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Network Reply to our concerns on the Solum Development

Network Reply to our concerns on the Solum Development 692 517 GVG Admin

Network Rail has replied to our concerned expressed in a letter to Chris Grayling Secretary of State. The letter is not very satisfactory as it fails to address

  • The short timescale for planning up to 2043 for rail services, compared with a design life of 100 years for the Solum scheme
  • Why the station is being compromised for the sake of 2 metres of land is not explained.

We can only conclude Network Rail are development led rather than rail services led.

We will be raising this issue with the council as they do need to robustly question Network Rail and Solum on this matter.

Guildford Society also have an item on this correspondence including a link to the Network Rail Reply.

 

Guildford Vision Group Calls Again For New Link In Light Of Gyratory Crossing Fatalities

Guildford Vision Group Calls Again For New Link In Light Of Gyratory Crossing Fatalities 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

Police accident reports again throw up the dangers of the gyratory and its lethal mix of cars and people. An analysis, referenced in an online SurreyLive article of 21 February, shows how dangerous it is for pedestrians, with the crossing at Farnham Road bridge near the junction with Bridge St recording 3 fatalities between 2013 and 2017.

Other surveys show how unhealthily polluted the gyratory is and how much its congestion costs us all, both residents and businesses, through delays.

Guildford Vision Group (GVG) has been making these points for over seven years. When is the council going to act? Money is being spent on tinkering at the edges, not tackling core issues.

Coming down the roads into the town centre over the next fifteen years is the additional traffic created by 10,000+ new homes set to be built on the fringes of town.

“The town centre needs some serious infrastructure study and spend,” says John Rigg, chairman of GVG. “The council‘s soon to be adopted Local Plan has nothing substantial to offer as a solution to the challenge of the gyratory. The opposition, in the shape of the LibDems, has adopted a nimby approach to any talk of bold initiatives.”

Specifically, both have rejected GVG’s oft-repeated call for a new link across the river and railway to take traffic away from the core and the main pedestrian flows. It would better connect east and west Guildford that, since the 1850s, has endured just the one crossing, the ageing and weakened Farnham Road Bridge. GVG’s link should be seen in the context of its masterplan for the centre.

The local elections are in May. Residents should challenge all candidates on this key issue for the borough if we want Guildford, the regional hub and engine of the local economy, to remain safe, healthy, attractive and accessible.

Transport Experts Say Vision Group’s New Traffic Corridor Would Bring Significant Changes

Transport Experts Say Vision Group’s New Traffic Corridor Would Bring Significant Changes 910 683 Lisa Flounders

In a report commissioned by Guildford Vision Group (GVG), experts at local transport consultancy Motion have concluded that the town centre traffic layout proposed by GVG would have significant benefits.

Thanks to the new East/West traffic corridor over the river and railway put forward by GVG, the aggregate number of junctions encountered by vehicle movements routeing across the town centre falls by 40% to 93 from the 156 encountered involving the current gyratory.

The report also concludes that the new corridor and associated routeing ‘can deliver major environmental, safety and transport benefits as well as adding considerable resilience to the system’.

As the latest public consultation on the Local Plan comes to an end, Motion also points out that the creation of a Sustainable Movement Corridor (SMC) is a key part of the spatial vision for the borough, as set out in the submission Local Plan, and that the GVG masterplan assists in its delivery.

The GVG plan significantly aids the delivery of key SMC elements by substantially improving the town centre for pedestrians, cyclists and buses, whilst making car journeys easier and separating modes to greatly facilitate modal shift.

“We’re delighted to receive this confirmation of the validity of our proposals for town centre traffic, especially in relation to our proposed crossing,‘ says John Rigg, chairman of GVG. ‘The crossing is the great enabler. It frees up riverside and other space for pedestrianisation. Bridge Street becomes a car-free route and remains the natural desire line for pedestrians to and from the station into town. Cyclists get dedicated paths. It enables creation of great public realm, making Guildford an even more attractive place to visit, to relax in, and to live and work in. Our plan is a win-win all round.”

GVG has included the Motion report as part of its submission under the latest Local Plan consultation which ended at noon on Tuesday 23 October.

GVG Newsletter – October 2018

GVG Newsletter – October 2018 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

The Local Plan Is Not Yet Sound
Notwithstanding the evident displeasure of the council leadership, we have declared that we believe the Local Plan unsound in its present form. The public consultation has just concluded, and the local plan still has no proper plan for the town centre. It still builds mostly on greenbelt and still does not address brownfield adequately. It continues to lack infrastructure solutions for the town, one of our worst problems after shortage of homes.

 

Overwhelming Support
Our stance on the Local Plan became clear at our recent public meeting attended by around 150 people. It was held on Tuesday 16 October to help our supporters and others respond to the consultation which closed at noon on Tuesday 23 October. We handed out a guidance note at the end of the meeting as to what to, and how to, submit by way of responses to the consultation. Following a show of hands we also undertook to offer additional guidance to those who wanted to add their voice to GVG’s in declaring the Plan ‘unsound’. The support for such action was overwhelming, with only two objections.

 

Town Centre First for Housing
A central thrust of our argument is that the council has not been diligent enough in exploring more housing in the town centre. This is at the expense of the green belt. It also fails planning requirements to put brownfield development first and green belt development last. At the moment GVG has identified scope for 3,500 homes in the town centre; the council plans 900 homes in the centre versus 6,000 on greenfield sites.

 

Housing Needn’t be High
We believe that, with the essential masterplanning required, around 3500 new homes could be included  in the town centre and its immediate environs, eg along Woodbridge Meadows. This saves one or more identified green belt housing sites. For those worried about the impact on the town, we believe building heights need not exceed four storeys in the main. Interestingly, for certain locations, the meeting exit poll found 80% of the respondees would accept a seven storey height limit. We say that must only be with new town squares, open riverside, proper amenity space and, of course, new infrastructure solutions.

 

Green Belt Housing A3 Dependent
And the ‘unsoundness’ argument is further supported by the fact that the identified Green Belt housing sites are all very much dependent on major A3 road improvements and associated road interventions. None of these vital works is as yet scheduled and there is no clear indication from Highways and the County Council as to when such works might be scheduled. This uncertainty, stretching into the late 2020s and beyond, with no immediate likelihood of a cure, means that the prospects for the 6,000 Green Belt houses are bleak.

 

Not So Much New Housing Needed
While many would welcome less housing, central government would decidedly not. The country needs more new housing, though the number for Guildford should be reviewed in the light of revised ONS figures. They show a marked demographic reduction in the need for new homes. However the council’s growth arguments in its plan may now be the justification for retaining the higher housing number.

 

An Unsound Plan is Costly
There’s a financial cost to a council of getting a plan wrong, including the years taken over the process. The more a ‘sound’ plan is delayed because of its shortcomings and thus the delivery of much needed new housing, the greater delay to the council’s receipt of the new homes bonus (a building incentive plan). In addition, it delays receipts from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a more elaborate and remunerative successor to section 106 payments from developers that are supposed to pay for additional improvements in the community.

 

It’s the Inspector’s Turn
Attention will now switch back to the next moves of the planning inspector, Jonathan Bore, who has been examining the council’s Local Plan and whose role it is to declare the Plan sound or otherwise. At the conclusion of the public hearings back in the summer, he declared that he was minded to find the Plan ‘sound’. But this was subject the council introducing changes to the Plan, known as ‘main modifications’ (MMs), with policies to address the town centre.

 

Focus on the Town Centre
As we have repeatedly pleaded over the past six years, we pointed out the complete lack of attention in the plan to the future of the town centre, as well as the hierarchy argument for housing on brownfield, rather than raiding the green belt. The inspector recognised the force of our arguments. He added some personal observations about the ‘appalling’ quality of previous (1950/60s) development immediately beyond the High Street and historic core of the town. So he called on the council to produce a new policy (S3) for the town centre. This was a notable ‘win’ for GVG at the hearings.

 

New Town Centre Infrastructure Needed
This new S3 policy has been part of the modifications (MMs) put forward for the consultation just ended. We believe the council draft S3, while an improvement on the blank space before, is still inadequate for a town of the size and regional importance of Guildford. There is no commitment to essential infrastructure improvements, for example. Everyone recognises that the town centre suffers from record congestion, pollution and accidents. Flooding needs better planning to offset its impact. There is no resilience. Look at the mayhem recent roadworks have caused. The ageing and failing Farnham Road Bridge will shortly be repaired and strengthened which, if closed or restricted, will only further test resilience. It will continue to remain a major bottleneck for decades ahead. Something must be done.

 

Safeguard a Crossing Route
Which brings matters round to our key infrastructure demand – a new crossing of the railway and river just north of the station. Since our inception we have called for a new crossing. One solution is incorporated in our masterplan for the town centre, launched to much acclaim and support last February. At the meeting on the 16th there was again overwhelming support for the crossing, with 93% agreeing a route for it should be safeguarded in the Local Plan, with no other solution available. Yet there is no such commitment in the MMs and Policy S3.

 

A Better Town Centre Helps Everyone
The next few weeks will see the Local Plan drama play out. We are hoping other resident and action groups will join us in declaring the Plan ‘unsound’. We have been challenged in the past about focusing exclusively on the town centre. While not apologising for that, we hope our submissions around housing, where we call for more in a properly masterplanned town centre, can be seen as complementary to equally focused campaigns on Green Belt development.

Green Belt development just creates more car movements and congestion. Over 20,000 more people living outside the town will in no way help our roads or the centre. By contrast, 10,000 more people living in the town centre, able to access public transport and sustainable movement options, should make an impressive reduction in the demand for Green Belt development as well as sustaining the town centre economy.

 

We will Press On
We will continue to press our case in the coming weeks. Given the importance of having a sound Local Plan, we are also hoping the council will set aside its reluctance of some years now to engage with us so a meaningful and progressive dialogue can be established. Sadly only three councillors were present to hear our reasoning and to see the overwhelming support of the community, with important questions posed during Q&A.

