Thousands of residents have taken part, once again, in the public consultation on the revised draft Local Plan.
Guildford Borough Council estimate that it has received a similar number of responses to its previous public consultation in 2014 – when it had almost 20,000 comments from around 7,000 respondents comprising: residents, businesses, community groups and stakeholders. That response was considered to be one of the largest received by any local authority, nationally, in a Local Plan consultation.
In reactions to the news given by local political leaders and spokespersons from campaign groups, two main themes have emerged: the first is a re-emphasis of need for infrastructure improvements commensurate with any new developments displaying some scepticism, despite assurances, of what will be achieved; the second is a claimed lack of vision within the draft plan.
Commenting on the level of response, Cllr Paul Spooner (Con, Ash South & Tongham), leader of the council, said: “We wanted to reach out to as many people as possible and will review every comment, so they can all easily be shared with the independent planning inspector and published for everyone to read.
“We are at a very important stage in developing our new Local Plan. It’s crucial to make sure the plan we submit for inspection tackles local issues as well as balancing community needs across the borough. A key factor is to ensure suitable infrastructure, particularly transport, is in place to support future housing, employment and leisure opportunities for local people.
“We have made it clear for a long time that we can only deliver the new Local Plan in full if the necessary transport improvements are achieved. We are working with partners such as Highways England and Surrey County Council on their significant infrastructure projects, which they must complete to enable our proposed plan. Working together is the right way forward to protect our borough and help our communities and economy thrive.”
The council leader also confirmed that following the Brexit vote, and the publication of the new 2014-based and household projections, the council will revisit both the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) and the Employment Land Needs Assessment (ELNA) before submitting the Local Plan to the Secretary of State.
Cllr Spooner concluded: “This will ensure the evidence underpinning the Plan is robust, up-to-date and accurate. ”
Cllr Caroline Reeves (Lib Dem Friary & St Nicolas), leader of the opposition at Millmead, was broadly in agreement with the council leader’s statements. She said: “The Lib Dem message on the Local Plan has always been very clear that development anywhere cannot go ahead without the infrastructure to support it, particularly with regard to transport, so we agree that this is important and we urge that the work on this is published as soon as possible.
“The housing number produced by the SHMA is not necessarily the same thing as the housing target, since infrastructure constraints and green belt considerations must be taken into account.
“However it is very important that the SHMA is updated to take account of Brexit and the new household projections, so that the whole council can make an informed judgement about the housing target in the Local Plan proposed for submission.”
Cllr Susan Parker (GGG, Send), leader of the three-member Guildford Greenbelt Group, was more sceptical: “It’s good that the evidence base is being reviewed, but the Local Plan should be changed to reflect comments people have made.
“It’s meaningless to say that infrastructure is a key factor in the Local Plan. Any infrastructure won’t be planned, much less built, within the time scale of the Local Plan.
“Guildford Borough Council needs to review the proposed housing numbers to ensure that our existing infrastructure and our environment can cope with proposed changes. We must not create a disaster in the meantime.
“Lewis Carroll described the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party where there is jam tomorrow, and never jam today. Of course, he wasn’t talking about traffic jams but even so, in Guildford, it is always jam today.”
George Dokimakis speaking on behalf of Guildford Labour said: “It just feels we are going round and round in circles with the Local Plan. Another consultation and another similar response.
“This plan has been years in the making but it feels like it is taking us nowhere. There is no coherent and holistic vision for Guildford.
“The Tory group’s approach makes me question their motivation. We are at risk of losing Guildford’s individual identity and just becoming another commuter belt town.”
John Rigg, the chairman of the Guildford Vision Group (GVG) which has instigated much of the “Masterplan” work in Guildford, said: “We need a local plan that works. In terms of the town centre, GVG’s primary focus, is to protect Guildford from bad development and a bad future. There’s nothing in the plan.
“The town needs a vision. We have one, but the council has yet to formally adopt it. There’s nothing in the plan.
“Town centre housing can be either wonderful or dreadful in contributing to a successful town – the plan sets no regime for quality. There’s nothing in the plan.
“One world-recognised ambition for any urban plan is a successful transportation hub. There’s nothing in the plan.
“Pedestrianisation is proven in 200 UK towns, with another 75 towns following suit. It is the most universally adopted town planning change. There is no ambition in the plan for any town centre pedestrianisation, even with our appalling record of fatalities and accidents, especially around the gyratory. There’s nothing in the plan.”
