports consistently look for — so you can address it before they raise it.Subscribe to unlock →
In their own words

given that the shortfall is limited to 6 sqm, and as it is accepted that the replacement dwelling would provide an improved standard of residential accommodation, it is not considered that permission could justifiably be withheld on these grounds

20/01332/FULL

Other than in the case of the first pile, it is unclear whether these additional works had actually taken place. The attached photographs show a site compound, piling rig and construction equipment, including diggers. However, none of the photographs are dated

20/00138/CLEUD

Measured from 37 published Westminster officer reports written by this officer, with recited policy boilerplate stripped before any counting. These describe how this officer works and writes — they are not outcome predictions. Every quote is from a named public report.

Policy playbook — what this officer cites[3]

The policies this officer cites most in their own reports — times cited across 37 parsed reports. Whether refusals citing each survive appeal isn't traced per policy yet.

S32
4 times cited
ENV13
4 times cited
S20
4 times cited
T5
4 times cited
S6
3 times cited
S24
3 times cited
ENV6
3 times cited
H3
3 times cited
Which policies this officer leans on is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
Decisions by ward
Ward
Decisions
Approval rate
Show all 4 rows

Where this officer's caseload concentrates, 2020–23.[1] Click the map above to focus this page on a ward, or a row to open the ward.

Recent applications
Address
Reference
Type
Outcome
Date
22/05437/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-07-06
22/06966/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-05-25
22/05437/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-07-06
22/06966/FULL
Full Planning Permission Application
Approved
2023-05-25
Full application history locked
Subscribe to see all 37 decisions →
Consultants approved most— subscriber data
1. Savills
2. DP9 Ltd
3. Gerald Eve LLP
4. Peacock + Smith Limited
At a glance
OfficerSara Spurrier
RolePlanning officer
Experience
Applications37 (2020–23)
Approval rate94%
London approval avg81%
Who decides here
GovernmentMayor of LondonCouncilCommitteeOfficersDecisionsApplicantsInspectorate
Related investigations
When committees overrule officers like this one →
How often members depart from officer recommendations, and how those overrides fare at appeal.
How much gets decided without a committee →
The delegated share by borough and officer — where the real power over decisions sits.
Sources & method
  1. [1]Applications decided, approval rate, per-year trend and ward breakdown — London Borough of Westminster planning register and published decision notices, 2020–23. · methodology
  2. [2]Appeal overturn and decision-time benchmarks — Planning Inspectorate (PINS) appeal decisions and application date pairs; not yet computed per officer, shown as a dash until they are. · PINS appeals casework
  3. [3]Condition load — mean effective conditions attached to Westminster decision notices (grant/split), parsed from the published notice text; a borough figure, not yet split per case officer.
  4. [4]"How this officer decides", the policy playbook and all quotes — parsed from 37 published Westminster officer reports written by this officer, recited policy boilerplate stripped before counting; disposition text coded from their own reasoning with every quote machine-verified verbatim. Descriptive of how they work — not outcome predictions.
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.