As the support for GVG at our meeting demonstrated and evidenced in the exit poll, our arguments around masterplanning the town centre are logical, aspirational and what residents and businesses want to see happen.

 

We Love Guildford because..
Two worthy winners of ‘I Love Guildford because…’ competition were announced at the public meeting. Both received £100 vouchers to spend at the Cosy Club in the new Tunsgate. Heather Mantle used a photo of building detail of the Trinity Centre to remind us to stop and really study our fine heritage, ‘to look again when we think we’ve ‘seen’ but have only really glanced.’ Ian Blyth, in a written submission, said ’Guildford has the wonderful amenities associated with a town but retains an almost village-like feel ‘. His ‘people’ focus struck a chord with the judges. Our best wishes to them and thanks to all who took part.

Key Guildford residents groups want wider scope for reopened local plan hearing

Key Guildford residents groups want wider scope for reopened local plan hearing 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

Guildford, Wednesday 31 October 2018: The Guildford Society (GSoc) and Guildford Vision Group (GVG) want the reopened public hearing into the Local Plan to consider the council’s proposed new town centre policy wording, not just the housing numbers. Both resident groups fully support the reopening of the Local Plan hearing to consider new housing numbers in the light of revised, lower ONS projections. Examining inspector Jonathan Bore has asked the council to propose dates for another hearing session.

 

GSoc AND GVG are both keen, however, to see any new hearing encompass a discussion on Policy S3, following their submissions under the public consultation just closed. This Local Plan is about land use allocation – where development should take place. The policy, covering the town centre, is therefore inextricably linked to both the housing number and housing location issues.

 

Both groups are unhappy with the wording and scope of Policy S3. They suggest S3 and related policies are currently inadequate and need meaningful commitments to provide an effective framework for development. Both groups have lobbied for the town centre to accommodate much more housing, thus freeing up one or more Green Belt sites currently in the frame for housing development. Town centre homes represent more sustainable development than congestion-creating homes in the Green Belt dependent on major A3 improvements as yet to be scheduled, and acknowledged by GBC to be outside its control. Town centre homes would be good for the town’s economy but would again focus attention on the centre’s inadequate infrastructure.

 

GVG and GSoc say regeneration of the town centre must be masterplanned in a holistic way to address failings in the infrastructure (transport, flood prevention, public realm/facilities etc). A high quality, functioning town centre with a proper balance of housing, commercial and retail space, is not achievable otherwise. Policy S3 should designate the whole of the town centre as a strategic site – or at least the regeneration area identified in the Town Centre Regeneration Strategy – delivering homes, retail and commercial space. Such development could then come with the same obligations the council wishes to impose on private developers of the strategic green belt sites.

 

Policy S3, as currently written, allows for a piecemeal ad-hoc approach which will never deliver the infrastructure upgrade the town needs. The emerging impact of ad-hoc planning can already be seen, with opportunistic developments of nine storeys or more – up to fourteen – either approved or under application.

 

Both groups have also complained at the poor response from the council regarding consultation with key stakeholders on the important issue of the town centre. As an example, GVG and GSOC submitted a Draft Statement of Common Ground to the council as part of the hearing process. It was never acknowledged by the council.

GVG responds to consultation regarding Guildford Borough Council’s local plan

GVG responds to consultation regarding Guildford Borough Council’s local plan 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

GVG has responded to the most recent consultation regarding Guildford Borough Council’s modifications to its Local Plan, which will determine how Guildford’s town centre is developed until 2034.

 

These modifications were made following the Local Plan hearings this summer, when the inspector examining the initial plan said it was fit for purpose but subject to some changes. Following this consultation, the inspector will decide whether the modified Local Plan can be formally adopted.

 

GVG’s response to Main Modifications to the Submission Local Plan: Strategy and Sites 

 

GUILDFORD ON THE BRINK – LOCAL PLAN UNSOUND

GUILDFORD ON THE BRINK – LOCAL PLAN UNSOUND 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

ADDITIONAL RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION – DECLARE THE PLAN UNSOUND

This advice follows the conclusion reached at the Public Meeting on Tuesday.

WHEN: Immediately, and certainly before the deadline of 12 noon on Wednesday 23 October 2018.

HOW: The easiest method is by email to: localplan@guildford.gov.uk

Ensure you include your name and address as the Council will not accept anonymous responses. You can respond online if you choose – see *note at the bottom of this page.

WHAT TO SAY:

The Local Plan is unsound because:

  1. The council has not properly observed its hierarchy of development. Brownfield opportunities, especially in the town centre, have not been fully exploited
  2. There is too much reliance on A3 improvements and they are beyond the council’s control
  3. The town centre policy, S3, is thus inadequate and also does not address the infrastructure deficit
  4. Housing numbers should reflect the latest ONS figures and projections. The public hearings should be re-opened on this subject to allow re-examination
  5. The grounds for green belt development are inadequate because of 1 and 3 and do not represent ‘exceptional circumstances’

Don’t worry if you have made comments already. There is no restriction on the number of responses you return so long as you include your name and address and meet the deadline.

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNCILLORS

You will find the names and contact details of the councillors for your ward on the GBC website here: http://bit.ly/GBCCouncillors

Ask them how they will ensure we don’t end up with an unsound Local Plan. What they are going to do to ensure Guildford has a proper, adopted Masterplan which integrates GVG’s proposals.

CONTACT THE CANDIDATES FOR THE 2019 MAY LOCAL ELECTIONS TO GBC

Ask them how they will implement what the town needs for a sound Local Plan through GVG’s proposals.

*SEE THE LOCAL PLAN MODIFICATIONS: To download the modified Local Plan, and to respond online if you choose, go to: http://bit.ly/GBCRespond

You don’t have to respond to every modification. GVG is very keen that you respond to Policy S3 which is about the Town Centre.  Go to MM3 to make your comments about the Plan being unsound.

For more information visit our website: www.guildfordvisiongroup.com See the ‘flythrough’ of our proposals at: http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough or email us at: action@guildfordvisiongroup.com with any queries or suggestions. Tuesday’s public meeting can be viewed here 

GUILDFORD ON THE BRINK – YOUR KEY ACTION POINTS

GUILDFORD ON THE BRINK – YOUR KEY ACTION POINTS 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

1. RESPOND TO THE MODIFIED LOCAL PLAN

WHEN: Immediately, and certainly before the deadline of 12 noon on Wednesday 23 October 2018.

HOW: The easiest method is by email to: localplan@guildford.gov.uk

Ensure you include your name and address as the Council will not accept anonymous responses. You can respond online if you choose – see *note at the bottom of this page.

WHAT TO SAY: The key points to make about the Main Modifications (eg MM3) are:

  1. MM3 – POLICY S3. Guildford Borough Council must deliver real and coordinated results. The Town Centre must be designated a strategic site or sites
  2. MM3 – POLICY S3. Guildford must have an effective local plan. Development rules must ensure quality of development across the Town Centre
  3. MM3 – POLICY S3. Guildford Borough Council should adopt Guildford Vision Group’s proposals, including the new crossing or equivalent effective alternative, to deliver a safer, pedestrianised town centre with transport resilience and opened riverside
  4. MM23 – POLICY D1. Guildford Borough Council, as a major landowner in the centre, must accept the same obligations as imposed on the other strategic site owners by the council as planning authority

You may have other points to make about your own neighbourhood, for example, using response notes from your local action group or residents’ association. You can make these separately as there is no restriction on the number of responses you return so long as you include your name and address and meet the deadline.

2. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNCILLORS

You will find the names and contact details of the councillors for your ward on the GBC website here: http://bit.ly/GBCCouncillors

Ask them why we are in the current situation, how will they ensure we don’t go over the brink into piecemeal development and what they are going to do to ensure Guildford has a proper, adopted Masterplan which integrates GVG’s proposals.

3. CONTACT THE CANDIDATES FOR THE 2019 MAY LOCAL ELECTIONS TO GBC

Ask them what they will do for Guildford and your area, and what how they will implement what the town needs through GVG’s proposals.

*SEEING THE LOCAL PLAN’S MODIFICATIONS: To download the modified Local Plan, and to respond online if you choose, go to: http://bit.ly/GBCRespond

You don’t have to respond to every modification. GVG is very keen that you respond to Policy S3 which is about the Town Centre. Go to MM3 & MM23 to make your comments

For more information visit our website: www.guildfordvisiongroup.com See the ‘flythrough’ of our proposals at: http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough or email us at: action@guildfordvisiongroup.com with any queries or suggestions.

GVG announces next public meeting

GVG announces next public meeting 1920 1440 Lisa Flounders

Local Plan – We’re on the Brink
Guildford town centre is on the brink. What do we want? Planned, sensible, infrastructure-sensitive and mixed development? Or a piecemeal, disjointed, over-built, infrastructure-insensitive and 41,000 sq m retail-led car crash? We could be heading for the latter – the signs are not good.

 

New Town Centre Policy Consultation

Does the Local plan now represent sound planning for the next 30 years? This is the last chance to influence the planning future of our town. The latest statutory consultation is now underway. We will be holding a public meeting to discuss the latest local plan modifications and, in particular, the new town centre policy.

 

GVG Public Meeting re Consultation

Our public meeting will be at the Baptist Centre, Millmead on Tuesday 16 October, starting at 7.30pm. Please do come.

 

The local plan public consultation closes on Monday, 23 October so you will have time to make your response to the council after our meeting. Here’s the link to submit your views to the council online.

 

GVG Town Centre Policy Win

Our July Update told the story of the Local Plan public hearings and GVG’s hoped-for ‘win’ when the inspector called for a new policy for the town centre – now called Policy S3. There’s a lot to like about the proposed policy; we could have written much of it ourselves.