Tony Edwards, spokesman for the Wisley Action Group which is against development of the former Wisley Airfield site, was also critical: “Cllr Spooner states that he plans to re-visit the Strategic Housing Market Assessment [SHMA], following Brexit. But housing need is a key foundation of the Local Plan so, without further consultation with ratepayers, the entire consultation process would be seriously undermined.
“It is, perhaps, unsurprising that there have been a similar number of responses to the draft Local Plan as last time – with, no doubt similar objections to what is clearly a very similar proposal, albeit with an increase in the contentious number of green belt sites threatened with losing their status and protection.
“Cllr Spooner regularly repeats his mantra that he is ‘listening’ to rate payers. Unfortunately he then appears to ignore what they say.”
This website is published by The Guildford Dragon NEWS
Contact: Martin Giles mgilesdragon@gmail.com
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Peta Malthouse
August 11, 2016 at 3:32 pm
Sadly I have no trust in the borough council. Neither the ruling party nor the officers have given us any confidence that the carefully thought through comments residents have made so far have been properly taken into account.
Now I see they intend to interfere with what correspondents have written again. Last time the comments were summarized and addressed by what GBC called their rebuttal but not all relevant comments appeared in the summary and it was published very close to the date of the beginning if the consultation.
I understood that the earlier comments would give rise to amendments to this final draft plan where necessary but that this round would involve our own comments in our own words being passed to the planning inspectorate with the draft plan. I agree with the Labour Party. We seem to be just going round in circles. I also agree with GVG and GGG. Where are we at? I no longer know.
Jim Allen
August 13, 2016 at 12:27 pm
We are in an interesting situation. At the (Regulation 18) consultation stage 20,000 comments were received and effectively ignored by GBC who then, in effect, wrote a different plan (not containing the communities comments) and presented it to the public.
Again 20,000 comments have been received. Now the council has a choice of taking notice of the comments and returning to a “Regulation 18” consultation or chancing their arm and submit the 20,000 comments along with their plan to a planning inspector.
Surely he/she will ask why so many comments have been received and effectively tell the planners to go back to Reg 17 and start again, noting the green belt is sacrosanct until the plan is accepted.
If only the council had properly listened to the community in the 2014 consultation.
Jules Cranwell
August 11, 2016 at 6:40 pm
Cllr Spooner says the SHMA etc, will be reviewed in the light of Brexit and other factors.
Precisely who will carry out the review? Will it be by entities connected to the development industry, carried out behind closed doors, without their methodology disclosed (even to GBC planners and councillors), as per the last SHMAs?
Or will it be carried out so that (as required by statute), the methodology and results can be ‘replicated by others’?
Can we please be told?
Ben Paton
August 12, 2016 at 3:40 pm
If this Local Plan were ‘of the people, by the people for the people’ one might expect it to have gathered support from outside some special interest groups and those who would like council housing but cannot get it.
Has one single parish council written in support of this local plan?
Lisa Wright
August 12, 2016 at 3:52 pm
This is bad news for the council. It proves how little they have changed since the last consultation.
This is the third public consultation of the Guildford Local Plan. Comments made in the previous drafts should have been acted upon to tailor a plan that the residents of Guildford and our neighbours could support.
This has obviously not been the case. Yet again it seems GBC councillors intend to ignore another round of comments and push on with the ‘trajectory’ of growth whilst keeping their fingers crossed the Planning Inspectorate and Highways England ‘play ball’.
Without due diligence on the data and respect for the residents comments this Local Plan is a sham. Much as I hate these consultations, this draft must be reworked, drop the housing number, remove green belt sites, change densities, improve affordable housing etc etc and then resubmit for another public consultation before finalising a plan for submission.
We keep telling them it’s wrong but either they don’t understand or simply don’t care.
David Roberts
August 13, 2016 at 6:05 pm
In commenting on the draft plan, members of my family and I expressly asked that our comments be made available to the inspector.
Can Cllr Spooner assure us that this will be done, and that our views will not be summarised, edited or in any way adulterated?
David Roberts
August 23, 2016 at 10:16 am
I take it that the answer to my question above is “No”.
Valerie Thompson
August 24, 2016 at 10:44 am
I’m sure it will be “no” if you, like me, had the temerity to criticise Cllr Spooner for his decision to designate new green belt land within his own ward, while removing it from many other villages.
Or, if you criticised GBC for apparently making it impossible, by sub-contracting the research for the SHMA, to see and comment on the exaggerated numbers of new houses to be built in the borough.