Council Answers Questions on The Village Event and is Considering Proposals for Further Use

Published on: 23 Feb, 2018
Updated on: 27 Feb, 2018

The Chinese New Year event to be held at The Village this Saturday (February 24) site by Guildford Bus Station off North Street was booked in 2017, before the council decision to suspend ongoing funding was made.

Answering questions posed by The Guildford Dragon NEWS about the event, Guildford Borough Council has confirmed that the organisers who have hired the venue from the council are UK China Education, a firm based in Guildford which brings Chinese Students to England for cultural exchanges.

A council spokesperson said: “Some students from the University of Surrey have volunteered to act as stewards and President and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Max Lu has been invited to the opening.

“No other events [at The Village] are currently planned, the Chinese New Year event was booked in 2017.”

Describing the council’s role in the event the spokesperson said: “The Tourist Information/Visit Guildford Team have assisted in promoting this event.”

Retail units at The Village. Photo taken in August 2017.

The Village site is owned by M&G Real Estate, who also own the Friary Shopping Centre. GBC has only a short-term lease on the land and is currently providing on-going maintenance only where required. At present, there are said to be no ongoing maintenance costs.

As for any future plans for The Village, the council spokesperson said: “The council has received a variety of enquiries from interested parties and the viability of their proposals are being assessed.”