 

Local Plan Still Sound?

But at its heart, the Local Plan still remains unsound in our view. It doesn’t, for instance, provide any commitment to masterplan the centre or to deliver major betterment, including significant infrastructure improvements. It doesn’t provide adequate protection of the Wey Navigation and its Corridor – one of the real and much under-utilised assets of our town.

 

New Housing

On new housing, the Plan speaks of a hierarchy of development, starting at the (brownfield) centre and only moving to the green belt when all other options have been exhausted. Yet, on the ground (and in the Plan) we see evidence of a green belt-first approach, with developments at Blackwell Farm, Wisley, Gosden Hill Farm and others. There are only 900 homes proposed for the town centre. We think that number could be 3500 (irrespective of new ONS figures). Our masterplan demonstrates that it’s possible, with most building not going above five storeys.

 

A Lot Going On

There’s a lot of important strands to track at the moment:

  • The latest consultation on the new Local Plan, including a new policy for the town centre
  • Revised ONS figures now show lower population growth than envisaged in Local Plan. Will we still build 672 new homes a year?
  • GBC reviewing and updating its 2017 Town Centre Regeneration Strategy
  • GBC hiring consultants to advise on protecting key views into and out of the town, somewhat late after current policies failed to protect against the Solum Development and others!
  • GBC hiring consultants to advise on how new major strategic developments, are masterplanned to connect to and from the town centre.  Again, rather late in the day to think about Town Centre transport infrastructure? Why cannot the Town itself be masterplanned?
  • Four separate student accommodation planning applications – 1100 units – in a cluster in Walnut Tree Close and now another 300 on the Casino site.

 

We Still Need a Masterplan

In response to all these events, GVG simply points out the pressing need for an adopted masterplan, something it has been calling for repeatedly since 2012. GVG’s suggested masterplan can be found on our website here.

 

When challenged, the council always points to its Allies & Morrison masterplan – but never adopted – and its 2017 Town Centre Regeneration Strategy – again never adopted but now to be revised just one year later. Neither of these documents can stop developers submitting non-compliant applications that take advantage of the mistakes and precedent of the Solum application at the station.

 

GBC Relying On Non-Adopted Documents

As things stand at the moment, all the council’s town centre documents have no planning policy status. The new Policy S3 is thus based on the evidence of non-adopted plans and strategies. The competence of the GBC to manage the planning process must be questioned.  The current town centre policies didn’t stop Solum (the 10 storeys, Great Wall of Guildford).  And now we have the Casino application coming in at 14 storeys and developers outlining ideas for Walnut Tree Close at 12 storeys. We wait in dread of what the North Street development might try for.

 

No Brake on Undesirable Development

The Local Plan contains fine words about the town and development generally, including improving the riverside. Yet, in reality, there is no real brake on undesirable development. So do the council really care?

 

Take Walnut Tree Close for example. Here the Allies & Morrison masterplan, much referred to by the council, envisages a riverside park stretching along to Ladymead. We in GVG support that. Our Plan shows how that whole area, including Woodbridge Meadows, could accommodate considerable housing but set back from the river to leave even more green space for public enjoyment.

 

Impact of Student Housing in Town

In practice, right now, there are planning applications or outlines for four separate student schemes, all clustered around the eastern end of Yorkie’s Bridge far too  close to the towpath – a total of 1100 units, a veritable student quarter (with another 300 on the Casino site).  Surely we need robust policies that promote a mix of residential units, including affordable homes for lower income residents?  We do need to provide for long term residents in the town centre.  The university has space for more student units on its campus.

 

Where is the guiding hand of the council? Where is the design oversight? Where are the planning policies to promote housing that supports residents, key and low income workers, as well as sensible provision for student?

 

Your Voice Matters

There’s a lot going on, and it is a vital time to voice your opinions on the future of Guildford via the public consultation. The May 2019 local elections are not far away. We need to get the future of the town centre well up the agenda of political debate, including pressing for effective use of brownfield sites before we touch the green belt.

 

Love Guildford and Be a Winner

Please make the time to come to our public meeting on Tuesday 16 October at 7.30pm. We need your support and value your opinions. We will also be announcing the winners of our ‘I Love Guildford because..’ competition at The Baptist Centre meeting. See our WebFacebook and Twitter sites for information.

I LOVE GUILDFORD BECAUSE… GVG LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO FIND THE BEST OF THE TOWN CENTRE

I LOVE GUILDFORD BECAUSE… GVG LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO FIND THE BEST OF THE TOWN CENTRE 1450 794 Lisa Flounders

Guildford Vision Group has launched its ‘I love Guildford because…’ campaign, a survey and competition to find out exactly what Guildford’s residents, workers and visitors think of the town centre. We need you to share your views on what you love best about the town; we’ll announce the results at our next public meeting on Tuesday 16th October.

Answers are welcome in a variety of ways, whether you wish to provide a written list of all your favourite things, you just have a preferred shop on the high street and you want to let us know, or you want to share your pictures and videos. Simply start your response with ‘I love Guildford because…’ and get in touch.

You can take part by leaving your comments here on our website, or by emailing us directly. You can also find us on Facebook (@guildfordvisiongroup), Twitter (@guildfordvision) and Instagram (@iloveguildford) if you’d like to share your videos and photos. Please submit your responses by Monday 1st October.

In addition, we’ll be handing out prizes; a £100 gift voucher for Cosy Club will be awarded to two winners, one recognising the most unusual reason to love Guildford town centre, and the other rewarding GVG’s favourite photograph of the town centre.

John Rigg, chairman of GVG, said: “We know that Guildford is a brilliant place for all sorts of reasons, however we want to know exactly what people love best about living and working here. Your views will allow GVG to create the first, definitive list of Guildford’s best bits, according to the people who are here every day.”

 

Competition Terms & Conditions

  1. The promoter is: Guildford Vision Group
  2. The prizes are: A £100 gift voucher for Cosy Club awarded to two winners
  3. The competition is open to the public of the United Kingdom aged 18 years or over
  4. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition
  5. By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions
  6. Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified
  7. Closing date for entry will be 1st October 2018. After this date no further entries to the competition will be permitted
  8. The rules of the competition and how to enter are as follows: provide written content, pictures or videos illustrating your favourite elements of Guildford town centre, starting the response with ‘I love Guildford because….’ Submissions will be accepted via email, comments on the website Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
  9. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter
  10. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition
  11. The prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The prizes are not transferable
  12. Winners will be selected at random by assessing all entries.
  13. The winners will be announced on 16th October at GVG’s next public meeting and also personally notified by direct message on social media platforms, email or on the website dependent upon method of entry. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner. The promoter will notify the winner when and where the prize will be available to pick up
  14. GVG accepts no responsibility for the warranty of the prize
  15. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other social network

 

Guildford Vision Group - Guildford Council's gambling Rolling dice

Guildford Local Plan: The council’s gambles and the inspector’s questions

Guildford Local Plan: The council’s gambles and the inspector’s questions 1920 1277 admin

Our council leadership has taken two great gambles with the Local Plan.

The Local Plan – Two Great Council Gambles
The failure of its strategy may well lead to even more housing coming our way, and in ways and places we haven’t bargained for.

Gamble 1 – New Housing & Infrastructure
The Council has sought to contain the new housing number by making any development dependent on provision of adequate infrastructure. There is no certainty this will work as a strategy. Specifically in so doing, it has not met, among other things, the Government’s requirement for a five year housing supply to be identified and achievable from the start of the Plan period.

Gamble 2 – Green Belt vs Brownfield
And in not looking hard enough at brownfield sites, especially in the town centre, something GVG has been urging it to do, the Council has taken the easier route and looked to Green Belt sites to provide land for new housing. This too is a gamble, as planning legislation, regulations and guidance combine to make it quite clear that there must be exceptional circumstances to reverse any Green Belt designation.

The Inspector Calls
The Inspector appointed to examine the Local Plan is already on the Green Belt case. He asks:

‘Please can the Council provide me with a single paper setting out (a) a clear explanation of what it considers to be the strategic level exceptional circumstances justifying the release of the amount of Green Belt land indicated in the plan and its broad spatial distribution; (b) an explanation of what it considers to be the local level exceptional circumstances relating to each specific site from the Green Belt; and (c) an explanation of why it considers that there are exceptional circumstances that require the addition to the Green Belt between Ash Green Village and Ash and Tongham.’

The Inspector is also questioning the Council’s proposal for widespread ‘insetting’ of Green Belt villages and settlements, where hitherto the Green belt has ‘washed over’ them. The consequence of ‘insetting’ is to modify local planning guidance to make new house building more achievable in these formerly well-protected and often historic areas much loved by their electorates.

Insufficient New Housing
The main shortcoming of the Council’s Plan is that it has also almost certainly provided insufficient new housing numbers across the entire Plan period to 2034, partly by choice but, as we may well discover at the Public Examination starting in June, by an inaccurate interpretation of the calculation formula, despite many warnings from resident groups and others.

In his first comments and demands, the Planning Inspector appointed to examine the Council’s Plan has made it clear that he is questioning the whole basis of the Council’s approach when it comes to the provision of new housing. He says:

‘I am very concerned about the proposed stepped housing trajectory which indicates that the plan will deliver much lower numbers of homes in its early years than are actually needed. This appears to be an unacceptable aspect of the plan and the Council needs to consider the steps that should be taken to improve housing delivery in the earlier years of the plan.

If the Plan is about anything, it is about the provision of new housing. If the Council’s great gambles fail, the consequences for all of us will likely be very disturbing.

Where’s The Evidence?
What the Inspector seems to be suggesting is that, where the Council claims an infrastructure shortfall, its evidence base for such a claim is unsound. If the Inspector is right, then the Council’s rationale for the under provision of new housing at the start of the Plan period is completely undermined. He also suggests that the infrastructure needs are inadequately set out as well.

