Flashback: A Thousand Homes For Slyfield – But Where Will Council Depot and Sewage Works Be Relocated?

Published on: 24 Mar, 2025
Updated on: 27 Mar, 2025

Flashback looks at Dragon NEWS stories of a decade ago.

Ten years ago the Weyside Urban Village, or as it was then known the Slyfield Area Regeneration Project (SARP) was initiated.

First published on The Guildford Dragon NEWS on March 30, 2015.

The regeneration of Slyfield, to include 1,000 homes, has moved a step nearer following the announcement of government support and low-cost borrowing available to the borough council.

Now, Guildford Borough Council will release £390,000 of funding to get the scheme going.

Thames Water’s sewage treatment works at Slyfield will be relocated before the 1,000m homes can be built.

The Slyfield Area Regeneration Project (SARP) has been designated as a housing zone by the Government’s Homes & Communities Agency (HCA).

GBC’s lead councillor for transport, infrastructure and the environment, Matt Furniss, said:“We are delighted that the site has been designated as a housing zone. SARP is a major urban regeneration scheme that can deliver 1,000 homes, including affordable homes, on a brownfield site and make a significant contribution to Guildford’s growing housing need.”

Land near the sewage works, some of it is where Guildford’s rubbish was dumped in years gone by.

The project will not be an easy one. For the homes to be built, it will require the relocation of the council depot off Stoke Road, and also the relocation of Thames Water’s sewage treatment works that is further east, close to Stoke Lock and the River Wey Navigation. The plan also includes provision for two industrial units and a new Surrey County Council waste treatment plant.

The council hopes to see this work begin within the next three or four years. An indication of what will be going where has been made on a SARP indicative layout site plan prepared by architects Scott Brownrigg for Guildford Borough Council, available to view on the council’s website.

Looking back along the lane from the sewage works towards the recycling depot at the end of Moorfield Road.

There is council-owned land between the river and the Slyfield recycling centre at the end of Moorfield Road. Much of this is ‘waste land’, and some of it contains the town’s rubbish that was dumped there from the end of the 19th century until the ‘dust destructor’ (now commonly called a waste incinerator) was built in 1910. That is where the council depot is today.

Landfill of rubbish was then started again in the years after the Second World War and some of this land is now built on and is part of the Slyfield Industrial Estate. An area of land, towards the fields of Burpham Court Farm in Clay Lane, is also landfill that has not yet been built on.

Mr Furniss added that the designation of the site as a zone for affordable housing “means that access to cheaper borrowing has been unlocked.”

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, said: “This extra Government funding and support will help Guildford Borough Council kick-start the regeneration of the Slyfield site, providing new homes on brownfield land. This will help the council protect the green belt and play its part in meeting Guildford’s growing housing needs.”

The council’s upfront funding of £390,000, that was agreed at its latest Executive meeting, will pay for consultants to advise on the initial preparatory works required and how it will progress. The Executive also agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Thames Water to assist in the partnership working that will be required.

Share This Post