A High Court judge has quashed plans to turn Cherkley Court – the former home of Lord Beaverbrook in the UK county of Surrey – into a golf course and hotel complex.

The course, which was to be built on an ecologically sensitive green belt location near Leatherhead, was the project of Longshot, a company controlled by chairman of the Royal Parks Foundation Joel Cadbury.

Despite there already being nearly 200 courses within 20 miles of the proposed site, the local Mole Valley council had granted the scheme planning permission last year, breaching both national and local policies.

Environmental campaigners and residents took legal action to contest the decision, leading to the High Court ruling on 22 August.

Longshot, which bought the estate in 2010, will be appealing against the decision, claiming that the development would reopen the private house and create jobs. The firm says that several legal opinions from respected planning lawyers support its position, and that it expects to see the judicial review decision overturned by the Court of Appeal.