Local Party Leaders React to News of New Housing Target for Guildford

Published on: 13 Dec, 2024
Updated on: 13 Dec, 2024

Yesterday’s Government announcement regarding revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework and a new, much higher housing target for Guildford have received a predictably mixed reaction from most other parties at Guildford Borough Council with Guildford Labour alone in welcoming the news.

Cllr Pat Oven

Pat Oven, leader of the Guildford Greenbelt (GGG), whose raison d’etre is protection of local green belt, said: “Cllr White says that it will be “incredibly challenging” to meet the revised annual home building total of 1,170 homes per year – almost double the previous target. The reality is that such a target will be impossible to meet without major encroachment on the local green belt.

“It is commendable that the brownfield first policy remains, but the potential of areas adjacent to the Wey must be addressed, requiring more proactive cooperation with the Environment Agency. The Government’s seeming obsession with “grey belt” will not provide the land needed. They talk as though this was a new concept – it is merely a new name for previously developed land in the green belt.

“There are likely to be more inappropriate developments such as a solar farm at Blackwell Farm in an area approved for inclusion in the extended National Landscape. Lib Dem Councils will not cut much ice with a Labour Government – but the reality is that existing grants of planning permission need to be built out rather than sat on until the developer considers the time, and price, is right.

“GBC’s hands are largely tied by the Government, but if this proposal continues in its present form this town, or more accurately the areas just outside it, will be unrecognisable a decade from now.”

Cllr James Walsh

But James Walsh, leader of the three-councillor Labour Group at GBC was supportive of his party colleagues at Westminster saying: “We welcome these necessary changes to the NPPF and support the building of more homes in Guildford. We have a large housing list and, like every other part of the country over the last 40 years, not enough houses being built.

“Our commitment to social housing and ‘brownfield first’ remains steadfast and it is essential that any new developments come with the infrastructure they need. However, the housing we need cannot be provided on brownfield sites alone, which is why the government is looking at so-called ‘greyfield’ sites.”

He added: “Tough choices will need to be made about where and what we build and we hope that opposition councillors do not cave in to those with the loudest voices – who are invariably those who already have a home in the borough.

“No town is immune from change and nor should they be; economic buoyancy and vibrancy depend on growth and we all have a responsibility to make sure that development is well-managed and provides the homes and infrastructure that Guildford needs.”

Cllr Philip Brooker

Leader of the Conservative Group at GBC Phil Brooker said: “The revised housing requirement certainly presents a huge challenge for Lib Dem Guildford Borough Council.

“It remains to be seen whether they can meet that challenge in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Framework states that planning policies should play an active role in guiding development towards sustainable solutions, but in doing so should take local circumstances into account, to reflect the character, needs and opportunities of each area.

“Taking these criteria into account, it is difficult to see how the housing need can be met without significant investment in local infrastructure.

“There is no doubt that housing is needed. Unfortunately, the current Liberal Democrat administration has been failing residents for the past five years. Key projects, like the Guildford Park Road development, which was meant to deliver much-needed council housing, have been delayed.

“These delays have resulted in spiralling costs and a loss of vital housing revenue, ultimately costing the council millions. Meanwhile, approximately 200 council-owned housing units sit empty while local families remain desperate for homes.

“If the council is going to be able to prevent speculative unplanned development on green belt land, it is imperative that a new Local Plan is produced as a matter of urgency.”

Cllr Joss Bigmore

The leader of the third largest party at GBC, Joss Bigmore, head of the Residents for Guildford & Villages group, said: “We will have to wait and see but the Lib Dems seem aligned with the Labour Party when it comes to Housing Policy, ie that crude housing numbers are more important than concerns of impact to local character, heritage and environment.

“Sadly, I doubt there will be energetic challenge to the inflated Housing targets. Given the demand for housing there will be some that agree with their position but whether that represents “local interest” is very difficult to gauge.

“The Conservatives were kicked out in 2019 because of their Local Plan, and R4GV suffered in 2023 for supporting developments on brownfield town centre sites, North Street and Debenhams.

“Labour’s Policy changes will make local decision-makers increasingly impotent, mandatory targets, streamlined or automatic approvals, will have an enormous effect on our borough.

“The adopted Local Plan is currently delivering around 700 homes a year, and the whole borough seems a building site the countryside in the South East (where few vote Labour) will be changed irrecoverably.

“However none of this should be a surprise to anyone. The General Election delivered a dramatic shift to the Left, nationally Labour and locally to the Lib Dems, we are starting to see the effect of those votes. We need a large increase in “council housing”, not a national government outsourcing development to private developers that answer to shareholders rather than local communities.”

And Andy Smith from CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England) in Surrey submitted the following comment: “These changes to the planning system are extremely bad news for Guildford.

“At 1,170 dwellings per year, the borough’s new housebuilding target is one of the highest in Surrey. It is a massive increase on the current Local Plan target, which itself is so high it’s already leading to substantial green belt loss.

“Under the new NPPF we could see thousands of hectares of green belt being redesignated as “grey belt”, and even high-performing green belt farmland and open spaces could be targeted for development. Previously protected countryside will be more vulnerable to development than at any time since the green belt was created 70 years ago.

“Building tens of thousands of extra houses in Guildford in the coming years will not help reduce the waiting list for local people needing social rented homes. It is still all about the numbers game and will not meet our real housing needs.”