Letter: Local Plan – More Councillors Should Say, ‘Enough is Enough!’

Published on: 13 Aug, 2016
Updated on: 13 Aug, 2016

From Colin Cross

Lib Dem ward councillor for Lovelace

So the level of public protest against the draft Local Plan is unabated.

The public consultation shows that, in spite of its low profile launch in midsummer and only six weeks being allowed for responses, instead of the previous 13 weeks, 20,000 comments from 7,000 concerned parties have been received.

The protest is clearly not going away or dropping off, indeed this prolonged opposition to the draft plan is now reaching a uniquely high and sustained level not witnessed elsewhere in the UK.

Last time we were told that we would be listened to and the 2014 plan was finally withdrawn for redrafting after a humiliating by-election defeat for the Tories that September.

But that doublespeak actually translated into the current version of the plan having an increased SHMA [Strategic Housing Market Assessment] derived housing figure of 693 houses per annum, as against the previous preferred option of 652.

No doubt that, with the post Brexit review we are promised, this will end up back at 652, exactly where we started two years ago.

Guildford Borough Council are now hell bent on getting the current version of Local Plan off to the planning inspector with no fundamental changes, regardless of the strength of public protest. Our leader’s predecessor said it all when he stated: “I set the trajectory for it, and the trajectory has not and will not change”.

I am accused by the current leader of: “…thinking yourself a very clever politician for challenging the majority position at every turn”. Well, silly me. All along I have been thinking that this was the exact role I was elected to pursue.

More’s the pity that more opposition members of GBC, as well as the more moderate Conservatives, cannot unite behind this latest public outcry and say: “Enough is enough! This must change.”

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