Welcome to the Guildford Society
The Guildford Society has been an active voice, speaking up for the town and its surrounding countryside and villages, since 1896. As a Civic Society, we act as a focus for all who care about Guildford’s heritage and environment. While mindful of the past, we look firmly to the future.
We recognise that development must, and will, take place. However, we do not believe this should be at the expense of Guildford’s historic character and beauty, nor of the unspoilt countryside that surrounds it.
We pay close attention to Key Sites scheduled in the borough; and the development of the Town Centre Master Plan..
Hot Topics
Our latest or most important news is below.
Scroll Down to see earlier posts sorted by Topic Areas; below the Hot Topics.
Success in campaign to purchase extension to Pewley Down View article
Pewley Down is a protected area and local nature reserve managed by Guildford Borough's Countryside Team and a group of conservation volunteers. It is much used by Guildford Residents as a place to walk and admire the countryside... View article
North Street Update - No change for the Bus Station. View article
St Edward have released a short video giving an update on the status to the plans being developed for the North Street Site. The major item of news is that St Edward in consultation with GBC and SCC are minded to leave the Bus Station on its ex... View article
The Council can enable Quality Design in Guildford View article
The Guildford Society together with Guildford Borough Council are keen to see the quality of design improved for new buildings in Guildford. Our Design Awards which we are about to launch again in 2021, details coming shortly, are a way of enco... View article
Travel Management on the A3 & Delay on Junction 10 View article
Improvements to the A3, in the borough, appear, with a few exceptions, to be either being delivered late or have been moved off the planning horizon.
Highways England have been quiet on the options, but do appear to be considering ideas for ... View article
St Marys Wharf - Second Consultation View article
Native Land, have now who have acquired the Debenhams site, have now issued an interim update on their emerging ideas. The site has been renamed as St Marys Wharf.
The update, which is available for comment until the 21st May, builds on the ... View article
Surrey Artists Open Up View article
The annual Surrey Artists Open Studios (SAOS) is taking place for the twenty-first year.
Artists in Surrey will be opening their doors and welcome members of the public from the 5th June to 20th June. The venues are normally open 11:00am to ... View article
Planning - the Society responds to Commons Select Committee View article
Three developments have occurred in the fight to get the Permitted Development Rights (PDR) changes and associate Use classifications reconsidered.
Parliament
The Select Committee for Housing, Communities and Local Government is conducting a sh... View article
Plants Trap Pollution View article
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) scientists, who shortly will be moving into their new centre at Wisley, have been studying the most effective plants to remove pollution from the environment.
The biggest environmental risk in the United ... View article
Auriol Earle View article
Sadly, we have to report Auriol Earle, who was an active member of the Society over many decades died on 30/04/21 at the Guildford home where she had lived in since 1961.
Impact on Guildford
Over the best part of sixty years Auriol channelled h... View article
Adam Sweeting Lecture - The path to net zero emissions in the UK View article
The University of Surrey has run another in its Adam-Sweeting Lecture series.
The Adams-Sweeting Lecture series was created in honour of two of the University of Surrey’s most prestigious academics – Distinguished Professor of Physics,... View article
M3 LEP supports experiments with new working environments. View article
It will be interesting to see how the office market changes in Guildford post Covid. Surprisingly for the town centre there are signs of life. Several developers are looking to either redevelop offices for multi-use or provide new facilties.&nb... View article
CPRE Surrey Manifesto View article
Surrey Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Surrey) has launched “Manifesto for Surrey” which it is calling on all candidates in the Local Elections to endorse..
Tim Murphy, Vice President of CPRE Surrey and Chair of the ... View article
Planning – Whitehall ‘Taking Back Control’?. View article
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) at present seems to be pursuing three badly integrated objectives for housing which appear to be, build 300,000 houses a year, build anywhere and 'build better and beauti... View article
Topic Areas
Our Posts are categorised by Topic Areas; a post can appear in more than one topic area. Please use the links below to see ALL posts by Topic. Society News on critical issues and events etc. is available here.
Society Working Groups, are aligned with a Topic Area(s) these look at the preservation and evolution of Guildford; details can be found in the Topic Area concerned.
Help us make Guildford better
We want our town to be vibrant, attractive and liveable. We support development that brings a sense of place and enhances the best aspects of our town. If such aims can be embraced, we believe Guildford has the chance to lead the way in enabling sensitive and sustainable development.
Pressures for development are increasing. Planning rules are being eased. The Society’s commitment to standing up for Guildford is needed more than ever.
Other Organisations
The Society engages with a variety of other organisations who share our interests and we share their links for information. We are also include links to Guildford Borough Council and other Government bodies and Developers of key sites. Finally we include other links of interest that are related to the borough.