Letter: Guildford Should Be Planning for the Shopping of 2030+

Published on: 20 Dec, 2017
Updated on: 20 Dec, 2017

Artists impression of how a
redeveloped North Street could look.

From A Atkinson

We are not “the shopping capital of the South East”, as claimed by Helena Townsend in her comment on Gordon Bridger’s article: Guildford Cannot Support a 40% Increase In Its Retail Space.

Take a look at this report from retail specialist Harper Dennis Hobb. It shows Guildford as 50th in a list ranked by potential retail spend and 24th when ranked by the type of retail offer and how suitable it is to the catchment area.

A claim was made some time ago that Guildford was the luxury shopping capital of the UK (excluding London) based upon spend and disposable income especially of the HNWIs (high net worth individuals) with around 6,500 having incomes of £100,000 – £150,000 per annum.

But that does not make it a good place to shop for locals or the areas around it and certainly does not warrant massive expansion.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with enriching the shopping environment with a mix of stores which suit the local needs, but the main thrust of the issue is that, in times when the council claim there is a shortage of homes for key workers and talk about the dream of a “modal shift” in transport, then the right balance has to be struck.

Increasing the retail space by such a large area, +40%, is wrong. There needs to be redevelopment of what space we have and an increase the number of homes, close to transport hubs and jobs, using that 40% space.

I want change for Guildford. I don’t want the same old stores that you can find on every high street and easily shopped at online. Guildford should be planning for the shopping of 2030+ not the failed planning idea of the past that more is better.

What frustrates me is that this is all the council seems to be able to come up with across the whole of their plans.

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