Letter: Time For Cllr Reeve to Come Clean

Published on: 11 Oct, 2017
Updated on: 11 Oct, 2017

Cllr Reeve at the complaints hearing.

From Paul Spooner

Guildford Borough Council leader, lead councillor for planning and Conservative councillor for Ash South & Tongham.

In response to a comment from Lisa Wright on the letter: Some Facts About the David Reeve Complaint

I request that Cllr Reeve publically confirms the following statement [written by Lisa Wright in her comment] as factually correct or incorrect:

“As Cllr Reeve has now shown, and as many have suspected for so long, the SHMA figure has been manipulated in order for GBC to build thousands of houses that are not locally needed, specifically on large green belt sites.”

“GBC’s refusal to share these figures, with anyone, GRA, GSoc, parish councils etc, have led to independent consultants being employed to work the figures which concur with my suspicions, and those of others, that the SHMA figures and subsequent OAN [objectively assessed need] are inflated and unconstrained.”

Does Cllr Reeve agree with that statement by Ms Wright given his meetings with GBC planning policy, Justin Gardner and GL Hearn?

Time for him to come clean? Yes or no? And, if yes, by how many has the OAN been inflated?

Responses to Letter: Time For Cllr Reeve to Come Clean

Jules Cranwell Reply

October 11, 2017 at 10:09 pm

Cllr Spooner has gone too far in his recent behaviour.

Perhaps he wishes to divert attention from his pointless and unjustified trip to the Far East.

I believe his party, within which he aspires to higher office, will increasingly find him an untouchable burden.

His constant, ill-advised outbursts in the council chamber, the press and on Twitter are an embarrassment worthy of Donald Trump.

“Come clean,” he says. Since when has he or his Executive come clean, not least the secretive OAN and SHMA model?

I suspect his political future is bleak if his local party discovers a spine.
Valerie Thompson Reply

October 12, 2017 at 8:49 am

I presume Cllr Spooner has not actually read Cllr David Reeve’s well-researched and detailed document, which he so vociferously opposed, otherwise he would know that the estimate is about 2,000 houses too many.

We all know why these figures are as they are – because the council will receive £7,000 per house when they are built. Quite enough for a few more trips to China!
Lisa Wright Reply

October 12, 2017 at 4:35 pm

Firstly, I’m pleased to see Cllr Paul Spooner has the respect to read the views on The Dragon after Cllr Graham Ellwood’s slur at Tuesday night’s council meeting when he called it a “local blog” and Cllr Spooner’s continual attacks on Twitter.

But getting back to the question he poses.

Didn’t Cllr Spooner read the detailed report that was sent out by David Reeve or GRA (Guildford Residents Association)?

All statistics are open to interpretation but no one trusts the SHMA [Strategic Housing Market Assessment].

It is well known that GBC has an aggressive growth strategy. We also know that GBC refuses to constrain the numbers by use of totally legitimate constraints such as AONB, green belt and blue infrastructure (our waterways) along with traffic infrastructure, air pollution etc.

Furthermore, the cost of all this dallying has affected more than the GBC resident tax purse as parish councils, local groups and the public have all donated money to have the numbers reworked by the GRA consultant.

When are we going to see, in GBC, the openness and transparency required by the Nolan principles? Because I, for one, have not seen anything resembling it in the last four years of the Local Plan debate.