GBC Recommends Town Council for Guildford to West Surrey Shadow Authority

Published on: 17 Mar, 2026
Updated on: 17 Mar, 2026

By Martin Giles

Guildford is to have a town council but only if the new “Shadow” West Surrey Council agrees.

Last night (March 16), Guildford Borough councillors, in a debate that the presiding Mayor remarked was commendable, considered feedback from a second public consultation on whether to create a parish council for Guildford town from April 1, 2027.

Only six per cent of the Guildford electorate had responded to the consultation on the possible formation of a town council. Six of the town’s 11 wards voted against, while individual respondents had voted almost 50-50 on the issue, 1,507 voted against, 1,486 voted for.

Three options were available in the council officers’ report were:

• await the formation of a unitary authority as a successor principal council, which may wish to review community governance;
• to establish a non parish form of community empowerment, and neighbourhood area committee;
• create a parish council.

But GBC had left it too late to take the decision itself. Recent government legislation, The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026, enacted earlier than expected, has removed some of Guildford Borough Council’s powers around Community Governance Reviews. So the final decision to set up a new parish council will now rest with the future West Surrey shadow authority.

Councillors also approved the use of up to £300,000 from the Medium Term Financial Plan reserve to cover the start-up costs for the new parish council, if created.

Cllr Vanessa King

Deputy Council Leader Vanessa King (Lib Dem, Stoke), proposing her motion in favour of the option to create a parish council, opened the debate.

She said: We stand at a critical juncture in our town’s history. As we transition towards the new West Surrey unitary structure, we must decide how the voice of Guildford will be preserved amongst a population of nearly 700,000. This motion is about protecting the residents’ voices and deciding how the unique character of this ancient town will be preserved for the future… how does Guildford keep its own voice in a much larger authority?

“…support for this proposal is driven by a powerful desire for local voice and the protection of Guildford’s identity. Without a parish council, Guildford’s urban wards will be the only part of this borough without dedicated local representation.”

Four other members of the Lib Dem Executive spoke in support, as did two councillors dismissed from the Executive, Catherine Houston (Lib Dem, Shalford) and George Potter (Lib Dem, Burpham), and Cllr Richard Lucas (Lib Dem, Ash Vale), who resigned without explanation from the Executive in December.

Cllr Pat Oven

But the leader of the Guildford Greenbelt Group, Pat Oven, (Send & Lovelace), did not support the motion. He said that the consultation had not shown “clear support one way or the other”. He warned: “Effectively, we’ll be saying to the new authority, this is what we want you to do. Now I can easily foresee a situation where the new authority says, well, you’re old, you’re the past GBC, you’re not telling us what to do. We’ll make our own decision on this.”

Cllr Bob Hughes

The Conservative group were split on the issue. Referring to the consultation results, Bob Hughes (Tillingbourne) said: “So even though [a town council] isn’t really wanted, people in this chamber want to go ahead anyway, and the people of Guildford will pay through the nose for this. Because one thing that hasn’t been mentioned in this debate is that a parish council’s precept is uncapped, so we can’t make any judgement about how much money they would want to take off rate payers.”

But fellow Conservative councillor Richard Mills (Castle) spoke in favour while Keith Witham (Normandy & Pirbright), pointed out  historical context of the debate saying: “Guildford was given a form of local governance in the year 1257 when King Henry III granted a royal charter… we had a municipal borough formed in 1836 and the current Guildford Borough Council in 1974, just over 50 years ago. So over some 950 years, Guildford has had local representation concerned about Guildford matters.” He indicated he would listen to the debate but was likely to support.

Cllr Joss Bigmore

Joss Bigmore, leader of the Residents for Guildford & Villages group, said he found the decision on the motion very difficult. The consultation result was he said “statistically irrelevant” and he thought forming a town council would be, ” a bit of a leap of faith, to be frank.”

He continued: “We’re all aware of the risks that the West Surrey unitary brings and the lack of focus on Guildford, and we are perhaps better informed than the average resident who have shown by their indifference that they’re not engaged in this process at all. So I think it is up for us to make a decision… It’s clear West Surrey is going to have an enormous amount of problems, and Guildford, which has been relatively well, will probably not be high in that list of priorities. I think having a town council to make sure that we’re heard is important.”

The reason why the council and Lib Dem group leader had not proposed the motion to form a parish council in line with her group’s policy now came to light.

Cllr Julia McShane

Speaking against the motion, Cllr Julia McShane (Westborough) said: “The concern about the additional expense from a precept is real for those who are already struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living crisis continues to have a negative impact on their daily lives.”

She favoured a third public consultation in discussion with the new West Surrey shadow authority. “This could have led to the creation of a parish council for the wards that chose to have one, but to not impose it on those who didn’t any new parish council cannot be set up until the parish council elections in May 2027, so there is more time to do work on this to get the best outcome for everyone in the community.

“I find myself in the unusual position of having a different view from many in my group who support this motion.”

Her stance indicates one of the likely reasons for the reported tension within the Liberal Democrat Group at the moment. At least one member of the Executive was said, last week, to be on the point of resigning. Whether McShane’s isolated position, supported in the vote by only three others in her group, will lead to a change in leadership remains to be seen.

Cllr Fiona White

Exercising her right as seconder of the motion, the debate was concluded by Cllr Fiona White (Ash Wharf). She said: I believe that the town actually misses out from not having that very local level of representation. At the moment, people who say that there’s no limit on a parish council budget,  I challenge you to find a parish council that has wilfully excessively increased their budget.

“So my view is that we have a responsibility to give a clear direction to the unitary authority that we wish to see a parish council set up for the urban area of Guildford.”

Twenty-four councillors voted in favour of the motion, nine against and one abstained. Surprisingly for such an important decision, 14 councillors were absent.

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More information and analysis of the consultation responses is available on the Council’s website.

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