Council MD Apologises Over Last-minute Consideration of Wisley Garden Village Bid Application

Published on: 31 Oct, 2018
Updated on: 15 Jan, 2019

James Whiteman apologises, “if we have caused any issue”

A council decision on whether to bid for government money for a garden village proposal at the former Wisley Airfield was only given 24-hours notice because council officers thought that it would be considered by the council leader alone, using his delegated powers.

This was the explanation given last night (October 30, 2018) by the managing director of Guildford Borough Council (GBC) James Whiteman before the Executive approved a recommendation to proceed with the bid.

Mr Whiteman interjected when the head of planning, Tracey Coleman, seemed lost for words having been invited by Council Leader Spooner, chairing the meeting, to respond “as the director responsible” to criticisms from Cllr Tony Rooth (Ind, Pilgrims).

The managing director stepped in to say: “I should offer an apology if there has been any suggestion that we have tried to rush something through or hide it from anybody that really was not our intention. We have been working through this very carefully.

“I think the view of the team, and of me as well, was that it wasn’t necessary, because of the delegation, to come to the Executive. I would stress this very openly that Cllr Spooner was adamant that it should come here because of this very issue of openness and transparency.

“I apologise if we have caused any issue there. We did not intend to, we have been working very hard on this but that is why it is in front of you today because Cllr Spooner has asked that it is and it is very much in that spirit of openness.”

Cllr Tony Rooth

Cllr Rooth had said: “…I feel that this matter has been dealt with in not an open and transparent way. You may have delegated powers, frankly, I think that needs to be looked at… but this item, this submission… arose from the government on 15th August. It is now 30th October and the time limit for submitting this bid is 9th November.

“There were many council meetings [in the interim] in which to bring this item to the attention of councillors and the public, many of them, the council, the Overview & Scrutiny Committees, there were plenty of opportunities but none were taken.

“It was brought to our attention for the very first time at 5 o’clock last night. And frankly chairman, I have to say this, I think that is under the radar, unacceptable and underhand.”

Cllr David Reeve (GGG Send) had criticised the judgement that the Wisley Airfield site could match the criteria as laid out in the government prospectus which Cllr Gunning (Lab, Stoke) dismissed as “motherhood and apple pie”.

Explaining her controversial decision to waive her right to call in the decision, leader of the opposition and the Lib Dem Group, Caroline Reeves said: “The decision I took yesterday was not taken lightly I wasn’t aware that I had to decide anything until early yesterday afternoon.

“The comments that have happened today really highlight to me the basic misunderstanding of the fact that this is a bid, this is not a planning application, we don’t have a planning application for Wisley…

“The question I was asked was whether we should [make] this bid. I did ask why… it had taken so long, and I understand obviously that if you are going to put in a bid you need to write it to discover whether it would be worth putting it in. We are now in a position where it could be submitted.

“My decision was an on-balance decision. I am very disappointed that as chair of Overview & Scrutiny I was put in this position. It is an invidious position to be put in and I think it leads to questions which should perhaps go to Corporate Governance and Standards as to why we get into this situation of having a late decision.

“We are being accused of all sorts of things to do with transparency and I think it would be an opportune moment to perhaps have a discussion through that committee.

“We will undoubtedly end up with, it would seem, Wisley in the Local Plan. There are going to be people who don’t like that. But if it is in the Local Plan and we have a way of making this application better through help from outside surely it is better to take that opportunity than to turn our backs on it.”

Cllr Paul Spooner

Cllr Spooner immediately responded saying that he was in “one hundred per cent agreement” with everything Cllr Reeves had said, adding: “We should not be put into a position within this council where we are having to make last-minute decisions.”

Commenting that he was bitterly disappointed about the standard of debate, Cllr Bilbe (Con, Normandy) said: “There is a fundamental misunderstanding about issues, there is a fundamental misunderstanding about process, and there is a fundamental misunderstanding about transparency and democracy.”

This morning (October 31, 2018) in a GBC press release Cllr Spooner, said: “We must make the most of all opportunities for our borough and a successful bid would secure important government funding. This would help deliver the wider infrastructure and sustainable transport that our area needs, with extra cross-government support, expert Homes England advice and improved design quality for a new garden community.”

“Wisley Airfield is a strategic site proposed in our Local Plan and the independent planning inspector included a session specifically on this in his recent public hearings. He did not consider this site unsound or that it should be removed from the submitted plan. Like all proposed sites, it will still be subject to the usual planning application process, with or without a successful garden village bid.

“If we want to take advantage of the many benefits garden village status could bring, we must submit a bid by 9 November. Although Executive approval was not necessary for this decision, I wanted to have an open public debate, so this report came to the last meeting before the submission deadline.

“MHCLG [Ministry for Housing Communities & Local Government] wants bids for ambitious, locally-led garden villages. Wisley Airfield meets their criteria and will help provide a well-designed place with a range of quality homes, sustainable green space and integrated infrastructure.”

See GBC webcast here.

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