Letter: The North Street Proposal Cannot Be Right for Guildford

Published on: 1 Sep, 2022
Updated on: 1 Sep, 2022

From: Lorimer Burn

chairman of the St Catherine’s Village Association

In response to: Ten Blocks of Flats in North Street Would Overwhelm the Townscape

John Harrison’s comment is insightful with a good analysis of what is being proposed. John’s comparison with the Southall development is also instructive and helpful. The density and proposed height of the plan looks to be Woking-style rather than Guildford.

It doesn’t help that a good proportion of the 248 documents in the planning application on GBC’s website are “Not Available”.

This proposal gives the strong impression that profit is the priority, and a softer, more open-plan, far less dense, Guildford-style development is the last consideration in M & G Real Estate’s plan.

Although this development has been so many years in the making, this cannot be the right solution for this part of Guildford (or any part of Guildford for that matter). It is too dense, too high, and offers little additional interest in a market town with as much character as Guildford.