What is required and realistic?

The Housing and Planning Act 2016, means Local Authorities must have a register of brownfield land so sites can be recycled, regenerated and put back into use eg: Woodbridge Meadows, Walnut Tree Close by the station area and North Street. There is a desperate need for housing in central Guildford.

It would be more ‘sustainable’ to build homes in urban areas (brownfield sites have some or all services in place so it’s less expensive to develop).

To provide accommodation for 80 - 90% of university students on campus freeing up hundreds of homes in the town, instead of GBC’s proposed 60% of university students living on campus.

GBC own 30 acres of car parking accounts. By building more multi-storey car parks to reduce the amount of flat parking this could potentially release 8-9 acres of council owned land which could be developed for residential housing.

(Policies (B1-B8)There is a slow turnover of office space around the town centre and urban areas indicating a lack of demand. Long term redundant B1a offices could be changed to C3 residential properties (Government Guidance).

Avoid B8 (large warehouses and distribution centres) with low employment opportunities (due to the introduction of robotic technology) taking up acres of land.

(Policy E7)To avoid massive retail expansion in town centre as traditional retail falls, impacted by Internet retail. Developers have pulled out of North Street regeneration because it is not economically viable. It would be more sensible to have a smaller amount of retail, with more sustainable homes built in the town.

(Polices E2,E4) Surrey Research Park has permission granted to expand by 14% (not yet developed), GBC is proposing another expansion even though there is enough land to last the life of this Draft Plan (2015 Land and Assessment Need growth forecast is11.9%).

GBC should apply all constraints within the NPPF, to reduce the numbers of homes. GBC has planned for large urbanised ‘strategic sites’. It would be fairer and more ‘sustainable’ to work with Resident Associations, Parish Councils and residents and focus on the ‘need’ of the communties throughout Guildford Borough rather than focusing on ‘growth’, a decision wrongly taken by GBC planners.

By focusing on ‘need’ in communities would not overload the existing infrastructure, amenities and the road network. NPPF 1 provides a framework within which local people and their parish councils can produce their own distinctive local and neighbour plans reflecting their needs and priorities of their communities.