UPDATE FEB 2012

We contacted Carol Humphrey (GBC Head of Planning) and Cllr Jenny Wicks (Lead Cllr for Environment & Planning). 

Our question to Ms Humphrey was to do with a 2012 Consultation as advised to us by the Guildford Society (really more about Guildford generally than Allotments) but the letter to Cllr Wicks was specifically about Consultaion and removal of Housing threat from the Aldershot Road Allotment site.

Their replies are inserted below and the original letters from WBDRA will appear in our Library section.

*****

Thank you very much for your letter, which arrived whilst I was on holiday.

The position on the Development Framework(Local Plan) has not changed.

There will be plenty of opportunity for public consultation. Our draft Core Strategy will be published towards the end of the year (October) for public consultation.  This will contain reference to major development sites. The draft will be revised in the light of comments received and then be the subject of a public inquiry in 2013.

But the smaller sites will be dealt with under the site allocations process following adoption of the Local Plan in 2014.  There will be public consultation, and another public inquiry, leading to adoption of a Development Plan Document in 2015.

I am sorry that this seems like such a long-winded process, but we are obliged to follow it.

Kind regards

Councillor Jenny Wicks
(30/01/2012)

******************

Thank-you for your letter dated 15 January 2012.

We are currently working to the later timescales shown in the Local Development Scheme with public consultation in September – October 2012.

Whilst the exact details of the consultation have not yet been decided recent consultations have enabled both online/email and hard copy responses. You may be interested in Guildford Boroughs document ‘Community Involvement in Planning’ and its sister document ‘The Community Engagement Strategy’ which outlines the Councils consultation procedures.

I can confirm that Westborough Broadacres and District Residents Association details are on our planning contacts database and that we will email you and any other individual who has expressed an interest in planning matters and signed up to our contacts database once the consultation starts.

Yours sincerely

Kate Lines

Senior Planner

Planning Services

19/01/2012

*****************************************************************************

UPDATE DEC 2011

If you have looked at the Campaign Update page and the associate Documents from Cllr Wicks and GBC's Chris Mansfield, you will see they refer to another Planning Process called the Local Development Framework 2014; this will include a review of the Aldershot Road Allotment Site.

The Guildford Society have made us aware that there will be some other Planning Consultation taking place in 2012 but we're not sure exactly what that will involve.

WBDRA will be contacting GBC for details of both of these asap in 2012.

Let's hope there will be opportunities for proper public consultation and not some item that's only available for inspection at Millmead during a limited time during the working day!

SITE ALLOCATIONS CONSULTATION

DECEMBER 2010 UPDATE

Please see our new section "Campaign Update Dec 2010" for the latest developments 

SUMMER 2010 UPDATE 

Well we've had the result of the GBC SE Plan objection and we've seen the fallout of the General Election.

The good news is the since Dave & Nick have been in Goverment, the South East Plan was scrapped.

This should take the pressure off housing development in the Guildford area especially the Green Belt.

But there's no mention anywhere on the GBC website about the Site Allocations Consultation analysis resuming? 

We'll be finding  out from GBC soon.

JULY 2009

No-one seemed to have heard or read anything about progress or developments regarding the consultation, so we wrote to GBC. The letter is also in our Library section entitled "GBC Sam Cuthbert..." . Basically, because GBC have mounted a legal challenge to the South East Plan, everything is on ice for about 6 months or so pending the outcome of this appeal.This is what they had to say:

"Dear Mr Bird

Thank you for your query about the SHLAA timetable, my response may well cross with a general update which is being sent to all of those on our consultation database.

Briefly, the timetable I indicated to you has since been overtaken by the legal challenge to the South East Plan which the Borough Council made in June (information on which can be found here).  In consequence, the Core Strategy cannot now be submitted until this legal process has been resolved.  As yet we have no firm date for the hearing, but based on the recent challenge to the East of England Plan, we would venture that this will be around June 2010.  There is, therefore, no definite timescale for the completion of the SHLAA, because there is no fixed date for submission of the Core Strategy.

In light of this, I would advise you to expect the SHLAA around the end of the year, but with the proviso that this date may change due to forces outside the Council’s control.

I am sorry that I cannot give a more definite response at this time.

