HTAG Guildford - HTAG AGM 2006

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HTAG AGM 2006

Friday, 17 November, 2006, at The Guildford Institute

REPORTS

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

During the year I had the sad duty to report the death of two of our Road Reps - Norah Casey and Don Pendlebury. Norah had been part of HTAG since its inception. Don took up his position later but both served HTAG loyally for many years. You will have seen tributes to them in the newsletter. I wrote letters to the families on your behalf. We shall all miss them both.

We thank very much three Road Reps who retired this year after many years of service - Mary Bowers, Michael Andrew and Isabelle Thurley - and we welcome as their successors Nigel Platt to replace Norah, Simon Page to replace Mary, Jean Bridger to replace Michael and David Ellis to replace Isabelle. I hope Ian Ross will replace Don. George Peters has become Road Rep for Pewley Hill (lower) but we still have no-one to represent Pewley Hill (upper evens).

As ever I am happy to thank all those who have kept HTAG "on the road" for another eventful year. Bob's expertise has made him almost irreplaceable as Planning Secretary. He has been able to attract a group of up to eight keen people to the fortnightly planning meetings and he has established extensive links with the officers of GBC and other residents' associations which enhance the effectiveness of planning letters. Jean has organised the Social Programme with her usual light touch and happy facility whilst also being the elder statesman of the Planning Group and a Road Rep. Dottie keeps the records in order and is somehow able to record the discussions at our meetings and arrange them into a coherent account. Isabelle has produced another four excellent newsletters and manages our diverse and informative website. Steve's accounts are his last as Treasurer and I shall say a final "thank you" to him when he has presented them. I thank all the Road Reps, who are at the heart of HTAG. They collect the subs and form the decision making caucus at the Road Reps meetings. Finally I'd like to record our appreciation of Mike Hassell who delivers the newsletters to the Road Reps four times a year. v
The other reports contain details of Planning, the Social Programme, our Finances, the Web Site/Newsletter (verbal report only) and our membership of EGRA. Below is a selection of what's left.

The audio archive has advance a little but I'm sure there is an untapped reservoir of valuable local history still to be recorded. I hear some of it at coffee mornings but the microphone seems to put people off.

We have organised three music evenings this year. The core performers are drawn from the St Mary's choir but we welcome listeners as well as performers, young and old, experts and beginners, singers and instrumentalists, classical, jazz.. It is all great fun and helps performers sing or play in front of an audience.

We lost the battle to have the cobbled surface of the High Street listed but the critical comments about the surface by English Heritage were passed to the relevant GBC authorities. We have also been unable to persuade the SCC to restore the railings by Trinity Gate up Jenner Road. Indeed there is a fashion in local Government to remove restrictions to movement such as railings; I understand it is planned to remove the railings outside Debenhams.

As Chairman of HTAG I am a member of the Town Centre Management Group (TCMG). Much of the discussions are to do with local business but I do my best to represent HTAG views on the pedestrianisation of the High Street, the preservation of small shops and some planning issues. I have also asked for global warming to be included on the agenda of the next meeting. Fewer and fewer of those in a position to know doubt that the profligate use of energy, never mind disastrous forest fires, is going to have serious consequences unless we take action now. But our influence will be negligible unless we, the residents, make changes to our own lifestyle. One Road Rep has suggested up-grading paths to encourage walking and we would welcome any other suggestions. v
I came across the following stirring endorsement of residents' groups, like HTAG, in The Times on 29 February, 2006: ".where communities fight hard enough they can preserve their neighbourhood's character - even when big business and big government seem in cahoots against them - as appears to be the case in so many planning decisions these days. But where apathy or hopelessness has taken grip, everything is at risk"

I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Stephen Wright
Chairman, HTAG

PLANNING REPORT

The Work of the Planning Group.

This has again been a busy year, despite the constraint of the Special Protection Area Control. The Planning Group currently comprises 10 members, and meeting attendance averages about six. The Group continue to meet every other Monday afternoon at the Council Offices in Millmead. Despite our best efforts meetings are rarely shorter than 2 hours.

We have examined a total of 241 planning applications during the year. We objected to, or commented on, 82, about one third of the total; often these are attempts to improve a scheme, rather than totally rejecting it. The remaining two thirds are either considered reasonable schemes or too small to warrant an HTAG comment.

An HTAG representative has spoken at some Council Planning Committee Meetings to emphasise objections. We have participated in some appeal hearings, and made further representations on draft planning policy documents that are part of the new Local Development Framework (LDF). For town centre applications we liaise with Guildford Society.

A log is kept of all applications that we look at, and this, together with correspondence for the period is available to see at Road Reps meetings and the AGM. We attempt to report all important matters in the quarterly newsletter.

Copies of two documents are available, one explaining how the HTAG Planning Section works, the other setting out current key objectives. We need more help for the Group, to reduce the burden on the present loyal members, and to allow more effort to be put into some areas. This can be interesting work, and is a good way of getting to know our area and its residents. Younger folk would help to keep our perspective in balance. Please contact us if you can help.