Study Your Profile
The evidence, or rather lack of it, is to be found in the ’Settlement Profiles Report’. The Guildford Society pointed out the deficiencies of the Profiles Report very early on in the Plan process but its advice went unheeded. The Settlement Profile should help positive planning at settlement level by looking at the micro economy of defined areas across the Borough. It measures their issues, threats, opportunities, concerns, micro-economies, relative deprivation, infrastructure, connectivity and characteristics.  The level of study is supported by statistics recognised and used by central government.

Most settlement profiles had at least some input from their Parish Councils. Guildford Urban Area has none and the report, written by the Council itself, is a very poor reflection of this key area.

Urban Guildford Loses Out
One glaring aspect of the Profiles Report is that Guildford town is seen as just one settlement, among 30 others across the borough. Each, of whatever size, merits a three page analysis. With a population of 74,000 the Guildford Urban Area dwarfs the other ‘settlements’ in the borough, such as Ash Green (pop: 593), Chilworth (pop: 1852) and Send (pop: 2314). Thus in the town, the three-page Profile provides poor guidance and does not distinguish between, for example, the micro-economies of Burpham and Stoughton. It does not distinguish between infrastructure needs of, say, Merrow and Park Barn. Thus the three-page Report on the urban area of Guildford leaves it with a very superficial conclusion:

Conclusion
Guildford is designated as an urban area and contains a high level of services. As such it could support a level of development which exceeds that of any of the borough’s other settlements. If suitable sites are found, there is the option to extend the urban area to enable more development however this may lead to development away from key services. The sustainability of any extension should be assessed in more detail through other evidence base studies. This will include further work to assess the level of infrastructure needed to support the level of growth.’

This is the quality of the evidence base against which planning policies are formed to judge future developments of a size such as Solum’s at the station.

Our Masterplan May Yet Have Its Day
GVG has long called for a masterplan for the town centre. GVG draws most encouragement from these words from the Inspector. In a series of questions, he asks:

  • ‘How many years has the redevelopment in North Street, Guildford been under consideration, how long has it had planning permission and has that permission been renewed? Against a background of changing retailing patterns with continued strong growth in internet retailing, what consideration has the Council given to re-evaluating the balance of uses in this location having regard to the need to accommodate additional homes?
  • There is nothing about the masterplanning of large sites, how the public can engage in the overall masterplanning process, or how overall masterplans and the different components of the larger schemes are to be subject to design review – essential parts of the urban design process. These considerations need to go into a new policy ….. and the wording needs to be designed with advice from a masterplanner / urban This is essential given the number of
    major housing and mixed use allocations in the plan.
  • Please can the Council produce a paper setting out what steps should be taken and policy revisions made to accommodate a greater amount of the housing growth in the town centre and on other eligible brownfield land including suitable employment land and

We share the Inspector’s concerns over developments in the retail market. We have engaged with the North Street developer over the past year or more. We are proposing a much more mixed use scheme, with a substantial housing element, which now the Council may at last recognise. We want a professionally masterplanned scheme. We want an attractive centre extension of mixed uses, with appropriate massing for the County Town. We do not want a ‘mega mall’ with a housing estate on top.

You Have Contributed To Our Plan
GVG has asked to be allowed to present its masterplan for the town centre to the Inspector. The plan has evolved through interaction and consultation with residents, businesses and visitors alike over the past six years. We have been very heartened by the level of support for our plan shown at the two public meetings we held last year when over 500 people attended.

Guildford Residents Should Have Their Say
With the new crossing we propose, the centre of Guildford and the riverside is given back to pedestrians. Our plan delivers over 2,000 more homes in the town centre than the number planned by the Council. Our plan delivers this number while respecting and enhancing Guildford’s heritage and lovely setting. If only the same could be said for the Solum scheme – the Network rail planning application which GBC should have managed so much better before losing the planning appeal, courtesy of inadequate or absent planning policies. This is why it is so important that we all speak out. Guildford is our town and we should all have a meaningful say in its future.

GVG newsletter April 2018

GVG press release: Council gambling with our future says Guildford Vision Group April 2018

Photo by Jonathan Petersson on Unsplash

Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, tower block proposal

What future for Guildford now the tower blocks are arriving?

What future for Guildford now the tower blocks are arriving? 1155 453 admin

2018 is the Chinese Year of the Dog and we’ve started with a dog of a development.

Who Let The Dog Out?

The Solum development appeal by Guildford Borough Council (GBC) was lost and planning permission for the ten storey, 300 metre monster development approved by the Appeal Inspector. The Solum scheme potentially blocks one of the very few transport solutions for the town, our region, and the local economy and raises health & safety concerns.

You will have hopefully seen the letter GVG wrote to The Guildford Dragon in which we analysed how we believe the appeal was lost and what lessons there are to be learnt for the future. If not, please do read it. Go to http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2018/01/29/opinion-planning-disaster-occur/#comment-168422

GVG is all for new housing and development in the town centre. We’ve been advocating it for the past six years. But let’s have it managed via a comprehensive adopted masterplan. We’ve drawn our own up, as you know.

Indeed, the Inspector offered us words of encouragement: ‘There is much to commend the GVG approach, both in exploring legitimate aspirational objectives for the town centre and as a vehicle for engaging local people in the strategic planning process.’

But he could not help us further as our masterplan, in particular the GVG crossing linking York Road to Guildford Park Road/Madrid Road, does not have the backing of GBC (nor, as a result, SCC, Network Rail and our LEP which offers infrastructure grants).

GBC Should Take The Lead
We do believe it’s time for GBC to sit down again with us and engage in meaningful discussions. Our masterplan has moved on since meetings ended.

At the Appeal hearing we had said the Solum development was ‘premature’. We said it should await any decisions that emerge from the upcoming Local Plan examination in April/May. We intend to present our masterplan there to give our town a sustainable chance in the decades ahead.

If our new crossing was included in the emerging Local Plan, ie had the support of GBC, then the Inspector acknowledged that the prematurity argument was an option that might have had some weight. Thus one argument for turning down the appeal was lost unnecessarily.

Who Will Be Sniffing Around Now?
Solum is now a precedent, especially in terms of new building height. Don’t be surprised to see opportunistic tower block planning applications popping up from now on. There’s one application already in for twelve storeys in Walnut Tree Close for 190 new homes – see the featured picture with this blog.

The Plaza site, off the Old Portsmouth Road and now approved, will be nine storeys.

But we have to keep on saying it. GVG is not against new homes in the town centre. Indeed our masterplan provides 2,000 more new homes in the centre, on brownfield sites, than the number GBC have in the draft Local Plan.

We don’t support twelve storeys; we don’t support ten storeys. We do support four or five storeys in the town centre, rising to seven or eight around the Ladymead area, as our plan shows.

It’s All Fresh Air
GBC is launching its new Air Quality Strategy. All good stuff you’d no doubt agree, including encouraging electric car use, for instance, and modal shift. But the Strategy also includes, as a key initiative, ‘developing a framework with partners to monitor roadside air quality in the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area’.

What seems to be missing is any monitoring of roadside air quality in the town centre. The four bird nests in the SPA look to benefit, but the fledgling adults to be found at the bottom of Bridge Street lose out. Whose future is more precious and valuable?

Common sense would suggest any monitoring of air quality should be at the most likely areas of high pollution concentration. Which would you pick? Whitmoor Common or Walnut Tree Close? Brookwood Heath or Bridge Street? Ockham Common or outside Debenhams?

A recent University of Surrey study suggested that Guildford Town Centre was one of the most polluted areas in the county, if not the country.

The emerging Local Plan has nothing on this subject yet it is probably among the most critical health & safety issues facing us in the town. Indeed the Local Plan is quite silent on the centre. GVG has advocated modal shift right from the start, but in a stance balanced with realities.

We’ve Got Our Nose Down
The upcoming Local Plan examination is taking up a lot of our time. We plan to raise the lack of any real, coordinated plan for the town centre. The lack of real infrastructure initiatives is disturbing.

There are some plans just now under consultation where SCC will jiggle with some junctions on the approaches to Guildford, eg at this end of the Blackwater Valley route. There are going to be some pavement-level tables inset in the road at the Bridge St/Onslow Rd junctions. A right turn out of Millbrook car park has just started being constructed.

While collectively quite probably useful, none solve the problem of how do you – for safety’s sake – separate people and cars in the town centre? That is one of the principal objects of the GVG corridor, routeing traffic to the west side of the station and river. It allows wide pedestrianisation of the bottom of the High St, along to North St. and reconnects people with the river on both sides by Town Wharf. It also enables very useful cycle paths in the centre.

Our new north/south corridor – including the famous GVG crossing – would shift vehicles to the edge of the town centre, directing cars away from people:

This leaves the bottom of the High Street and North Street down to the riverside free and healthier for pedestrians and cyclists. Our new routeing should also reduce the high levels of accidents and congestion. The latter costs motorists and employers £44million per annum (2017 Inrix survey).

The new corridor is the great enabler, opening up valuable development land for residential and commercial uses, as well public green space. It can mostly be built without disturbing existing roads, which is a great benefit.

We’re Trying To Lick Social Media
We’ve worked at building quite a following via Twitter and Facebook over the past six months.

We recognise that there’s a big potential audience out there that we must reach out to; those who want to make Guildford work better for them, for example; especially busy people with young families, and young professionals. Do tweet us!

