Worplesdon Parish Council’s Hopes For Permanent Office Despite Objection By Memorial Hall Trustee Chairman

Published on: 17 Aug, 2019
Updated on: 17 Aug, 2019

For 20 years Worplesdon Parish Council has been seeking a permanent office in the parish and now hopes it has found the solution and has submitted a planning application on a site in Gravetts Lane.

It is for a single-storey office building with ancillary storage, access, parking and associated works. The site is owned by civil engineering contractors T. J. Hunt Contracting Ltd.

The entrance to contracting engineers T. J. Hunt’s premises in Gravetts Lane, where Worplesdon Parish Council has submitted a planning application to build a permanent office. T. J Hunt has offered to built the office free of charge.

However, the chairman of the trustees of Worplesdon Memorial Hall, Chris Ewbank, objects, and has said: “The connections between Worplesdon Memorial Hall and the [Worplesdon] Parish Council have always been very close. It is a very valuable asset for the village. The parish council have for very many years used the facilities of the hall for their meetings.

“In late 2018, my predecessor met with the parish council representatives to discuss the possibility of siting the new offices at land at the hall. Subsequently many months later we were advised that this application was being submitted but we were not shown appendix A [a part of the planning application to Guildford Borough Council] at that time and had no opportunity to comment on it. We are not aware when appendix A was prepared.”

Worplesdon Memorial Hall at Perry Hill. The piece of land the parish council considered for an office building is between the hall (at the far end) and a cottage.

The appendix is a list of 24 sites the parish council has looked at and made enquiries to as a possible location for a permanent office. No.17 is listed as Worplesdon Memorial Ground between Cottage and Hall (new build), with the comment: “The Parish Council requires a stand-alone office/meeting room – Even if agreed by the Trustees, this would be a leasehold, rented building over which the Council would have between Cottage and Hall (new build) no management control. Site not fit for purpose.”

Mr Ewbank added: “The situation has changed presumably since this document was prepared and on seeing the application we have asked the council to revise it because it no longer reflects the real position. They have declined to do so and in view of the time scale we are now forced to make the council aware of the changed circumstances on this part of the application as we believe that [Guildford] Borough Council should be in possession of the full facts before adjudicating on the application.

“Briefly, early in 2019 the [Worplesdon Memorial Hall] trust obtained a substantial grant which ‘inter alia’ gave it the funds to seek legal advice to update the governance structure, which is unaltered since it was set up nearly 100 years ago. Whilst the objects of the charity will be unaltered, subject to Charity Commission approval its terms of reference will be widened, the time scale is likely to be about four months.

“The substantive point is that if the trustees would be in a position to agree a freehold solution to meet the parish council’s needs; which must move the site from the category of ‘not fit for purpose, to ‘fit for purpose’. We note incidentally that interestingly the comment relating to management control is not met by the proposed site at Gravetts Lane, anyway, as it would appear to be a leasehold, rented building.

“In addition we would like to make the following comments. This development is inappropriate in the green belt. Public access in Gravetts Lane is poor. The proposed Worplesdon Memorial Hall site is not in the green belt. The Worplesdon Memorial Hall location being in the centre of Perry Hill is much better than [T. J.] Hunt’s which although more central to the parish is in a relatively isolated position.”

Entrance to Worplesdon Memorial Hall and Sports Ground.

Mr Ewbank said the hall’s trustees want to support the parish council and to continue the long and good relationship with it. Referring to a meeting of Worplesdon Parish Council on August 8, 2019, Mr Ewbank added: “We would have preferred a positive response from them to our concerns but none was forthcoming.”

He asks that people who object to the planning application make their comments known to Guildford Borough Council.

Worplesdon Parish Council has responded, saying it submitted a planning application for a single-storey office building on an existing employment site within the parish, as defined in the Local Plan, to Guildford Borough Council (GBC) on June 26, 2019, validated by GBC on July 2, 2019 and is currently in the process of being assessed by the planning department.

It adds that while seeking a new office over the past 20 years, “considerable efforts that have been made to find a suitable location”. These, its says, are demonstrated within Appendix A of the planning application.

Additionally, the parish council says: “In terms of public transport accessibility there are two bus routes which serve Gravetts Lane / Fairlands, the number 20 (Kite) service, which runs four times per hour, and the number 17 (Stagecoach) service, which runs through Fairlands and Wood Street Village four times per day. There would be a short walk of approximately three minutes from the bus stops to the proposed parish office.

“The number 28 (Falcon) bus service, which would serve the Worplesdon Memorial Hall, runs through Stoughton, Pitch Place and Worplesdon and runs every 90 minutes.

“Parking spaces and a bicycle rack would also be provided at the proposed Gravetts Lane office.

Worplesdon Parish Council currently uses an office at the Parklands business park at Queen Elizabeth Park, Stoughton.

“The current office in Queen Elizabeth Park is an open plan office, which makes it impossible to hold confidential meetings during office hours without interrupting office staff. The proposed office will have a separate office and meeting room and would also deliver much needed (easily accessible) secure storage, which the current facilities lack.

“It is WPC’s understanding, from a presentation given by Mr C. Ewbank at a WPC council meeting on 8 August 2019, that the Worplesdon Memorial Trustees (WMT) are in a process of changing their constitution to that of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, which may be completed by December 2019. At the time of submitting the planning application, the trustee’s constitution only permits the construction of new buildings if they deliver recreational facilities. The village of Worplesdon was not removed from the green belt in the Local Plan that was adopted by Guildford Borough Council on April 25, 2019. Worplesdon village remains 100% washed over by the green belt, albeit limited infilling could theoretically be permitted. As is the case at the application site in Gravetts Lane.

“Taking the above into consideration were an office to be built at the Worplesdon Memorial Ground it would also be in the green belt.

“The proposed office on the employment site in Gravetts Lane would be built by the owners, at no cost to the parish council, and it is proposed, via a Letter of Intent, that the building would be leased at market rates to WPC for a period of 25 years.

“Due to the limited size of the proposed building, WPC would still need to use other facilities within the parish to hold its committee and full council meetings. It is envisaged that within the 25-year period there will be development within the parish whereby a bespoke council building with an office, a council chamber and meeting space could be negotiated with a developer via a Section 106 agreement for a nominal sum. This has worked successfully for other local parish councils. A larger facility than that which is currently being proposed would also enable WPC to generate an income which might help to reduce the precept.

Development underway between Keens, Gravetts and Tangley Lanes in the parish of Worplesdon.

Lane cleared for development more recently occupied by derelict riding stables buildings.

“It is alleged, by the chairman of the Worplesdon Memorial Trustees, that the proposed office ‘is in a relatively isolated position.’ It ignores the fact that the population growth around the area of Gravetts Lane, Tangley Lane and Keens Lane is soon to be the centre of a thriving community following developments at Sime Close, Morgan Close and very soon the larger housing development between Tangley Lane and Keens Lane. It is regrettable that Ashill, the developer of land north of Keens Lane, declined to incorporate a community building in this new development. In light of these developments, the proposed site for the new parish office cannot be described as ‘relatively isolated’.

“To build an office at the memorial grounds WPC would have to engage in an extensive process of community consultation, engage and manage consultants and contractors to build the office, assuming that planning permission were granted. The building and associated costs could be in excess of £500,000: funds that WPC does not have. Consequently, WPC would have to source a public services loan over a 50-year period. This would increase the parish council element of the precept (council tax). In the worse-case scenario it could double the administration budget, which WPC would not desire to do.

“Taking all the above into consideration, the planning application that WPC submitted to the borough council provides the most financially economical solution to providing a community facility and an office for the parish council for the next 25 years within Worplesdon.”