Opinion: Guildford – Surrey’s Vibrant Cultural and Recreational Centre

Published on: 21 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 22 Mar, 2019

This is the latest in a series of opinion pieces from the political groups which currently form Guildford Borough Council (GBC) during the period running up to the next borough council elections in May 2019. All previous articles in the series can be found here.

We are grateful to all the participants for agreeing to take part. Our aim is to allow our readers to hear from local politicians directly and become better informed of the political choice they have…

Bob Hughes

By Bob Hughes

chairman of the Guildford Conservative Association

As set out in our plan for Guildford, and clear from the actions our council has taken, we are making sure that the arts and sport make a meaningful impact on the life of our town.

It’s worth listing some of our achievements over recent years:

G Live goes from strength to strength with this year’s results being the best yet with the highest ever attendance, and a record surplus. Your council has supported the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre to deliver youth theatre, and arranged to lease the Electric Theatre to the Academy of Contemporary Music which has ensured its future as a community facility.

Conservative councillors in Guildford have also:

Developed an exciting vision for a new cultural and innovation hub by refurbishing the museum and delivered community engagement and outreach through “Your Stories, Your Museum” and “Our History”.

Funded Southern Pro Musica outreach into schools.

Refurbished the Spectrum sports facilities, including repairs to the roof.

Worked with local residents to install a new children’s play area at Westnye Gardens in the town centre.

Delivered a new cricket pavilion at Woodbridge Meadows.

Continued to fund the only Tourist Information Centre in Surrey supporting over £300 million of tourism activity giving our town five million visitors and sustaining 6,000 jobs in tourism.

Provided a new War Memorial for service personnel post-1945 and their families.

Supported the Surrey Agricultural Society to deliver the County Show in Guildford.

Delivered an Annual Innovate Guildford Arts and Science Festival at G Live which attracts over 5,000 visitors. There were a number of benefits from the event including public engagement with science and strengthening business and university relationships.

Protected community assets such as Wanborough Barn with local volunteer support.

Supported our local community through the Project Aspire grants programme, and awarded £300k in grants to community and voluntary organisations.

Recently we launched the Community Lottery to increase funding for local community organisations.

A Conservative council elected in May will continue to provide opportunities for increased participation in local cultural, environmental and sporting activities and encourage volunteering to help strengthen communities, increase civic pride and improve wellbeing.

We will enhance sporting, cultural, community and recreational facilities, further develop Guildford Museum as a vibrant cultural hub and visitor attraction, progress a new sport and leisure facility to replace Guildford Spectrum and consult on a masterplan for Stoke Park to ensure it remains a vibrant community park and visitor destination.

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