We Wouldn’t Mind A Treat Or Two
The Solum Appeal and the upcoming Local Plan Examination are costly exercises. We employ experts for advice and advocacy. The Local Plan Examination is likely to cost £50,000, if not more. With the generosity of a few over the past six years we’ve coped so far. If you are a supporter and feeling generous, we’d love to hear from you. Please email action@guildfordvisiongroup.com

See us at: www.guildfordvisiongroup.com

A sad day for Guildford as Solum wins appeal

A sad day for Guildford as Solum wins appeal 1920 1440 admin

Solum wins appeal: A sad day for our town

Guildford, Monday 22 January 2018: Guildford Vision Group (GVG) wants to see an integrated transport hub at the station, with much better facilities for all travellers. The Solum development, now approved following the company’s appeal against GBC planning refusal, makes that goal all the more difficult.

The Solum win sets a retrograde tone, not just for the important station site, but for all future town centre development.
Opportunistic developers will seize on the Solum precedent, with its unremarkable and unappealing architecture, to bring forward more dominating 10 storey and higher developments in the middle of the town.

Expensive defeat
Solum predictably succeeded at this expensive council defeat because Guildford Borough Council failed to put in place adequate planning policies and controls to properly manage schemes of this scale.
The extremely costly new Local Plan, recently submitted for examination by a planning Inspector, still contains little to suggest that situation will change.
The Plan is virtually silent on the redevelopment of the town centre.

Fear for our town
“This is a sad day for Guildford”, said John Rigg, chairman of GVG. “I fear for our town. We don’t even get a state of the art station out of it. We welcome new homes, but the main result here is a 300 metre, ten storey wall that will block and spoil important cross-town views. It will add to congestion, pollution and accidents on the failing gyratory, arguably one of the worst black spots in Surrey. It will add additional load to the already failing Farnham Road Bridge.
The town centre needs a proper plan. It’s needed one for years. We’ve seen nothing so far that addresses the key issues. We’re left with piecemeal development, which is not the right way forward.
The question remains what do we get for the millions GBC’s planning activities cost?”

GVG Masterplan
GVG launched its own masterplan for the town centre in February last year, winning much support from residents and others.
In the GVG plan the station becomes a proper transport hub and interchange, with much better access and facilities for all travellers.
Station land is developed on both East and West sides in a coordinated way.
This mirrors Network Rail’s Chairman Sir Peter Hendy’s declared aim to see station land used productively and sustainably in the wider interests of a town centre and stakeholders.
Sadly the Network Rail and Solum scheme takes operational land and uses it principally for commercial and residential development, perhaps reflecting Treasury pressure on Network Rail just to find cash.

Exciting options
The key to the GVG approach is the new East/West corridor across the railway and river. It relieves the ailing gyratory and enables a range of exciting options.
Not least it enables better, safer traffic-free corridors for pedestrians and cyclists across town but especially from the retail centre to the station.
The riverside can also be opened up for much more public enjoyment, along with allowing other new green public spaces as well as a modern, open covered market.

GVG also recognises that extra housing in the town centre is vital. In adopting a holistic rather than piecemeal approach in its masterplan, GVG claims its scheme will provide around 2,000 more homes in the centre to relieve the Green Belt than the submitted Local Plan. Crucially, the GVG plan does not involve heights greater than five storeys in places.
That is similar to the town centre plan, especially at the station, outlined in the Allies & Morrison study commissioned and approved by GBC but sadly, and crucially, not formally adopted as planning policy.

View of effect of proposed Solum development on Guildford, Surrey

Solum planning appeal: Act now to prevent disaster for Guildford

Solum planning appeal: Act now to prevent disaster for Guildford 1078 499 admin

The planning appeal is a disaster in waiting for Guildford.

A date for your diaries – Tuesday 7 November.  Two days after Bonfire Night the future of our town centre could lie in ashes. A successful appeal would allow the redevelopment of the front of Guildford Station and car park to proceed.

Footprint of proposed Solum development in Guildford, Surrey

Footprint of SOLUM development (purple blocks)

Guildford’s Own Bonfire
Many bet the Solum planning appeal will be successful, lighting the fires of unbridled town centre development. We fear developers will then use the precedent to pepperpot the centre with uncoordinated, ill-matched residential and other developments, up to ten storeys high. These would crash our creaking infrastructure and wreck our heritage setting.

New Crossing At Risk
Critically, from a GVG perspective, the opportunity will be lost to build a new crossing along the most effective route (York Rd to Guildford Park Rd).

GVG_Crossing_&_Traffic

GVG Crossing and redirected traffic

If Guildford Council loses the Solum planning appeal then SOLUM’s ten storey-high juggernaut, stretching 360 metres alongside the rail tracks, will stand in its way.

An Ugly Mass
What do ten storeys and 360 metres look like? Imagine you’re across the Thames, looking at the

Height of proposed Solum development in Guildford, Surrey

Height: Development façade (part) alongside existing Ranger House

façade of the Houses of Parliament (There was nearly a bonfire there, wasn’t there?).

Imagine it 30% longer and higher. That’s what the ugly, Stalinist mass of the SOLUM’s offices, multi-storey carpark and 438 apartments will look like.

View of effect of proposed Solum development on Guildford, Surrey

Mass & Height – view from Onslow Village

No New Station
There’s just a new booking hall. Network Rail Property’s joint venture with Kier, the construction group, provides NO new platform facilities, NO lifts, NO new pedestrian bridge, NO new west entrance, and limits station growth.  But word has it Network Rail gets a £25m dividend on top of any shared development profits.

We Need Development But Not This
We need new development in the town centre. That’s what GVG has been lobbying for.

But not SOLUM-style. We need new apartments, especially affordable homes (SOLUM wants just 10%, claiming viability concerns, vs GBC policy of 40%). But not massed as SOLUM proposes.

We Need a New Station But Not This
We need a new transport hub and interchange at the station. Not just a new booking hall.

GVG's proposed new railway station hub as part of its masterplan for Guildford, Surrey

New look Station hub – from GVG Masterplan

We need more platforms, especially on the eastern side, right where SOLUM is plonking its behemoth. It blocks new platforms and thus improved rail services (to Heathrow, around London etc).

Council Caught in Housing Headlights
The Council’s efforts have been devoted to producing a new Local Plan. GBC has been caught in the headlights of the housing number wrangle, with all the associated conflicts and concerns.

We need a working, deliverable town Masterplan. The new Local Plan hasn’t got one. There’s no real town centre plan, apart from a so-called Regeneration Strategy that GBC goes on to describe as not forming policy. We can chuck that on the bonfire as well, then. It’ll be a free for all.

The GVG Plan Deserves Proper Scrutiny
The GVG Plan and especially its crossing should receive proper scrutiny. It deserves it. Had GBC  adopted it, it might have stood a better chance of resisting SOLUM’s proposal.

The unsafe, polluting Gyratory has to go. People and vehicles don’t mix well. GVG’s new crossing fixes that.

Say No to Uncoordinated Development
Uncoordinated development will not deliver a reinvigorated riverside. It will not separate traffic and people to make life safer and healthier. It will not deliver new public squares, open spaces and boulevards. It will not deliver joined-up cycleways.

Revisit the GVG Flythrough
Do look at the GVG Flythrough again to remind

Flythrough of GVG's exciting Masterplan for Guildford, Surrey

Go to Flythrough: http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough 

yourself how exciting the centre could look like and how re-routeing traffic could make a real difference to town centre life.

The Solum Planning Appeal – Look, Listen and Maybe Speak
The appeal is being held at the Council’s Offices at Millmead. There’s not much you can do at the appeal, unless you can afford to hire a leading planning QC. You can ask to speak but you can’t ask questions of the experts. You can listen and observe how well the Council defends its position, having refused SOLUM’s application.

What Does Your Councillor Think? Local Elections are Coming!
What does your councillor think of the GVG Masterplan? Has the Council got a better one? The next Local Elections are in 2019; not far away. Councillors should have a view on GVG’s Plan.

Worried? Let Your Councillor Know
It won’t hurt to let YOUR councillor know just how much you are worried about the development. You should ask your councillor what he or she is doing to prevent other SOLUM-like monstrosities. Ask if the new Local Plan provides any better protection?

What will win your vote? A town centre Plan? Or no Plan? Ten storey developments? Or a more coordinated, people-friendly, town centre-wide scheme? Speed humps on the Gyratory? Or a more radical, safer redirection of town traffic?

Let Us Know What You Think
Do let us know what you think. Email us on action@guildfordvisiongroup.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Send us posts and tweets. Learn more at www.guildfordvisiongroup.com

View October newsletter

Guildford Vision Group Newsletter logo

Guildford Local Plan: Update August 2017

Guildford Local Plan: Update August 2017 210 72 admin

Does the £3m, 10-year Guildford Local Plan deliver?

We’ve just submitted our detailed comments on the latest Guildford Local Plan draft. You can find our comments in the download section of our website here: http://bit.ly/Guildford_Local_Plan-GVG_Response. They make interesting reading.
The Draft Guildford Local Plan can be found on the Council’s website.
It’s been the third opportunity to comment on the Council’s draft since it started life ten years ago. A protracted and expensive exercise (believed to be costing £3m for consultancy) has produced a Plan that is lacking in many crucial elements. It has little aspiration or vision for what Guildford, especially the Town Centre, could be like by the middle of the century.

A Proper Plan Is Vital
Surveys repeatedly show the infrastructure deficit is cramping business plans and making the town centre less pleasant.

An agreed Local Plan is vital for Guildford. It unlocks government funding, allows informed decisions to be made on planning issues, and identifies critical infrastructure investment necessary to enhance the town’s prosperity and attractiveness.

Sadly, we fear the Guildford Local Plan is set to fail the town centre.  Although there are some nuggets of hope and progress, the latest Plan just isn’t ambitious enough when it comes to the centre.

