From Lisa Wright

I was surprised to see that your recent  survey requesting people to choose between building high rise housing or developing green belt sites was so limited.

These surveys often try to gauge the feeling of local people but on this occasion I fear the options were too limited to give a real feel for those taking part.

It is a reflection of the choices available in the Guildford Local Plan, one that mirrors the options of high rise or green belt development. Might I suggest to The Dragon NEWS, and Guildford Borough Council that a wider context of options are available to us?

I doubt there is a single person who would like all the housing, approx 13,500 to be built on green belt and in comparison, probably no one wants to see all 13,500 residences in a high rise blocks.

This is the problem. The majority of people would like to see brownfield sites put to good use.  To me, that means building modern apartments in town with good access to the station and facilities and yes, possibly in blocks of 6/7/8 storeys.  Regeneration of brownfield must be the priority for any town or government.

Could the Dragon, and GBC,  benefit from having further options available for the public to comment on?

Editor’s response:

It is difficult in these polls to represent all the options available and the aim was to try and tease out readers’ priorities.

You are, of course right that it is not, actually, a straightforward either/or choice but many would prefer there to be no green belt development at all. Others might  feel that high rise developments in Guildford, even of the 6/7/8 floors you mention, should not be allowed at all. (High buildings in Guildford are not that prevalent and some that do exist are very unpopular.) And there will be some, perhaps many, that want neither.

Anyway, I am grateful for your letter which further demonstrates the difficult choices that have to be made.