Letter: Guildford Planning is Deeply Flawed

Published on: 9 Jul, 2023
Updated on: 9 Jul, 2023

From: Jim Allen

In response to: Rules-based Planning Decisions Are Worthless If They Don’t Respect Democracy

I have found that planning officers and applicants are looking for the public to be compliant with their proposals and decisions rather than planners and applicants be compliant with expressed public opinion.

Here are some examples:

Burpham Aldi – the paid consultants admitted they got it wrong. Insufficient parking spaces for anticipated customers

WeySide Urban Village – they have permitted the irrational – 1,500 people on buses every 20 minutes, ie a six-hour loading schedule. Buses to Guildford centre and nowhere else. Insufficient parking for residents and a need for car charging at all properties from central government, yet no access to park.

The new Sewage Treatment Works on unusable unstable land. There will be a high to very high cost to make it stable and usable. The current treatment plant is currently 10-12 per cent under capacity for today’s demands.

We have major problems in the planning. There are inaccurate and excessive housing targets, houses brought off plan for investment, not residential use (resulting in new homes lying empty for decades and a lack of reality in planning for adequate provision of water, electricity supply not available until 2035.

Additionally, there are transport and movement expectations which don’t match reality. There is no increase in road capacity. Instead, there will be a reduction by way of width and restrictions, while it is projected there will be 47,500 additional people, together with their extra vehicles, if the Guildford Local Plan is built out.

I think it is time to sit down and discuss where we want to be in 2030, 2040, 2050 – and please don’t shout ‘net zero’.