No Policy Is No Policy
GVG is all about creating a wonderful town centre, the very heart of our borough, and making it safe, vibrant, sustainable and attractive. Remember the six goals we set ourselves for the centre. It is by these that we have judged the Guildford Local Plan:

  1. Wider pedestrianisation of the town centre
  2. Exciting new public space and a reinvigorated riverside
  3. Redirection of traffic away from the town centre
  4. An integrated road and rail hub
  5. More town centre housing
  6. A new bridge for a better East-West link

The Town Centre must be properly planned. There are major components missing, e.g. agreement with Highways England on improvements to local road network.  In its latest draft Local Plan Guildford Council is relying just on piecemeal development, supported by a Town Centre Regeneration Strategy it hasn’t actually adopted as policy!

Councillors must be questioned as to why they approved the Plan draft if its proposals won’t determine the path of either planning or planning applications in the centre. An unambitious, piecemeal Plan is insufficient to address current failures or to ensure our town is fit for the 21st century.

Town Centre First
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is very clear on the role which town centres have to play in the growth of boroughs:

‘Local planning authorities should plan positively, to support town centres to … create attractive, diverse places where people want to live, visit and work.

.. and plan to meet the needs of main town centre uses in full … adopting a ‘town centre first’ approach and taking account of specific town centre policy.’

GVG struggles to discern any ‘town centre first’ or policy approach by the Council and believes Guildford will be the poorer as a result.

GVG has developed a master plan that it believes should be properly considered as a contribution to a more comprehensive and sounder plan for the town centre.

We want to make our robust case and to facilitate this GVG has engaged PRP, a respected planning consultancy, to help us scrutinise the local plan, judge its contents against other towns and to make fair representations. PRP has also marshalled our contribution to the Reg. 19 consultation just closed.

Some Examples Of Where The Draft Guildford Local Plan Fails:
a) North Street – A Centre For Tomorrow, Not Today
GVG left the area out of its masterplan on the basis that a scheme was about to be announced. The Local Plan has a very ambitious target for new retail space of 41,000sq metre, the planned volume for the North St site and almost half as much town centre retail space as exists today. So all our new retail eggs will be in one North St basket.

But our main concern is that retail is changing dramatically due to on-line retailing, nowhere more so than the US where department stores, retail chains, and malls are in serious trouble. We lead the US in online retailing so are we heading for a North St fall before the scheme has got off the ground?

M&G and GBC have some interesting designs for their new mall on North Street, but should it be a much more mixed development – commercial, retail, leisure and housing in a mix that introduces attractive public realm and community assets? Guildford lacks modern attractive commercial space. Maybe this is part of the answer for North Street.

b) Housing to Help, Brownfield Best
The Council’s draft Local Plan misses a timely opportunity to bring much needed housing to the centre in a proper joined-up, brownfield plan to the detriment of the Green Belt.

GVG believes that its comprehensive, carefully constructed and co-ordinated masterplan can deliver, for example, around 2,000 more homes in the town than the amount set out in the draft Guildford Local Plan. That would save either Blackwell Farm or Wisley.

Our housing proposals are sensitive to their setting, draw on sustainable criteria and redress one of the most crucial challenges for our town. Our masterplan puts brownfield first and development in a safer, more attractive riverside environment.

c) Our Crossing – We’re Cross
Our new East/West crossing hardly merits a mention in the Guildford Local Plan. This is despite earnest arguments for it in the two previous consultations and the overwhelming support for it – 90% plus – at the two public meetings we held earlier this year. We have the supportive opinion of well-qualified professionals and organisations.

Meanwhile the pressing need remains to tackle growing congestion and record pollution and accidents in the heart of our town.

Our crossing enables so many benefits – wider, safer and healthier pedestrianisation, better cycleways, and a revitalised railway station and hub/interchange with buses. It brings great public space along the river, with an open market and new green spaces.

d) What the Guildford Local Plan leaves out
The Draft Plan is striking in what is left out, including potential development areas in the centre.  Some areas are needlessly divided. Developing the east and west sides of station separately doesn’t make sense.  The Plan is silent on any real detail on key infrastructure, eg roads, flood defences and renewable energy.

Let’s Talk
Despite the best efforts of a number of people, we struggle to have sensible conversations and debate with Council Leaders over the good ideas in our masterplan. Indeed there is a reluctance to allow officers and others to talk to us. This reluctance now seemingly extends to County Council officers.

As part of the process to develop and approve a Local Plan, it is a statutory requirement for the Council to consult.  GBC appears to be failing to meet this requirement.

It is ridiculous that we should have to turn to Freedom of Information and other statute-backed requests for key information. Aren’t we all on the same side?

We apologise to the Council if they find our proposals too challenging or radical but we believe there is a need for interrogation of the direction of travel proposed by the Council and its leaders.

No one should doubt our conviction that something must be done to reinvigorate our town centre. Guildford is the regional hub. It should be a centre of growth and progress. As we fall short in our plans, other centres are getting ahead while our outlook is currently just further deterioration. This is simply not good enough. We should be hungry for progress.

The Next Steps
The GVG Steering Group continues to meet weekly in pursuit of its goals. We hope to be more active via social media to ensure we meet as wide an audience as possible. We do welcome feedback from you and all in the community.

We would like help on funding or fund raising, expertise in social media or professional skills in the built environment.  In turn, we hope you will spread the word about our masterplan for the town centre. We need as much support as we can muster so we really can make our masterplan yours.

Our website www.guildfordvisiongroup.com has full details of our masterplan plus a very exciting ‘flythrough’ of the core of the town here: http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough  It shows what might be achieved via a joined-up plan.

You can contact us at by email: action@guildfordvisingroup.com

GVG newsletter August 2017

Ask your candidate searching questions in the Guildford elections - photo of ballot box

Guildford elections: Questions and issues for candidates

Guildford elections: Questions and issues for candidates 1053 574 admin

The Guildford elections 2017

Beware Callers!
Your front door will be working overtime over the next few weeks as eager County and National candidates and committed canvassers for the Guildford elections make their calls and litter your letterbox with election promises.

Local Matters Matter
While Brexit, the NHS, social care, taxes, schools and benefits are all important, let’s not lose focus on key local matters.

The Town Centre Matters
GVG thinks Guildford Town Centre and its future is sufficiently important to merit attention in both elections. Guildford town contributes £4bn to the national economy each year.
The centre of Guildford is a big business, thanks to many fine enterprises including the University, Research Park and commercial and retail businesses.

Hustings – We’ve Got A Problem
We’ve got the draft Local Plan with its ambitions for new housing (but not much else), with all the extra pressures that will bring on our already struggling infrastructure.
Guildford’s a big transport hub that’s going to get bigger.
It’s a place that people still want to visit to enjoy its fine heritage and sylvan surroundings.
It contributes to our society in so many ways. But we are told it has the worst congestion of any town in the UK, with record accidents and fatalities in the centre.
Commuter congestion is costing drivers £45m a year.

Challenge The Candidates On The Town Centre
So challenge the candidates in both of the Guildford elections on what they plan to do to improve the quality of life in the town centre and to make it better and safer for people and not an ugly canyon for cars.

What Are They Going To Do About The Centre?
When are they going to do something about it?
How are they going to make things better for pedestrians and cyclists?
Or are they happy just to report on their pothole strategy, vague road improvements and how nice the setts in the High Street look now (which they do).

Your Vote Should Count
The temptation for all of us is to vote tribally. But you should let the candidates know you care about our town and in giving your loyalty you expect results.

Separate People And Cars
To see how people and cars can be separated better and safely you only have to look at the GVG Plan.
Have the candidates in the Guildford elections actually looked at it?
Please ask them and let us know what they say.
You can see a ‘flythrough’ of our plans here on our website and at http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough – please do have a look!

The Cost Of The GVG Plan Brings Benefits
We won’t be surprised if they say our ambitious Plan, with all its big community wins, is too expensive.
There’s a figure going round of £1bn to improve and remodel the core of the town centre below the High St and North St across to the railway station.
That’s true and we first quoted it after commissioning a consultant’s report.

£200 Million Puts People First
But the key figure within that sum is nearer £200 million.
That’s the infrastructure cost of removing the conflict between people and cars to achieve the benefit of a more pedestrian-friendly town centre plus a revitalised riverside.
That’s the cost of putting people first and taking record pollution and congestion out of areas like Bridge St and Onslow St by way of a new East/West crossing and associated improvements.

Guildford Can Afford It
The local council could easily manage funding or borrowing at that level for such an important investment.
National and county government should also see it as a worthwhile investment, along with our Local Enterprise Partnership.

Great Development Pays
The other £800m is the cost of new homes, shops and offices that should be met by income from sales, leases and rents in an exciting, co-ordinated development that delivers a market place, squares, boulevards and a leisurely riverside experience.

The Council Has To Commit
GVG knows of developers happy to contemplate development on that scale.
But GVG also knows that no developer would commit and put up the funds without the wholehearted support and involvement of the local council.
The latter would have to be seriously committed.
Are the candidates you are seeing in the Guildford elections committed?

Bold Beats Piecemeal Planning
GVG wants to see a bold plan for the centre, with great wins for the community, not piecemeal development like the council is planning.
They are currently seeking developer interest in 20 sites in and around the centre.
Not exactly joined-up planning, is it?
Where are the community wins in that?

Guildford Elections – Six Questions For Candidates
So back to the candidates knocking on your door or addressing you at the hustings. Ask them, either directly or by email:
1. What is your plan for the town centre? How ambitious is it?
2. How will you tackle the blight of the gyratory, its congestion, poor safety and pollution?
3. Do you back a £200 million infrastructure spend for the town centre such as proposed by GVG, with all its big wins?
4. Why does GVG’s Plan struggle to win councillor support and interest?
5. Why can’t the council and the county council (they do roads, along with Highways) get together to create a better plan than GVG’s?
6. Given its importance, isn’t it time Guildford was more in direct control of its future? Isn’t better localism needed? What changes would you call for?

Please Help Us To Help You
There is a chance for the future of Guildford to feature in the elections.
So please help us.
Put the questions we’ve set out to the candidates for the Guildford elections, be they county or country.
Don’t let them get away with waffle – pin them down to a meaningful commitment.

