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Letter: I Find Mr Mansbridge’s Letter Extraordinary

Published on: 28 Apr, 2019
Updated on: 27 Apr, 2019

From: Paul Spooner

Council leader at Guildford Borough Council

In response to: Adoption of the Local Plan is Excellent News

I find Mr Mansbridge’s letter quite extraordinary. I am not sure whether this was designed to assist the R4GV [Residents for Guildford & Villages] Party that he has been publicly supporting on social media (I am sure they are thrilled!) or whether he genuinely believes what he has written.

Clearly he has not been involved with the Conservatives since he left the council and ran for the hills in 2015. The evidence base such as the Pegasus Countryside & Greenbelt study was actually commissioned when Cllr Jenny Wicks was the lead member for planning. It was incomplete and Ms Juneja commissioned completion of the work in 2013-14. Other evidence base work was also commissioned while Ms Juneja was a lead member.

However, when I became the lead member for planning and then leader of the council, I could not understand the “logic” of the Juneja plan and took the sensitivity analysis approach that resulted in a change to the site allocations, particularly the removal of sites in highly sensitive areas of green belt.

My position has always been that the site allocations had to follow a structured and understandable approach, whether you agreed with them or not.

Whilst I recognise that Mr Mansbridge, while leader, had the foresight to appoint me as lead member for planning, it is extraordinary to claim credit for the Plan, as adopted.

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Responses to Letter: I Find Mr Mansbridge’s Letter Extraordinary

  1. John Redpath Reply

    April 28, 2019 at 10:18 am

    We always appreciate a mention. So I would like to thank Paul Spooner once again!

    Residents for Residents.

    John Redpath is a Residents for Guildford & Villages candidate for Holy Trinity in the borough council elections to be held on May 2.

  2. Anna-Marie Davis Reply

    April 29, 2019 at 4:33 pm

    Mr Mansbridge’s letter was clearly a play for laughs, much like appointing Cllr Juneja Lead Member for Governance.

    Neither of them are relevant anymore, and there is a warning in that for those who have eyes to see it.

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