- Stay Connected
Socialize
Abraham Lincoln
If given the truth, the people can be depended upon to meet any national crisis...
Guildford news...
for Guildford people, brought to you by Guildford reporters - Guildford's own news service
Letter: Ash Residents Will Continue to Scrutinise GBC’s Actions on the Road Bridge
Published on: 20 Jul, 2024
Updated on: 20 Jul, 2024
Ash road bridge, due for completion in December.
From: John Ferns
Tongham resident
GBC’s response to The Dragon’s report: GBC Denies Misleading Government Agency Over Ash Road Bridge Funding is ambiguous, either accidentally or deliberately.
It says: “GBC continues to seek and collect s106 contributions towards the bridge from developers and remains committed to recycling equivalent sums into the delivery of housing in the borough…”.
But in its March 2023 report to councillors it said: ”The Local Authority accepts its obligation to ensure a sum equal to the recovered funds is to be recycled into future residential housing in the locality.”
Accepting that Ash is part of the borough, GBC is conveniently dodging the unlikelihood of ever receiving s106 contributions, on the scale it needs, from developments in Ash, as the land availability here is now minimal.
Secondly, once the bridge is opened in December, developers will actively challenge GBC’s attempts to levy s106 contributions for the bridge. Why contribute to make a bridge possible if it already exists?
It is noted that GBC has until 2034 to fulfil Homes England’s conditions, by which time all past and present councillors and officers involved in this subterfuge will have moved on… a pattern that continues with monotonous regularity.
And will Ash station ever get its footbridge? We will just have to wait and see. But rest assured Ash residents will continue holding GBC’s feet to the fire on all the missing infrastructure improvements we were supposed to be getting, in exchange for losing all our green space.
Share This Post
Responses to Letter: Ash Residents Will Continue to Scrutinise GBC’s Actions on the Road Bridge
Leave a Comment Please see our comments policy. All comments are moderated and may take time to appear. Full names, or at least initial and surname, must be given.
See: Tumbling Bay Footbridge: National Trust Says It Is ‘Committed to Finding a Resolution’
>
John Ferns
December 3, 2024 at 9:12 pm
I watched the webcast of tonight’s full GBC council meeting and heard the Leader’s rather cursory statement during her ‘Leader’s Communications’ segment, where she announced that the bridge would open in January.
I then listened to the leaders of the Conservative and R4GV groups commenting on the recent communications debacle. While the situation has been utterly frustrating for everybody (https://guildford-dragon.com/after-a-week-of-controversy-gbc-issues-statement-on-ash-road-bridge/), I do acknowledge the responsible lead, Cllr Hunt, who, in a rueful moment, recognized that the handling of the announcement had not been one of GBC’s finest — though this was very much left unsaid.
Now that some clarity has been achieved regarding the initial phase of infrastructure improvements in Ash, as outlined in the Local Plan (to develop the Ash and Tongham wards in the west of the borough), can GBC now turn its attention to a crucial safety improvement: the provision of a footbridge at Ash Station?
I quote from my July 2024 letter to the Dragon NEWS: “And will Ash station ever get its footbridge? We will just have to wait and see. But rest assured, Ash residents will continue holding GBC’s feet to the fire on all the missing infrastructure improvements we were supposed to be getting, in exchange for losing all our green space.”
Additionally, when can we expect milestone events and completion dates to be published?