Council Group Leader Interviews: Stephen Mansbridge – Conservative

Published on: 3 May, 2015
Updated on: 4 May, 2015

The Guildford Dragon NEWS has invited a leader of each political party and a representative independent candidate, standing for election to Guildford Borough Council (GBC), to be interviewed. The response to each question is limited to up to 100 words.

Unlike the parliamentary candidate interviews there is no scoring of, or comment on, their responses.

Stephen Mansbridge is the leader of the Conservative group at GBC and is standing again in the Ash South and Tongham ward that he represented in the last council. The Conservative party are fielding candidates in all 22 wards across the borough.

Stephen Mansbridge

1. Most respondents to GBC’s own Local Plan public consultation do not want developments to be built on the green belt. What “exceptional circumstances” can you imagine that would justify such development.

“Exceptional circumstances” would not constitute a single element, but would be a combination of a number of elements. So “need” alone would not be enough to constitute very special circumstances. Moreover, the growing body of evidence of “constraints”, particularly those which cannot be resolved within the plan period, provide an important added offset to curtail inappropriate development – not just on the green belt, but on any green space.

2. Do you agree with the government policy of capping Council Tax rises of 2% or more without a referendum?

We have maintained a policy of below rate of inflation Council Tax rises for the last eight years, save for one year when we froze the tax, and so I can foresee no reason for needing to exceed the cap, unless the national economy falls into Labour hands and is mishandled as it was before.

3. Would your party be prepared to enter a coalition, or any kind of working agreement, with any other political party in the council, should the need arise?

The simple answer is that we hope the electorate will see our record of overseeing the council’s delivery of a complex range of services over many years as being strong and that we have improved the council’s finances immeasurably over the last decade, so we hope that there is no need for a coalition, which would weaken decision making.

4. Can the council do anything to speed up development of brownfield sites and allow the construction of more houses on them?

We have a number of key regenerative sites: Slyfield (1,000 homes), the Town Centre through the development of the Master Plan (circa 2,000 homes) and some other sites. No one should be led falsely down the route of “quick” delivery. In the case of Slyfield, it will take at least three years to move the sewage works. In the case of the town centre sites, land assembly and clearance takes time. In the case of all sites, the most that can be built in any one year is circa 150 – 200 homes, so 1,000 will take at least 5 years to build and when you add 1 – 3 years of planning, so one can see how extensive the process is.

5. Is there any way, other than social housing provision, to prioritise homes for local residents?

Yes, we intend to establish a company through which the council can own affordable housing and therefore prioritise who can be offered those houses.

6. With the rejection of Guildford Museum’s bid for Heritage Lottery funding how can a “History Hub” that befits Guildford be afforded?

Whilst I am sorry that the bid failed, we do have to acknowledge that the museum is not well sited to attract visitors. Guildford is a most historic place and so not to have a visitor’s centre would be wrong. We have been drawing up plans for a multi-functional cultural “hub”, which will include a visitors’ centre, possibly a new library, possibly an outreach of the university into the town and a celebration of the modern Guildford and its many attributes. Overall, there is probably in excess of £3 billion of town centre regeneration and we would see the hub funded as part of this by third parties.

7. Do you agree that the new proposed “hybrid” model of governance at the council will, if approved, improve things?

The keys to the political oversight of any successful council are: the ability to make good and strong decisions and the ability for processes and decisions to be correctly scrutinised. The hybrid model needs to be examined by all in the new council before a decision can be made. Any return to the Committee System would be a retrograde step that would reduce the council’s ability to be effective and reduce its ability to deliver either the Local Plan or building on brownfield sites. It would most likely result in our future being determined by Planning Inspectors, which would be a disaster.

8. Why can it be so hard to get people to stand as councillors. Is the low level of allowances a factor?

The low allowance is a factor, but time is a crucial factor also. The level of personal criticism, insults and abuse that many councillors have received over the last two years from the green belt movement in its various forms, is not an appealing advertisement to encourage others to stand. Guildford has a great cause: to bring its infrastructure up to date, to have a stellar town centre and to be able to accommodate its people and their children, whilst preserving its surrounding landscape. People need to buy into that cause and drive positive change.

9. Do you agree that the Planning Inspectorate should have the final say on planning applications that go to appeal and the Local Plan?

I still believe that the 2012 planning reforms were not well thought through and have left us with a range of exceptionally difficult problems. We are given Localism, but under central control, which makes no sense. This has to be rationalised, so that we are able to accomplish two tasks: to make a sensible strategic plan, devoid of parochialism, for the benefit of the borough as a whole; and to have a further level of control – or at least mediation – before a final pronouncement is made on a site.

10. What is the most important issue facing Guildford Borough Council over the next four years?

Guildford is a very positive and vibrant place, but it does have issues. The most acute issue is our infrastructure overall. Yes, our transport infrastructure, is the largest element of this, but we must also recognise that schools, health facilities, sewerage, drainage, energy and other factors are also vital. Our inadequate infrastructure is the result of national underinvestment and weak decision making. Our residents need a strong council to make this happen for the benefit of our residents and, particularly, our business community.

What do you think of  Stephen Mansbridge’s answers?  Have your say by using the ‘Leave a Reply’ feature below.

Click here to see other GBC group leader interviews.

Click here to see Parliamentary candidate interviews.

Candidates from the following parties are standing in the Guildford Borough Council elections on May 7th: Conservative; Green Party; Guildford Greenbelt Group; Labour; Liberal Democrats; Peace Party; UKIP. There are also Independent candidates.

The Green Party declined the invitation to participate in these interviews.

Share This Post