BELOW is a selection of feedback from the first ninety Questionnaires:
How effective Guildford has been in addressing its problems or making the most of its potential?
“We need a long term plan, not ill thought out or untested, quick fixes (that only turn out to be a waste of money shortly after implementation.) Further major development should all be on hold until we have sorted out the roads/flow of traffic problems, even it it takes 20 years to afford it!! The idea of a Waitrose, hopefully with a John Lewis, would be most welcome, but without 100’s of extra parking spaces, is only going to make our traffic problems much worse. Peoples’ time is valuable to them in modern life and we do not want to spend hours in almost stationery queues to get in, out, or across the town. This will put people off coming to Guildford to either shop, work or relocate to the town or nearby and therefore the area will get poorer and shabbier.”
“I don’t believe that GBC’s town planners have ANY sense of preserving the beauty, character or unique potential of our lovely little city – and that seems to me very, very sad.”
“Separation of Borough and County (who seem to be almost at war with each other) means there is no comprehensive planning and no accountability or responsibility for the problems. Both Councils are run by people who do not live in Guildford and this presents a major problem when it comes to understanding the problem – perhaps the County Council should be moved to Guildford – then it would understand how difficult it is to get around and across town.”
“No democracy, no forward thinking, no accountability – and it is all someone else’s fault…”
“The present trend is to try and run the Town as a business rather than fulfill the needs of the people, The Executive ( or Cabinet) is made up of people living in the Villages. Unlike Godalming, Haslemere and Farnham we have no Town Council. We have council taxation without proper representation.”
“The current regime is only concerned with asset generation”
“Traffic is the biggest problem, partly due to the confluence of river, rail and Hogs Back. We need to get through traffic out of Guildford.”
“The town has improved the entertainment sector but has yet to tackle other areas”
“Many visitors don’t get to discover some of the lovely areas behind the High Street.”
“Little made of the river running right through the town”
“It beginning to look dated and dowdy.”
“We must do more to stop the beating heart of the town – the retail and commercial centre, from dying. Traffic must be addressed or nothing else will matter.”
“I am amazed time and again at the stupid decisions made by the council. Why, for instance, did they refuse Mark Gudgen setting up an Art cinema in Constitution hall? Guildford and surrounding villages is full of people who would support such a venture. And money was lost in the eventual decision they did make. This is just one example of the lack of insight on the part of the decision-makers at Millmead.”
“The approach has been very short term. GBC, SCC and teh Highways Authority have not worked together to generate a longer term approach to solve the town’s chronic traffic problems”
“Very little imagination at council level, and an inability to make a decision in less than five years. In my opinion, Guildford is far from reaching its potential – that is unless you come to Guildford for a boozy night out”
“Traffic around Guildford is always bad”
“The Debenhams building is beginning to look out of date – a long time since it was built as Plummer Roddis. What is the future for this store which is often very empty during the week?”
“Much better than before over the last 30 years, but naturally variable owing to the party political factor. Very well officered on the whole (though there was a horrible blunder over replacing the Civic Hall, which proved very costly).”
“Not helped by poor council leadership, spending priorities and planning (e.g. the Civic Hall debacle)”
“Guildford could be so much better than it is; apart from the High Street, the centre is frankly unpleasant – this should not be the case.”
“Traffic has been a problem for a very long time and it is getting worse and worse without the council doing anything to resolve it”
“But we should all accept some responsibility. An apathetic electorate can hardly blame local politicians if they have not voted at all or thoughtfully.”
“Disastrous decision to cut high st with 281 and the structure of the one way system”
“There should be a nice walk along the river. Instead bits of it have been allowed to be blocked (by the Odeon cinema/law courts, by Debenhams.”
“The emphasis by GBC has been too much on survival through retail (by big global brands) at the expense of small, local, community outlets. This means money flows out of Guildford when more should circulate within Guildford. The emphasis has also been on enticing people to drive long distances to shop in Guildford and lure them away from Reading, Basingstoke, Kingston, etc. This is unsustainable and contributes greatly to traffic congestion. We need more community spaces, better use of river frontage, more traffic free areas.”
“Some aspects of Guildford are excellent; others (especially traffic and parking) are awful.”
“Too much piecemeal development in the past has contributed to today’s problems. This means tough decisions have to be made now. Planting the odd tree does not constitute environmental awareness. Also, time to stop political sniping – both major parties have to share the blame, now get on with it.”
“I have seen some good changes to the road system, especially traffic calming measures. However, the problem of the A3 must be addressed. In terms of buildings, would it be possible to bite the bullet and actually demolish some of Guildford’s worst ‘sixties moments’? Certainly we shouldn’t add more. (The proposed new Waitrose building does not inspire confidence). It would be excellent to make more use of the river frontage – but it must be as public space, not for residential or commercial development!”
“Potential has been lost, poor planning and ugly architecture. Lack of a coherent and sympathetic plan.”
“The absence of a unitary authority, city status and the short term nature of local politics all contribute to the town’s underperformance”
“It seems that if we concentrate all attention on the High St everything else is unimportant. This is not good enough. Poor use of the riverside; appalling access from station & university to town and from town to hospital.”
“I believe that GBC has been too conservative and short-sighted for decades.”
“The same issues repeat themselves both in the press, protest groups and in GBC itself. Why – it is evidence of NO VISION from GBC”
“Terrible. No progress for 20 years”
“Over the past 20 years it has been most dispiriting to watch the situation just get worse and worse while successive councils seem to keep patting themselves on the back for a job well done.”
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