Letter: Isn’t It Time Voters In Ash Considered Their Options?

Published on: 29 Jan, 2018
Updated on: 28 Jan, 2018

From Ben Paton

In response to: Letter: There Is Not Much More ‘They’ Can Do To Ruin Ash & Tongham

The three Ash wards return seven Conservative borough councillors, four of whom are serving, or have served, on the Executive (another is the chair of the Planning Committee). These councillors take primary responsibility for the conduct of the Local Plan. The plan continues to follow the trajectory set by the former leader of the council, Mr Mansbridge, who represented a ward in South Ash & Tongham.

Given the concerns expressed, isn’t it about time that the electors of Ash voted against the party that is responsible for this excess development? Instead, they should vote for transparency and disclosure of the housing “need” numbers commissioned and adopted without scrutiny by the council.

The council continues to base its plan on a housing need model that has been kept a secret but which is known to contain a number of serious flaws. These flaws result in an exaggerated housing need. On top of that, the council has refused to apply any constraints to the raw housing need figure. It has simply taken the unadjusted gross number that comes out of the secret and unscrutinised model.

Ash electors might consider signing this petition: https://www.change.org/p/mr-paul-spooner-leader-of-guildford-borough-council-councils-must-publicly-disclose-housing-need-calculations-in-guildford-and-across-england