Letter: Cars Are Not the Answer for Guildford Town Centre

Published on: 29 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 2 Jul, 2019

From Brian Creese

spokesperson for Guildford Labour

In response to: Free Parking Could Boost High Street But Council Services Could Suffer

I think encouraging more people to drive their cars into Guildford and then cruise around looking for a parking space is the wrong way to encourage shoppers back to the High Street.

The way forward lies in pedestrianising more of the town centre, restricting use of cars where they intersect with pedestrians and cyclists and boosting local buses, both park & ride and local services to the estates and villages.

To encourage bus use they have to be regular, reliable and affordable and we should be prepared to subsidise them to ensure they are. A return to over use of polluting private cars is exactly the wrong way to find a solution to our High Street’s problems.

I say to Lib Dem councillor George Potter, come on, think green for once!

Responses to Letter: Cars Are Not the Answer for Guildford Town Centre

Terry Duckmanton Reply

June 29, 2019 at 3:52 pm

Surely any town centre will be greatly improved if it is made pleasant to walk around or simply be in without having to dodge motor vehicles. I’d be willing to bet that even motorists enjoy sitting under an umbrella outside their favourite café with a mug, cup or glass of their favourite beverage. The way our town is organised at the moment makes such pleasant experiences impossible.

Come on Guildford, we can do better than this!
Simon Schultz Reply

June 30, 2019 at 10:45 am

I fully agree with this comment. Well said.
RWL Davies Reply

July 1, 2019 at 5:30 pm

Entirely agree, prime city centre and near city centre sites ideal for mixed residential, leisure and retail use are car parks. You couldn’t make it up.
Colin Cross Reply

July 1, 2019 at 11:53 pm

What a welcome response from Mr Creese. Every word of it is spot on and mirrors the ambitions of R4GV for our town centre. Can we meet and look further at a joint approach and put aside political considerations in what must be a politically neutral issue? Our town centre needs much less traffic and more pedestrianisation.

It looks like the Lib Dems are not up for radical change but that’s exactly what is needed.

Colin Cross is the R4GV borough councillor for Lovelace (Ripley, Wisley and Ockham).
David Roberts Reply

July 3, 2019 at 6:39 pm

How can Labour urge others to “think green for once” when its two councillors vocally support the Tory Local Plan that would vastly increase traffic by plonking giant housing estates all over the Guildford countryside?

I believe it was a Labour councillor who commented during a meeting about ancient woodland that there was no need to protect it because, being ancient, it would be dead soon anyway. Maybe it was complacency that did for the dinosaurs.