New Local Plan Public Consultation Announced by GBC

Published on: 2 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 2 Sep, 2026

By Martin Giles

Residents, businesses and community groups are being asked to share their views on the future of the local area when Guildford Borough Council launches its Local Plan Scoping Consultation today (September 2).

The new Local Plan will set out the vision, strategy and planning policies to guide development and land use across the borough up to 2045. It will identify how Guildford can meet future housing, employment and infrastructure needs while protecting and enhancing the borough’s environment, heritage and distinctive character.

The Scoping Consultation is the first of at least three opportunities for local people to get involved in the plan-making process. Their views, the council says, will influence the content of the new Local Plan and how it is developed.

Cllr Fiona White

Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem, Ash Wharf), lead councillor for Planning, said: “The new Guildford Local Plan will play a vital role in shaping the future of our borough. It will influence where homes, jobs, services and infrastructure are provided and help us protect and enhance the things that make Guildford such a special place.

“We’re in the early stages of the process, and we want to hear from as many people as possible. Whether you’re a resident, business owner, community group or other stakeholder, your views can help us identify the right priorities and ensure the plan’s vision reflects the needs and aspirations of our communities.

“This is your opportunity to help shape the future of Guildford from the outset – I encourage everyone with an interest in the borough to get involved.”

There was considerable dissatisfaction following the public consultation before the 2019 Local Plan was adopted, just days before a borough council election and the then Tory administration, which had been largely dominant in the borough for decades, suffered an unprecedented electoral defeat.

Some of the concern currently expressed is about the amount of development planned for the borough and the diminished protection green belt and even “national landscape” status can give.

And sceptical comments have already been made throwing doubt on the level of influence public views can exert, given the constraints of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) against which a planning inspector will examine the plan.

Recently, consultants produced a report that showed very little of the borough, once 90 per cent green belt, could not be considered “grey belt” for which planning permission might be hard to resist.

Guildford’s “grey belt” according to AECOM Study.

Guildford Borough Council is preparing the new Local Plan under the Government’s revised planning system introduced earlier this year. The council says it is currently in the preparatory “getting ready’ stage, before moving into the formal 30-month plan-making process at the end of October.

The Scoping Consultation which will run from Wednesday 2 September to Wednesday 14 October, sets out the key issues, challenges and opportunities facing the borough and asks for views on what policy topics the new plan should contain. It also seeks feedback on how the council will engage with stakeholders as it prepares the new plan.

GBC, which will dissolve in April when the new West Surrey council takes full power, is particularly keen to hear whether it has identified the right priorities and issues for the new Local Plan, and how it can better engage with people and groups whose views are not always represented in planning consultations.

Information on how to respond to the consultation is available at https://guildford.inconsult.uk/GLPS26/consultationHome

Before it can be adopted, the new Local Plan will be independently examined by a Planning Inspector appointed by the Government. Once adopted, it will replace the existing Local Plan documents, including the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites (2019) and Local Plan: Development Management Policies (2023).

Further information about the timetable for the new Local Plan is available at: www.guildford.gov.uk/localplantimetable