Consultations On Two Major Town Centre Housing Developments Announced

Published on: 16 Apr, 2022
Updated on: 17 Apr, 2022

By Hugh Coakley

Housing development on two major town centre sites have moved a step closer with consultations announced for the 500-home North Street regeneration and the 240-home Guildford Park Road site.

Illustrative view of the proposals for the regeneration of part of North Street.

Developer St Edward, a joint venture between The Berkeley Group and M&G Real Estate, are hosting an online event on April 25 at 6pm for the North Street development.

They say their team and their architects will describe the latest proposals for the housing development and the “pedestrianisation of North Street, enhanced public realm and improved facilities for market traders” and the new bus station interchange.

A planning application will be submitted after a final public exhibition in Summer 2022. Construction is to commence in Summer 2023, subject to approval.

You can register for the event by emailing info@housegroup.co.uk for registration details or you can contact them on 01483 561119 with any questions.

See Green Light For 500 New Homes In Pedestrianised North Street And £4 Million New Bus Station

The other major development is off Guildford Park Road, currently a surface car park. It already has planning permission, from 2017, for 160 homes and a five-storey multi-storey public car park, with commercial space on the ground floor.

Illustrative view of plans for the housing development off Guildford Park Road.

The developer, Guildford Borough Council, have revamped the scheme to accommodate more housing, around 240 homes, and reduced parking space.

The plans are said to include “a real mix of homes for everyone, from families to first-time buyers as well as at least 40% affordable housing. There will be new green spaces and play areas, locally distinctive architecture and quality materials”.

A public exhibition for the new plans will be at Grace Church Guildford, Guildford Park Road GU2 7NF on Wednesday, April 20 from 3pm to 6.30pm and Thursday, April 21 from 3pm to 6.30pm. GBC are inviting people to register for an online webinar on April 19 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm by visiting the project website.

You can contact the project by emailing guildfordparkroad@fourcommunications.com or on 01483 321007.

See Proposal To Develop Guildford Park Road Car Park Site Approved

Responses to Consultations On Two Major Town Centre Housing Developments Announced

H Trevor Jones Reply

April 19, 2022 at 2:49 pm

It’s good to see these proposals for town centre housing, hopefully to be taken by people who won’t need to own their own car but can just walk to the town centre shops and offices and to the railway and bus stations for going anywhere else. They will of course also be handy for riverside walks and longer walks up onto the Hog’s Back to get out into the countryside.
Bibhas Neogi Reply

April 20, 2022 at 4:04 pm

This is good news about housing in these two developments, but there are still unanswered questions on both sites.

Town centre North Street development now includes the proposal for retaining a refurbished bus station, albeit a slightly smaller one, at a cost of £4 million. However, entry and exit are both going to be at the northern end. The sketch showing the bus routes is incomplete and it is unclear how buses from Woodbridge Road would turn right into the station.

The access has been shown specifically for buses coming down from North Street through Leapale Road that would be made a two-way road. All incoming buses, yes, all incoming buses, would have to go through York Road roundabout to get to Woodbridge Road entrance. This would cause delays and congestion in that area. It is unlikely to be acceptable.

The other site is the Guildford Park Road car park (site A10 in the Local Plan), originally noted by the council as having poor access. I think the road by the church now has been widened to facilitate better access from Madrid Road but still probably not ideal for the traffic that would be generated from the development into already heavily trafficked Madrid Road.

Yet another factor is the potential route for a new east-west crossing of the railway and the river that would pass by this site. Unfortunately both GBC and SCC have not indicated any proposal for such a crossing.

To substantially reduce traffic in the gyratory, this new crossing is essential. Following Solum regeneration’s plan for the development of the railway station site, the only viable route now would go past this development and connect with a new link to Guildford Park Road by the station’s west entrance. The adjacent site is also in the Local Plan for possible bus stops, car park and some housing, therefore this development should be part of the holistic approach, so as not to compromise road layouts, rather than the piecemeal approach the councils are taking.