Letter: Inspirational Speech But Vision Group Has Been Treated As a Pariah

Published on: 1 Jun, 2013
Updated on: 2 Jun, 2013

From Gerald Bland

Stephen Mansbridge gave an inspirational talk at the Trinity Centre on Thursday night [May 30] about the need for a long term Masterplan for the Borough. He and James Palmer deserve our thanks and continued support if they are to convert those words into reality.

Masterplanning is about putting in place a long term vision for our town and identifying the new infrastructure needed to sustain it. It’s a product of real community engagement.

With politics being a numbers game community engagement is the elephant in the room. As the Leader of the Council said last night if you ask anyone in the High Street would you like Waitrose in Guildford the answer will be ‘Of course’ and if you say to them, ‘Do you mind where they go in the town?’ the answer will be, ‘Don’t care’. So it’s not difficult for a faceless and unaccountable planning officer to make that judgement for the silent majority and ignore the vocal minority.

All of us can bring to mind countless planning decisions and consultations where the minority who have taken the time to understand the issues and care enough to put pen to paper or speak at council meetings have thought the exercise a complete waste of time. For all the praise accorded to GVG [Guildford Vision Group] last night by Councillor Mansbridge our town councillors have treated it as a pariah ever since its inception.

There are a number of documents and reports being published for consultation by the council over the summer that will determine whether the vocal minority really can now make a difference.

Gerald Bland is a Director of the Guildford Vision Group