Letter: North Street Planning Vote Was ‘Shameful’, I Hope the Developer Appeals

Published on: 20 Jan, 2023
Updated on: 20 Jan, 2023

From Nick Wyschna

founder of Guildford Fringe and owner of The Fallen Angel Bar

I’m so angry with the council for the vote on North Street and had to write in.

I feel many of the councillors need to be reminded that they represent us, the residents of Guildford. They are not there just to vote on their own personal feelings. What the councillors who voted against the development have done is shameful.

What it feels like to someone on the outside is that Guildford Borough Council has become a load of people stopping progress and I hate it. By the chair’s casting vote the Planning Committee has stopped change and stopped Guildford growing.

I’m so fed up with this attitude that “nothing is good enough for Guildford, we don’t want change”. That’s not what the public or local businesses want.

There were more letters of support for the development than against it, from the people they are meant to represent.

The GBC officers we pay for advised a yes vote. These are professionals. Why were they not listened to? I’d love to know why the councillors think they know better. As far as I know, they are not professionals in this field.

The cost implications to the residents because of this no vote will also be huge.

More time and money wasted. That is if the developer appeals, which I hope they do.

It’s even worse if they don’t appeal but instead decide that they can’t work with a council so blinkered. We’ll then be left with a North Street which looks more like Aldershot than Guildford. And that will be the council’s fault.

I want to know what their plan is.

What the council have done is harmful to our town, shameful and deeply upsetting to those who love Guildford and want us to grow.

I am a very angry resident, business owner and lover of Guildford.

Responses to Letter: North Street Planning Vote Was ‘Shameful’, I Hope the Developer Appeals

Michel Harper Reply

January 21, 2023 at 12:28 pm

So well said and supported by the majority of Guildfordians, not the vocal minority.

The upside of this saga is that a planning appeal will give a strong direction on all planning matters as to height and viability as proven and supported by officers. The creation of 470 homes, for whoever lives in them, is a good thing. It will lead to the creation of new businesses and hospitality, another bonus.

And the £150 million investment in Guildford with associated jobs is a great thing. I hope the inspector directs that progress is a natural and generally supported principle of life, especially when regenerating a run-down brownfield site, seen as a slum and a blight in Guildford for more than 30 years.