Best wishes

Sam Cuthbert

Planning Policy Officer

01483 444669

sam.cuthbert@guildford.gov.uk

Guildford
Borough
Council
 www.guildford.gov.uk
 
Millmead House | Millmead
Guildford | Surrey | GU2 4BB" 

DECEMBER 2008 UPDATE

The results of this were published on the GBC website - late November - some 10 months after the Consultation deadline had passed.

Normally with these sort of exercises each item gets a few responses (less than 10) and most seem to be from the same local Groups.

We're pleased to say that the Proposal in the Consultation for Housing on our local Allotment Site attracted some 260 responses all saying NO to Housing on the site. 

It was one of the highest polling items in the whole consultation exercise - so we at WBDRA say a big thanks to all of you who gave up hours of your time 12 months ago to understand and fill in the forms.

For most (if not all) the respondents, this was the first time that the local residents have had an opportunity to express their views in a Consultation exercise about the future of the Allotment Site.

 And clearly the people have spoken!

Sadly the public's views seem to cut no ice with the likes of Cllrs Wicks & Sutcliffe - see their comments in our Library & Correspondence Section.

And if you heard our BBC SCR Radio Interview you will have heard Cllr Sutcliffe speak on the subject - local opinion doesn't matter to him & why should it? He doesn't even live in Guildford.

Is it that these guys really don't want members of the public upsetting their schemes & plans? If so, why bother to have consultations about anything?

Please read the results for yourself - you'll find the Westborough document (which covers the Allotment Site) in our Library Sections) - titled "Westborough Site Allocations".

Three cheers for Democracy - it's what we all believe in - and we'll  continue to fight those who find Public Opinion an interference and an inconvenience.

Thanks again to all our supporters & best wishes for 2009

 PS:

The Worplesdon & Borough Summary documents are too big to be stored on our site but you can find them easily by logging on to the Council website: www.guildford.gov.uk and entering "Site Allocations" in the Search box which is top right on the opening page. If you have difficulty finding these 2 documents, please e-mail us  (as per Contacts page) and we will e-mail them to you. They are about 5MB (total) in size.  

 INTERIM UPDATE (Jun/July 2008)

We now await the results of this consultation which GBC say may be available in December 2008!

It's reported that GBC had over 4500 responses. Our guess is that the majority of these were against housing on many sites across the Borough.

Let's hope this turns out to be a real democratic exercise where the public view is not only nodded to but acted upon for a change.

We have doubts having been involved in the SPA Interim Avoidance Strategy consultation where the publics views were totally ignored and the policy adopted. Why - because of pressure on GBC & politicos from Developers. Quote from a senior local Politician after we were ignored and the policy adopted: "The brakes are off development"!!!!! How true that's proved to be with hundreds of subsequent Planning Applications and the wretched South East Plan.

See Planning Committee Cartoon in the Library Section.

DEADLINE HAS NOW PASSED FOR THIS

URGENT - THIS CONSULTATION CLOSES ON JAN 30TH 2008. 

Guildford Borough Council are running a Consultation exercise on the intended use of quite a number of sites around the Borough.

It is called the "Site Allocations" Consultation and runs through December 07 to the end of January 08. The results will be for our Councillors and GBC Officers to analyse and review the intended uses for these sites. It may be stating the obvious, but there are a lot of Housing Proposals in the pot! 

Naturally what WBDRA are interested in is encouraging everyone to elect for Option 40 which is the provision of 39 Allotment Plots on the Aldershot Road Allotment Site. Technically this would be the restoration of 39 Allotments plots (see our Allotment Campaign Page) but let's not split legal hairs just now, and concentrate on sending in our forms electing for Option 40!

Details of how to do this are on this website in the Form Filling Advice Section.

One of the other local proposals relates to the future of the old Merc Garage Site (formerly Puttocks & Tony Purslow). Housing seems to be the only option and as this has been talked about locally for several years, it would be surprising if any other use was on the horizon. 

The view from the Chair would be that providing the threat of Housing is removed from our Allotment Site, Housing on the the old Garage site would not compromise our stated position - it would be on brownfield land, would not put too much strain on the local piped services & infrastructure and would actually be an improvement to the local area.

Hopefully by the time any such Planning Application comes before the Planning Committee, Surrey County Council will have got their act together with their Highway Repair Contractors - Ringway & Carillion - and seen to the repairing of the Aldershot Road road surface!

However, if GBC persist with their Housing plans for the Allotment site, there will be a lot of local oppostion to any Housing Proposal for the old Puttocks site.