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Local Plan Expected to be Submitted to Planning Inspectorate in December
Published on: 10 Nov, 2017
Updated on: 11 Nov, 2017
Guildford’s Local Plan will be submitted to the government’s Planning Inspectorate in December subject to approval by the Executive of Guildford Borough Council (GBC).
A GBC spokesperson said: “We are on target … to submit our draft Local Plan … [and] on Monday, 20 November the Executive will consider the submission….”
The following evening the full council will be asked to decide whether the plan, associated documents and consultation comments can be submitted to an independent inspector for examination.
Cllr Paul Spooner
Cllr Paul Spooner, leader of the council, said: “We have reached a critical point in developing our new Local Plan that provides the framework to tackle local issues and balance community needs across our borough.
“Subject to council approval, we aim to submit the plan and associated documents for independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate next month. Alongside the plan, we will also submit all of last year’s public consultation comments and the responses about the changes from this summer’s consultation.
“We have carefully considered the thousands of comments made in 2017 from individuals and organisations. Their feedback has been invaluable in clarifying various details about the significant and minor changes we made to the plan after our consultation in 2016.
No changes are to be made to the plan following the latest consultation but the council leader continued: “However, it is still vital that strategic partners also complete their supporting transport and other infrastructure projects, so we can deliver the new plan in full and give our residents the great environment, homes and jobs they need.
“After a draft Local Plan is submitted, the appointed planning inspector then controls and manages the independent examination, which includes a set of public hearings. Our plan is about the future of our borough and enabling people to thrive, wherever they live or work, and I would like to thank everyone again for taking the opportunity to get involved.”
The council spokesperson added: “As well as controlling and managing the independent examination of the plan, the independent planning inspector will contact everyone who commented on the draft Local Plan to see if they wish to participate.”
Once the planning inspectorate has completed its examination, it will produce its report and recommendations. GBC will then consider any changes that may have been recommended and the full council will be asked to decide whether, or not, to adopt the new Local Plan.
GBC hope to complete the final stage of plan’s adoption by the end of 2018.
More information is available at: www.guildford.gov.uk/
The Guildford Dragon has invited comment to this story from other political parties and local representatives. These will be published, in a separate article, as soon as possible.
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John Perkins
November 10, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Thousands of comments have been carefully considered and then ignored.
Why bother to ask for comments and why bother to consider them? Why not simply make an executive decision? People should be happy with what they are given.
Jules Cranwell
November 10, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Yes, they have “carefully considered” the thousands of comments, but almost entirely ignored them to produce this latest plan.
The ‘trajectory’ established by Mansbride/Juneja remains unchanged.
In sticking to this plan, it is plain that the GBC Tories have completely reneged on their promise to protect the greenbelt at the last election.
To quote Pete Townsend “we won’t be fooled again”!
Bernard Parke
November 10, 2017 at 7:50 pm
The Conservatives reneged on their promise to protect the green belt at the last election.
This promise alone must have won them many votes.
They should consider their positions.
Helena Townsend
November 12, 2017 at 8:30 am
Not sure that Jules Cranwell hasn’t been fooled more than he’s been naive if he thinks Guildford can solve its housing crisis without building in the green belt. Any party would have had to have done the same.
A Local Plan will never please everybody but what it does mean is we can finally get decisions through on sites like the station and Wisley. Hopefully both can start to deliver the housing we really need shortly.
Well done GBC for drawing a line under this and getting on.
John Perkins
November 12, 2017 at 10:58 am
Will it be the housing that we need or the housing which will make the most money?
Jim Allen
November 12, 2017 at 5:25 pm
The Local Plan will never please everybody but it should try and please just some. I have yet to see anyone pleased with the poor application of common sense and so much “mitigation”. Not to mention the lack of ‘solutions’ for the problems that will be caused by these controversial proposals.
Helena Townsend
November 12, 2017 at 7:26 pm
The housing we need is actual houses with gardens. These can now only be built on green belt.
Guildford town centre has limited brownfield sites suitable for flats only.
Pete Knight
November 12, 2017 at 7:30 pm
I’m happy with the plan!
Valerie Thompson
November 14, 2017 at 8:30 am
But at least flats would house single people, some downsizers and the homeless. Guildford needs to get on with using some of its brownfield sites, like “The Village”, a pointless waste of valuable space, together with the open-air car-park next to it. If it is housing that is needed then flats should help.
Gardens are nice, if you have the space, but even in the villages large houses are being built with tiny gardens as people have little time to spend in them. There are places where houses with gardens could be built as infill, without taking large swathes of countryside in the greenbelt. Once gone, never recovered!