Letter: Something Should Be Done About North Street But Not This

Published on: 15 Jan, 2023
Updated on: 15 Jan, 2023

The developer’s model of the proposal for the North Street.Regeneration, project “The Friary Quarter”.

From: John Murray

In response to: After Wednesday Can Guildford Really Afford the Lib Dems Any Longer?

Cllr Rigg observes: “Our local MP. desperate to curry favour with her target electorate”calls in Michael Gove etc. But Angela Richardson’s target electorate are the residents of Guildford and she has done no more that take account of their growing concerns about this proposal. John Rigg seems to think that it is in order to ignore these concerns and side with the developers against the residents. We shall see.

If the Lib Dems have actually changed their minds, as he alleges, this is most likely because they have seen which way the electoral wind is blowing.

The Residents for Guildford & Villages party can say what they like about tribal politics and how residents’ organisations are in the ascendancy but that is not the issue here. What is at stake is what the residents want to see for their town or maybe more to the point what they don’t want to see. The introduction of tower blocks in the in Guildford would be the thin end of the wedge.

I bought my first property in Woking 54 years ago. At that time there were no high-rise buildings in the centre of the town. The first one was built near the station to a height of about nine stories and initially housed a company called Gilbert Ash. Today it is dwarfed by towers of up to 32 stories. Every journey starts with a single step.

Developers have done plenty of damage to towns in and around us. It behoves our elected members to see that this does not happen here. Yes something needs to be done; just not this.