We Need Feedback
Feed back their response to us at action@guildfordvisiongroup.com and we will keep you posted via our website and blog.

View election special newsletter

(Photo credit: brands2life)

GVG update: April 2017

GVG update: April 2017 1920 1440 admin

Thank you for all your support over the past weeks.

Your Support Keeps Us Going
We’ve received many approving comments following our two public presentations on 1 February & 15 March.
Nearly 600 people attended altogether (and over 10,000 people have watched the fly through on-line). Over half
completed our exit questionnaire.

You Like Our Plan, Our New Crossing, Our New Route
Over three quarters supported most or all of our Plan.
Over 90% were in favour of our East/West crossing. Just as heartening, the same number were in favour of the
new route for traffic around the town centre.
Our route creates a large pedestrian friendly area at the bottom of the town by the river. This is the big win for
the town. It can only be delivered by the new crossing.
That is the key element of our Plan.
You can see the Plan on our website. Do watch the exciting flythrough https://youtu.be/SExTozSKB-A

The Town Centre Is For People Not Traffic
Let’s be clear. We have not set out to cure Guildford’s traffic issues. We are not proposing new roads as a
response to traffic volumes. We firmly believe this should not be the sole dominating measure for decision
making, as some do. Our principal aim has been to give the centre of town back to people.

Priority For Pedestrians
Pedestrians should have priority and great spaces. That is what our Plan delivers, and more. Look at the
reinvigorated riverside, the traffic-free routes to the rail station from the shopping centres, the public squares,
the boulevards, the covered market place, the new housing and the new transport hub around the
station. You have got to look at our Plan from the point of view of the pedestrian and cyclist.

Our Plan May Alleviate Congestion
It just so happens that we think our new crossing and routeing of traffic might alleviate some of the worst
gyratory congestion we currently experience. We have to accept that, in the short to medium term, traffic
volumes through Guildford will increase.
GVG supports modal shift, ie better use of public transport, park & ride, cycleways and more. In fact, we
believe that our Plan accommodates the Council’s Sustainable Movement Corridor in the town centre
more effectively than presently planned. Another reason for the Council to take our Plan seriously.

When Will The Council Take Us Seriously?
And therein lies the problem for GVG. How do we get the Council to study these ideas seriously? We have
spent the last five years working up these thoughts and ideas. With the talent round the GVG table, we should
be taken seriously. We are a group of predominantly long term Guildford residents committed to seeing a
better town centre.
We have no vested interests. People have questioned our motives. That is understandable, given the level of
detail we have produced and commissioned. But that should not be surprising given the backgrounds of our
steering group members. Most, if not all, bring serious and very relevant credentials to the table and the
debate. You can read their biographies on our website.

We Have Sought Your Opinion From The Start
Right from the outset we have sought the views of residents and visitors to the town centre. We have held
public meetings to discuss the key issues. We have called for and received feedback. We have spoken with
the principal residents’ associations. All these channels have remained open. We have communicated with
people via newsletters like this, TV, local press and radio, social media, email and our website. Your
thoughts, ideas and hopes were encapsulated in our October 2013 publication ‘Guildford on the Way’, also
to be found on our website.

We Are Not Elected
The principal rebuff we receive is that we’re not elected.
That is true. We have considered seeking election, more than once. However, notwithstanding its complexity, we
are a single issue group. We are concerned only with the town centre.
We very much respect the work our Councillors do in so many other areas of public policy. We remain focused
on the town centre, and do not stray from our collective area of expertise.

We Are Voters
But we are voters, as well as council tax payers. So we feel quite entitled to ask questions of those we elected,
however unwelcome the questions may be. We are further encouraged by the feedback and level of
support for our ideas from the recent public meetings where we launched our Plan.
The town centre, the beating heart of any town, is the standard by which Guildford is judged on countless
matters by visitors, shoppers, employers and its residents. In so many aspects our centre is woeful.

County Council May Election Manifestos
The County Council elections are in May. It will be interesting to hear what each candidate has to say
about, for example, infrastructure issues. What will be their platform? How much will their manifestos have to
say about roads, especially in and around the county town? Will they address these issues from the
perspective of people, and their concerns about traffic pollution and accidents?

Infrastructure Costs Can Pay
GVG accepts it has to be realistic about how much funding is available for infrastructure. We have
recognised that in setting out our Plan. We have undertaken a build cost analysis appropriate for this
stage of our Plan. It is a suitably comprehensive costing.
The core central area envisages development to the tune of £1bn. Of that sum, around £200mill is the
infrastructure build cost – the new crossing, the new link from it to a new Farnham Road Bridge and the
realigned Town Bridge. That is the sum to be found. The rest can be self-financing, ie we expect the £800mill
build cost can be met by sales, lettings and rentals.

£200m Infrastructure Investment Reasonable
GVG maintains that, for a town that makes an annual contribution to the national economy of around £4bn,
£200m should be a reasonable amount of public investment for the town in order to help meet a goal of
substantially increasing Guildford’s economic contribution. The argument must ring true with central
government; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity cost.
We think the amount is transformational. Our Plan creates new investment, business, jobs, training
opportunities and more community facilities, including leisure, arts, and health provision. The £200m is also a
measure of the lack of infrastructure investment over the past 30 years in the centre of Guildford.

Our Plan vs Piecemeal
There’s a lack of cohesive development. Too much has been piecemeal. For example, the Council has recently
granted itself consent for development on Guildford Park Road without much evidence of a joined-up plan
and the bigger picture. And now the Council is calling for expressions of interest from developers for 20 town
centre sites.
Where’s the overall plan? Where’s the approved Planning Development scheme? There’s nothing in the
draft Local Plan. GVG has been accused by certain councillors of causing town centre blight with its Plan.
Surely 20 hotchpotch schemes is the bigger blight? Do all councillors endorse this 20-site marketing exercise?

People Have Choices And Vote With Their Feet
The bottom line is important and the Council can point to its good financial record. However in the final
analysis, the longer term, it is people who matter. If people think other nearby towns provide a better, more
welcoming environment, they will vote with their feet.
People are starting to notice other towns pushing ahead and making a difference. In the online age, people can
easily scout out the best deals, whether it be shopping, eating, arts or other attractions.
The competition for your footfall and pound has never been as fierce. Business is no different, it will go where
it can best operate and where its staff feel happiest.

How Do We Get On Better With The Council?
So, what next? Well, so far you’ve given us your ideas about what you’d like to see in the town centre and
we’ve passed all our ideas on to the Council.
What we would like now is your ideas about how we could get on better with the Council. If our Plan is to
have any traction, it has to be studied properly by the Council and its officers. A closed mind approach is
inappropriate. We have had more rejections of our requests to collaborate for more years than we can
count.

Collaboration Is Key
We try many ways to connect but it is fair to say we’re still to be persuaded of any real recognition by the
Council leadership of the benefits of collaboration or the need to debate the right plan for the town. Such
discussion should be Localism in action. Is the real problem just that it’s not their plan? It can be – very
easily; and who cares whose plan it is anyway?

Ask Your Councillor & Candidates Key Questions
Our new East/West crossing is crucial. Please ask your councillor if they support it and let us know. So many
factors make a new crossing feasible right now. If nothing happens the opportunity will disappear, quite
possibly for another 100 years.
If any of them come knocking on your door over the next four weeks, please quiz them to see if they believe
in localism and a plan for real change in our town centre. If you support open debate and having a
comprehensive Plan for the town centre, with a real intention to deliver, please say so to your councillor and
the candidates.

Visit Our New Website
We’ve revamped our website. The address is still the same: www.guildfordvisiongroup.com
Do visit it; You can see our Plan there.
If you haveparticular views about what we’re doing and what we’re saying, please let us know. We value your feedback.

Email us at: action@guildfordvisiongroup.com

View newsletter

A better Guildford for businesses and people

A better Guildford for businesses and people 917 615 admin

Come and See a Better Guildford
At 7.45pm on Wednesday 15 March at the University of Surrey, Guildford Vision Group (GVG) will hold a second public meeting for the launch of its Town Centre Plan.
Please do attend.

All business leaders, businesses, organisations and people concerned that Guildford remains competitive should attend. You will see how the town centre could be revitalised, regenerated and set on a course for success.

The public meeting is in the main Lecture Theatre of the Rik Medlik building at the University of Surrey, Stag Hill campus, 7.45pm on Wednesday 15 March 2017. Parking is free in the adjacent car park.

More information about this event can be found at: http://bit.ly/NewMeeting

Businesses Need a Better Guildford
If Guildford is to remain competitive then major change and improvements need to happen. We need a modern centre with 21st century standards. Guildford must be a place that is looking to the future in a highly competitive world.

GVG was formed over five years ago to lobby for a better planned town centre.

We are a group of local residents from the built environment professions and our objectives include addressing key issues faced by businesses and residents in the town, with congestion and housing high on the agenda.

A better planned town centre is good for Guildford businesses. More and better business space, landscaped public squares and thoroughfares, all embracing a revitalised riverside. It has to set standards that will attract more companies and attract the best staff.

A serious ambition must be to create a proper transport hub at the railway station to make journeys easier and more reliable for your customers and staff alike.

GVG has also calculated that over 2,500 new homes, including affordable, can be sited close by the centre in sustainable development that can serve business and feed the town centre economy with space for modern amenities such as fitness centres, cafes, restaurants, art galleries and hotels.

The Story So Far
GVG began by lobbying for a professional Masterplan for the town centre after decades of inactivity.

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) agreed, and urban practitioners Allies & Morrison (A&M) were appointed.

The A&M Plan set out a vision with a number of engaging themes to address and enhance some of the less attractive aspects of our town centre. But its mandate did not include in any depth the infrastructure deficit and congestion, or the ambition of all leading towns to have significant traffic free areas for residents and visitors.

