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Vision Group Statement Welcomes Council’s Decision To Defer North Street Selection
Published on: 24 Apr, 2013
Updated on: 25 Apr, 2013
GBC Map showing North Street development site (within blue outline)
The Guildford Vision Group (GVG) has issued a statement saying it welcomes the council’s decision to defer its decision on the selection of a development partner for North Street. GVG is also calling for a reassessment of the council’s evaluation.
The statement reads: “The Guildford Vision Group (GVG) welcomes the sensible move by the Executive Committee of Guildford Borough Council (GBC) to defer the appointment of a developer for the North Street town centre redevelopment scheme.”
In the light of new information the proposal to defer was put to the Executive by Cllr James Palmer at its meeting on Thursday evening (April 18).
Two speakers from GVG addressed the meeting and supported the late move by GBC, referring to the impact of the arrival of PRUPIM, the property arm of The Prudential that is the new owner of the Friary and much of the development site.
Julian Lyon, one of the GVG speakers, also called for GBC to use the delay to get another professional opinion on the choice of developer. He pointed out the good governance benefits of a second opinion because, in his view, the council’s current retail adviser could benefit from the developer choice.
GVG also used the statement to pay tribute to the support of those many members of the public who came to its public meeting on Monday, April 15.
Bill Stokoe a director of GVG said: “We were encouraged by the debate and the comments we received at our Monday meeting.
“We believe GBC should now use the agreed delay to have a considered review of its developer choice. We also think the criteria and scoring adopted by the council’s evaluation panel is skewed and should be reassessed.”
The statement continued: “The North Street development is only one of three significant schemes currently in prospect. Given the inevitable added transport burden of the proposed food store on the Bellerby site and the Solum scheme at the station, GVG maintains there is ever more need for a comprehensive town masterplan, involving the primary landowners.”
A local Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “It is absolutely proper that the discussions with PRUPIM are on-going and our members on the evaluation panel are in full support of the Executive’s decision – after all, we are all looking for the best solution for Guildford.
“The lead time needed for the publication of the Executive agenda doesn’t allow for any work in progress, and so the deferral was the sensible course to take to allow for further discussions.”
All the GVG public meeting material, including slides showing the various developers’ ideas, and much more, can be found on GVG’s website www.guildfordvisiongroup.com.
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Responses to Vision Group Statement Welcomes Council’s Decision To Defer North Street Selection
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Bibhas Neogi
April 24, 2013 at 11:27 pm
A delay to reconsider the selection of the North Street development partner in view of PRUPIM acquiring the Friary and other properties in the area from Hermes is the right way to proceed.
It has been said many times that the traffic situation for the railway station (both the existing and Solum’s proposed development), Waitrose in York Road and the question of where best to relocate the bus station should all be addressed together. Let’s hope that SCC [Surrey County Council] and GBC [Guildford Borough Council] would reveal their options for dealing with the traffic issues during their public meetings at the Trinity Church Hall on 17th/18th of May.
I hope my ideas that I have described on my website have given SCC and GBC some real help in coming up with options. My website can be found by searching for ‘revamp guildford gyratory’ or by clicking on my highlighted name. In short, the scheme that I think should work is when –
1. The northbound traffic is taken down Walnut Tree Close (WTC) as a one-way road and a link to Woodbridge Road is bullt with a bridge over the river leading to Leas Road. WTC remains two-way beyond the link.
2. The right-hand lane on Bridge Street is removed and the traffic directed in contraflow to Park Street and on to the Friary Bridge to Millbrook. This only leaves one lane on Bridge Street so that the north footway could be widened to accommodate large volumes of pedestrians.
3. In Onslow Street, the northbound is reduced to one lane and thus allowing the southbound to be widened by relocating the barrier. Two lanes from York Road can then flow into Onslow Street. This arrangement should improve gyratory traffic for a modest cost, I guess, around £10million.
David Smith
April 25, 2013 at 9:10 am
I presume by the comment from Guildford Vision Group’s [GVG] Bill Stokoe, “The North Street development is only one of three significant schemes currently in prospect. Given the inevitable added transport burden of the proposed food store on the Bellerby site and the Solum scheme at the station, GVG maintains there is ever more need for a comprehensive town masterplan, involving the primary landowners,” means that they accept Waitrose will happen.
If so, why not save us taxpayers a load of expense and drop their legal challenge? Surely Prupim, once they conclude their purchase of the Friary Centre and nearby properties, will want to foster good relations with the council and progress an alternative scheme for North Street.