Letter: Is a Clear Planning Policy Too Much to Expect

Published on: 7 Aug, 2024
Updated on: 7 Aug, 2024

From David Roberts

In response to: Article Highlights Problem of Affordable Housing Provision

“At the end of the day, it will be your Local Plan”, says Cllr Fiona White [Lib Dem, Ash Wharf and lead GBC councillor for Planning]. But when’s that?

We are already five years into the 15-year Local Plan period and it is not “our” Local Plan at all. It’s still the Tories’ original Local Plan which no one, not even the Tories who introduced it, thinks is anything but highly defective.

But Cllr White seems to be waiting for Godot, expecting solutions to materialise out of thin air.

The Lib Dems have been running GBC, solely or in coalition, ever since the Plan was approved. No meaningful revision has been made or even proposed, despite constant urging from the Guildford Greenbelt Group and residents. The green belt has been badly eroded and Guildford’s villages have already been swamped by expensive, unneeded housing, while next-to-nothing is built in town.

Her letter is indeed a rare sighting of Cllr White, who seems to agree to whatever Guildford’s uniquely pro-developer planning officers tell her. Instead of moaning about other parties, let’s see an actual Lib Dem local planning policy – a determined effort to stick up for residents against developer greed.

Is a set-out policy, with clear aims and ambitions, too much to expect from our local leaders?