Planning Status of Council Initiatives
In March 2016 GBC approved the A&M masterplan but crucially did not adopt it. Thus it has no planning status.

Similarly, this January, GBC launched its Town Centre Regeneration Strategy (TCRS) which picked up on many of the themes of the A&M study. But again, crucially, GBC has not legally adopted its TCRS. It describes it as ‘aspirational’, which is fine, but documents with no planning status have little significance.

The much-delayed new Local Plan still remains to be finally consulted on, examined by a Planning Inspector and adopted (or not) but it addresses few of the town centre issues, threats or opportunities.

Guildford remains vulnerable to piecemeal, opportunistic development with little chance to gain the big community wins that can come from a large-scale, comprehensive scheme.

What GVG Has Done to Date
From the outset GVG has promoted a pro-growth agenda, facing opposition from those who feel the town does not need to embrace growth or adopt challenging radical improvements to rail, road, bus, cycle and pedestrian routes. There has also been needless fear that Guildford’s historic fabric might somehow be damaged.

But GVG’s strength is that it is composed of long-term residents deeply committed to the town and its future. Public support has grown.

On Feb 1 this year we attracted over 400 people to our presentation, with almost unanimous support for the proposal, and more than 10,000 have viewed the event’s streamed broadcast.

The Benefits of the GVG Plan for Guildford Businesses and People
GVG determined to draw up its own Plan for the town centre in the absence of progress in addressing the key issues. It wanted to see what might be possible.

With the help of nationally-renowned David Leonard, of Leonard Design Architects, GVG has produced a very detailed Plan that incorporates most of, if not all, the ‘wins’ for a better town centre and appropriate for a leading business centre.

It addresses the six objectives, the benefits, GVG set itself for any scheme:

  1. Wider pedestrianisation of the town centre
  2. Exciting new public space and a reinvigorated riverside
  3. Redirection of traffic away from the town centre
  4. An integrated road and rail hub
  5. More town centre housing
  6. A new and better East-West link

These objectives had been derived from research, public consultation and professional input from a number of respected, qualified businesses, as well as from the contribution of the current 18 person GVG Steering Group. The benefits are substantial.

The New East/West Crossing
The fundamental infrastructure centrepiece of the GVG Plan is a new East/West crossing, connecting York Road roundabout with the Guildford Park Road area, across the river and railway.

The new crossing is the real enabler. It diverts traffic around the core of the town and removes the need for the infamous gyratory. It provides a new and better east west connection to the station and for vehicles buses cycles and foot traffic.

It enables a range of key developments in the town. It reunites town and riverside, with the latter opened up for people to enjoy. It allows pedestrians to have priority in the centre. It allows Onslow St to host comprehensive bus facilities and creates an essential transport hub at the railway station. So the crossing is crucial.

The GVG Steering Group
The core GVG working group is almost entirely made up of long-term residents with extensive professional experience.

The very relevant skills and experience pool of the GVG Steering Group includes property development & investment, property law & economics, transport & infrastructure, architecture & town planning, civil engineering, national development agency, heritage, arts & education.

Members of the group have held senior positions in their field, including senior legal appointment, chair, senior partner, chief executive officer & managing director. Almost all have had direct profit responsibility.

GVG is independent, and has no political affiliations or vested interests. It lobbies and wants to work collaboratively with all parties and interests, both public and private, in pursuit of a better Guildford.

GVG Calls For Action and Open Debate
Guildford must get its act together now in the interests of business, residents, Surrey and the South East.

Let’s have the debate. Continuing congestion, an absence of ambition and delays and ad hoc development will just mean further deterioration.

Guildford businesses and people will vote with their feet. Some have already done so. Record accidents and pollution continue.

Last week in a global study Guildford was listed 6th worst for congestion in the U.K.

That’s not good for our international image. It is shown as the worst town after the major conurbations. The cost to motorists is estimated at £45million pa.

Your support matters. Only Guildford Council can set in train the features and benefits we seek, via a carefully crafted strategy and professional ‘big ticket’ delivery vehicle.

You can visit a ‘flythrough’ of our Plan at http://bit.ly/GVG_Flythrough

If you find you like our Plan please write to your local councillor and demand proper scrutiny of the options and support for ambitious ideas.

Our New Website
We’ve revamped our website with more information and help for you in writing to your councillors – please do look around.

And do get in contact with us through our Contact page, or email us at: action@guildfordvisiongroup.com , if you would like any further information or would like to help us in our campaign for a better Guildford.

Please do come to our public meeting at Surrey University at 7.45pm on Wednesday March 15 to find out more about how Guildford can be developed for the better for businesses, residents and visitors, and to have your questions answered.  

Public meeting at University of Surrey 15 March 2017 – your chance to see Guildford Vision Group’s new plans

Public meeting at University of Surrey 15 March 2017 – your chance to see Guildford Vision Group’s new plans 650 919 admin

YOU ARE INVITED – Guildford Vision Group meeting at University of Surrey

Event: Additional public meeting to launch the Guildford Vision Group’s detailed Town Centre Plan

Venue: Main Lecture Theatre, Rik Medlik Building, University of Surrey Stag Hill Campus, GU2 7XH

Date: Wednesday 15 March 2017

Time: 7.45pm

Parking: Free parking on campus site, close by Rik Medlik Building

We’re holding another meeting to introduce the GVG Town Centre Plan. Please do come!

We know quite a number of people were unable to make our previous event because of work, parking and other reasons so we’ve set up this second showing.

David Leonard, of Leonard Design Architects, will again present our exciting and ambitious Plan to make the town centre much more pedestrian- friendly and transform the riverside.

We will also cover some of the questions and points raised at the first meeting on Feb 1 so you’re very welcome to come to see the presentation again.

You can download a copy of the invitation to this public meeting here>>

and learn more about GVG’s objectives for its Plan in this useful handout here>>.

All parking and visitor info can be found at http://www.surrey.ac.uk/visit-university

Public meeting: March 2017

Launch of Guildford Vision Group’s Revitalising Town Centre Plan

Launch of Guildford Vision Group’s Revitalising Town Centre Plan 1920 987 admin

On Wednesday 1 February 2017, in front of nearly 400 residents in a packed hall, Guildford Vision Group (GVG) launched its plan to revitalise Guildford town centre.

Many others watched the live streaming from the Millmead Baptist Centre, carried by Get Surrey on its Facebook page, with nearly 9,000 hits already for the recording.

The detailed Plan, drawn up by David Leonard and his team at internationally-recognised Leonard Design Architects, picks up on the themes of Guildford Borough Council’s approved Masterplan.

GVG was instrumental in persuading the Council to commission the Masterplan which, interestingly, has not been adopted as planning policy.

Crossing
Central to GVG’s Plan is creating a new East/West crossing linking York Road with Guildford Park Road. The new link is the core of a new road layout that takes traffic away from the town centre allowing much more of the centre, including the riverside and right up to the station, to be better pedestrianised.

The GVG Plan delivers five new squares, two acres of open space, and 1500 metres of revitalised riverside around a redeveloped Town Wharf.

Bold
“The Plan is a bold one, it’s ambitious,” says John Rigg, GVG chairman. “The new bridge, for instance, delivers huge benefits. At a stroke, it tackles the considerable infrastructure deficit in the town centre.
“The questionnaire, completed by over half of the attendees, revealed 94% supported the new East/West crossing and 92% supported the new route for traffic that would leave the centre free for pedestrians.
“Over 75% liked all or most of the GVG Plan – that’s great support for the proposals that tackle the infrastructure deficit of decades and free up the town from through traffic.
“They’re a forerunner to creating new residential quarters and commercial space in a regenerated town centre.”

Significant
The GVG Plan delivers significant development.

It creates nearly 3,000 new homes plus commercial, leisure and retail opportunities – with a considerable uplift in business rates and council tax, as well as employment, through the scope for new businesses and activities.

The GVG Plan area is mostly away from the historic core and poses little threat to the town’s heritage.

It respects Guildford’s well-loved setting and views. Indeed GVG claims that its Plan brings much need investment to tired areas which have unexciting mixed use, along with unappealing design and architecture.

These areas are occupied mostly by ageing government buildings and surface car parks.

Network Rail also could frustrate the £2bn regeneration project if it is not open to cooperation with the town.

Opportunity
GVG sees its Plan as a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to really make a difference to the centre of town and to banish cars away from the riverside and infamous gyratory.

See a spectacular ‘fly through’ and commentary on the Plan at http://bit.ly/2GVG_Video

GVG has presented its Plan to the Guildford Borough Executive, councillors and officers.

It is now waiting to see if the Borough Council will want to give serious consideration to its Plan, which incorporates all of the Council’s regeneration ideas.

Delivery
GVG hopes it will lead to the Plan’s adoption as planning policy and beyond to delivery.

GVG’s next goal is to advance the study of the viability, funding and deliverability of the phases of the project. It will also seek a consensus on the most suitable vehicle which might deliver coordinated town centre regeneration on the scale envisaged and illustrated by its Plan.

This could be by way of a development corporation, Town Council or an Area Action Plan under current planning legislation all of which are used by other councils across the U.K.

-ends-

Notes for Editors 1. Guildford Vision Group (GVG) was formed five years ago with the sole purpose of promoting Guildford’s urgent need for a long term vision in which the sustainable vitality of the town and its enterprise is ensured for the next 30 years and beyond. GVG is independent, and has no political affiliations or vested interests

2. Leonard Design Architects is an 80-strong practice with offices in London, Nottingham, Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. Its work ranges from designing large scale master plans and major mixed use developments (including public transport interchanges) to smaller developments in sensitive and historic locations. Notable developments undertaken include Westfield London and Stratford City. It is currently working on major developments in London and the UK, plus in Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Korea, Malaysia and Australia.