The Society hopes all are keeping safe and well during the Pandemic. 

Guildford Society Design Awards - Please Nominate

The Society continues to encourage good design in Guildford Borough by its bi-annual design awards. We are now seeking nominations for the awards that will be presented in late 2020. The schemes need to have been completed between September 2018 and June 2020. Recognising the delays to some projects’ completion because of coronavirus, projects that were due for completion by June 2020 but delayed for a few weeks will be considered.

The categories of projects for the Awards are:-
• New Commercial Building
• New Public Building
• New Build - Individual House
• New Build - Multiple Housing 
• Restoration or refurbishment Project
• Public Realm Improvements including public artworks.

See full details on our press release

Key Sites in the Town

Bright Hill Car Park - The Council is now moving ahead with developing plans to redevelop the site.  The society has written to the council requesting that they take this opportunity to produce a development of the highest quality.  See Letter

Guildford Park Road Car Park – The council has now agreed to remove the Multi Storey Car Park from the scheme and increase the housing provided this has been enabled in part by the findings of the recent parking study See Link.  The Society has written to the council requesting that this is seen as a opportunity to reconsider the scheme to improve its quality and take into account proposals to provide Cycling and Walking Routes through the site. See Letter

Planning: a Paperwork Mountain

The council has issued its latest ‘Magnus Opus’ in the form of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: Development Management Policies yet another 200 page document to review and comment upon, this follows the Strategic Development Framework – Supplementary Planning Document of a similar size earlier in the year. 

Together with other issued documents and the documents to come the whole set of planning documents relating to Guildford will be circa 800 to 1000 pages.  One does need to question the process that creates this thicket of Policies and Plans which often produce indifferent results, createsa playground for lawyers, and can be easily circumvented e.g. A3 upgrade plans delayed which were seen as key to enabling several sites in the local plan.

It is apparent that other local authorities create more concise and understandable planning documents, often enforcing higher standards on matters such as green space.

Planning: Changes Coming?

With the need to boost the economy post-lockdown, with 100 local authorities in England expected to fail the government’s housing delivery test for 2020 and therefore be required to apply a 20 per cent buffer to their housing land supply, there are issues with the system.

There are signs that the government are looking to shake up the planning process. 

Robert Jenrick Secretary of State Housing, Communities and Local Government  has commented “The time has come to speed up and simplify this country’s overly bureaucratic planning process”.

A panel of experts has been convened to discuss reform. The panel includes a commissioner for the government’s National Infrastructure Commission, an experienced Developer and a planning barrister.

An idea being considered appears to be a “zonal planning system” where “key decisions will be taken from local councils and handed to development corporations”.  The zonal planning system now being floated is similar to one used in the US, whereby specific land uses get automatic right to planning permission in certain areas.

In addition, it has been reported that there will be a new fast-track planning system for developers of high quality, well-designed buildings. Whatever that means. 

The idea of zonal planning has already sparked concern as it would remove yet more powers from Local Authorities.  Recently Sir Oliver Letwin’s recommended enhancing, not diminishing, the role of local authorities in planning.  A considerable political debate can be foreseen!!!