R4GV Update 23 April 2021

Elections 6th May 2021

If you’re a reader of the Dragon online you’ll be aware that campaigning is well underway – accompanied by some of the more disreputable tactics we’ve seen for a while. The Conservatives in particular – both in Guildford Borough and at County Council - appear to have had a collective loss of memory on the Local Plan and to have adopted magical thinking about Westminster’s housebuilding plans.

Let’s be clear. This is clear cynical electioneering and a game of whack-a-mole. Once one argument fails they simply try another, in increasingly desperate attempts to distract attention from their complete culpability. The completely pointless hijacking of the last full Council meeting on April 13th is a case in point.

As we argued in our Local Plan position paper if there was a risk-free solution to turning the clock back to pre-April 2019 we’d be rushing to make this happen. Sadly, this is not the case, and our strategy is to take expert advice on the pros and cons and the timing of a Local Plan Review before embarking on it – to inform residents, and to ensure the correct preparation.

On behalf of R4GV, Councillor Tim Anderson (Clandon & Horsley) has responded to criticisms of our approach in letters to the Guildford Dragon. You can read his response here: http://r4gv.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2021/04/Letter-to-Guildford-Dragon-16Apr21.pdf

Our position paper on the Local Plan Review is available here: http://r4gv.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2021/03/R4GV-Statement-on-Local-Plan-Review-20March21-Update-230321.pdf

It’s also worth pointing out that R4GV only holds 15 of 48 seats on GBC so our ability to do what we would choose is constrained. In addition, the other Parties on the Council do not share our priorities or objectives. So, if you live in or Friary and St. Nicolas ward please encourage your friends, colleagues, neighbours and family to vote for the two R4GV candidates for these Borough seats in May’s elections.

Good homes wanted for Mk II R4GV boards

We still have a few of our new improved Mark II boards – with magenta poles – available for a site near you! We’d love to find some more sites near polling stations in particular, but all sites where there’s good foot, cycle or car traffic are very welcome. So, if you live near a polling station – or know someone who does – and you or they are happy to host a board, please contact [email protected]

Page 1 of 4

Meet the R4GV Borough candidates for the May 6 elections

Dom Frazer – Friary & St. Nicolas

Dom Frazer is a creative entrepreneur, probably best known for The Boileroom in Guildford, which is a multiple award-winning music, cultural and community venue. But she’s also involved in a variety of other initiatives bringing Guildford’s creative and arts scene together with community initiatives, such as her work with project Aspire, The Matrix Trust, Guildford Action, Challengers, The Jigsaw Trust and Your Sanctuary.

Dom was born and grew up in Guildford and she is committed to using her skills, experience and energy to making our Borough the best it can be. As a keen environmentalist and gardner she’s passionate about preserving parks, open spaces and the Green Belt. She’s equally passionate about the delivery of more affordable and social housing.

Gerry Lytle – Pirbright

Gerry is a Chartered Architect and ran a local practice until he retired in 2015. He has lived on Whitmoor Common with his family for the last 40 years and has been actively involved in a wide variety of local causes and bodies such as Guildford Arts, Headway, the Guildford Society, and Guildford Vision Group.

He cares passionately about preserving open spaces and the Green Belt, as well as providing affordable housing, especially to enable young people to stay in their own community. He is also committed to ensuring that the regeneration of the town centre delivers a place where people want to work, live, visit and enjoy.

We asked. Does Guildford have a problem with Houses of Multiple Occupation?

Thank-you to all those who responded with their experience of the situation in Guildford and licensing policies elsewhere. It’s clear that some people do believe there’s a problem, but we will need to gather further evidence to assess the situation. GBC’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee is due to discuss the latest report on HMOs at their next meeting on Tuesday 8th June.

You may be interested to read the report on HMOs prepared for this meeting. It’s available here: https://www2.guildford.gov.uk/councilmeetings/documents/s20408/Item%2007%20- %20Licensing%20of%20HMOs.pdf

The report contains some interesting information. The HMO population has grown by nearly 600% since 2018, from just over 100 to over 650 in the 2 years since the extension of the HMO licensing definition.

Houses of Multiple Occupation housing 5 or more individuals have – by law - to be licensed. HMOs of 1 – 4 individuals do not have to be licensed which means that they are not registered or regulated in any way.

Page 2 of 4

Student council tax exemption data, however, reveals that there are approximately 1,800 unlicensable student occupied properties (of 1 – 4 persons) and of these approximately 1,200 have the potential to be occupied by 3 – 4 persons. By comparison Guildford has 659 licensed HMOs. (An unlicensable HMO, is a property that does not require a licence to operate and is occupied by 3- 4 persons from 2 or more households, that is not situated within a designated Additional HMO Licensing area.)

The report does not highlight significant issues with licensed HMOs and does not recommend any extension of licensing to HMOs of 3 – 4 persons.

Guildford Borough Council News

1. Right to Buy Receipts

Cllr Tim Anderson (R4GV, Clandon & ), Lead for Finance, reported to the Executive at the end of March that a number of actions were already underway to remedy the issues associated with the Right-to-Buy revelations in February. An internal working group comprising Councillors from all Parties at Millmead - set up by Cllr Anderson - has already identified some strategic, process and reporting improvements. The council’s internal auditors, KPMG, have also been commissioned to investigate what happened and what changes are required to ensure this situation does not recur. Their report is due towards the end of June.

In the immediate term the Executive has agreed that Right-to-Buy receipts will be assigned to the development of social and affordable housing on the Guildford Park Road, Weyside Urban Village and Bright Hill development. Note that the RTB receipts can only be used to fund up to 30% of the value of development. The Council will have to fund the remaining 70%.

The Council has also opened discussions with several housing associations to identify if there are opportunities to use RTB receipts in a partnership agreement.

A number of reporting improvements have also been implemented, for example, reports to the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee will incorporate information on the expenditure required to utilise all RTB receipts in each year. The Council has recently implemented a new programme and project governance framework and the housing development team has now formally moved into the corporate programmes team. Risk reporting will also be improved.

We’ve reported several times on the woeful state of project, programme and risk management as well as governance at GBC that R4GV Councillors have discovered since we became part of the Executive. Hopefully this is the last time that we’ll have to report such disturbing revelations.

2. Economy

Despite very limited officer support (I full-time Officer) Cllr John Redpath (R4GV, Holy Trinity) has been working extremely hard on a number of heritage projects. He believes that Guildford House and the Gallery Café have significant potential which is not being realised, and he is looking to find ways of better integrating the Castle and the Museum to create a better event/visitor offer. He’s also continuing to explore ways to make better use of the Guildhall.

Page 3 of 4

3. Town Centre Master Plan

At the beginning of April Cllr John Rigg (R4GV Holy Trinity) presented an update on the work to develop the Town Centre Master Plan (TCMP) to councillors. The focus was on preparing councillors for the decisions that will need to be made on a number of infrastructure (roads, flooding, etc.) issues, and the implications. The complexity of the project and the viability of the infrastructure requirements that underpin the TCMP options mean that a significant amount of work has to be done before meaningful proposals and options can be presented to the public. Cllr Rigg is committed to bringing these forward for public discussion – as has been done with the North Street proposals – as soon as feasible.

4. Other News

• The new GBC website and customer service portal is finally due to be launched on Thursday 29th April.

• As you may be aware, there are an increasing number of issues relating to litter and fly-tipping which are stretching the Council’s enforcement/planning resources at a time when its finances are in a precarious state as a result of the pandemic. This area will be kept under review, but fly-tipping can be extremely challenging to remedy given the complexity of the legal process if that turns out to be the only means of addressing it.

Page 4 of 4