As always we need member's views on both individual applications, and on planning policy documents. Please supply these through your road rep, a member of the Committee, or directly to the Planning Secretary.

LDF Policies.

1. Parking SPD.
This is now approved. The rules for the Town Centre were relaxed a little so that a developer is allowed to provide up to one space per unit, but he can also still not provide any parking at all. It is hoped that the Officers will no longer encourage new residential schemes with no parking, in acknowledgement of the major problems in the area with street parking. We shall need to emphasise other guidelines to argue that the "maximum" parking limit should also be regarded as the norm in the Town Centre Area. The appeal on the application for flats at 62, Epsom Road may produce an important ruling from the Inspector on the interpretation of this policy.

2. Core Strategy.
Some improvements have been made. We still have some concerns which we intend to pursue at the final stage of the process, which is examination by the Inspector.

3. Town Centre Action Plan.
The position is as for 2. A compromise now exists between the boundary as proposed by the Officers and HTAG. We shall continue to press for Jenner Road, Bright Hill, Poyle Terrace and the Basket Works, and the old reservoir (bottom of Pewley Hill) to be excluded from the Centre so that they remain residential and are not made subject to mixed use redevelopment.

4. Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal.
This important document, that cost much to produce and accepted some of our input, was approved by the Council in February, but has still not been issued, and is being ignored by Planning Officers. We are pressing for the situation to be rectified.

5. Community Involvement.
Status is as 2.

Privatisation of the Town Centre.

The secretary participated in the Public Enquiry into the closure of Commercial Rd. and part of Woodbridge Road required to make way for the Friary Development. The objective was to have a condition added to the closure order that the replacement pedestrian streets were to be made "town paths" or rights of way. This is not just about right of public use, but also about who controls what happens on the streets and in the so-called "town square". Our proposal, which was supported by Guildford Society, was vigorously opposed by the Council, whose lawyer poured scorn on it. The Inspectors decision was not completely clear, but our understanding is that his remit did not include the addition of conditions, and rejection of the whole closure order could not be justified for this reason alone, therefore our request was rejected.

Public access is covered by a "Walkways Agreement" with Westfield, but this has not been made public. As far as we know the new bus station will be the only one in the country that can only be accessed via private streets. There has recently been media coverage of this issue, in particular in relation to another Westfield development in London, and there seems to be growing resistance to this practice. We shall oppose any schemes involving privatisation of our streets.

Retail and Shopping.

Our facilities for "day to day", convenience shopping, continue to decline, despite the acknowledgement of the problem in a "retail needs" survey. We have strongly opposed the loss of retail use in the Upper High Street, which could, and should, provide for our basic shopping needs. We consider that the Officers have sometimes interpreted the existing rules in a way that favoured change of use from retail to something else - usually restaurant or estate agents. The good news is that some of the Upper High Street is proposed to be "upgraded" so that a minimum of two thirds of the frontage has to be retail rather than the present one third.

The Special Protection Area Order.

While in itself this seemed somewhat extreme we believe that it well illustrated the increasing problem of pressure on all our green open spaces. We continue to argue that the only solution is to acquire more public open space, rather than to upgrade and "urbanise" existing open space - as is now proposed for the Chantries.

High Density Developments.

Compared to some other parts of Guildford our area has so far got off lightly, However, the now completed Semaphore Road development, and the "end of terrace extensions" at 2, Warren Road and 5, Portland Terrace, show how excessively high density developments can degrade an area. We shall continue to oppose such developments, while treating developments of more reasonable density on their merits.

The Bright Hill View.

The Saga continues. We have received some reassurance that the full view would be retained when the new development is made. However identification of the view has a habit of disappearing from the various policy maps. We shall not give up. As part of consultation on the draft Guildford Landscape Character Assessment we have the opportunity to press our case - perhaps we can provide a portfolio of photos of the view. Also there may be an opportunity to vote for your favourite local view - if so please vote for Bright Hill!

Tyting Farm.

With many others we objected to the sale of the farm. We are delighted that it is to be kept in GBC ownership and to be managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust. This is part of the rural area close enough to us to be within easy walking distance, and as such is an increasingly important amenity for us.

Trinity Gate and Planning Gain.

There is general disappointment that this development did not provide the planning gain expected. In place of useful shops we have Estate Agents. The stone frieze that was to have been incorporated in the faade has disappeared, and we have only a plaster cast inside the building. The environmental improvement to the pavement area was downgraded to reduce costs, and we have the entirely inappropriate glued down yellow gravel instead of the real stone paving slabs expected. This episode highlights the need for much more vigorous control of planning gain.

I have to thank our team who loyally turn up for our bi-weekly meeting, everybody who inputs views to us, our Councillors for their support, and Dottie for dealing with the tricky organisational problems.

Bob Bromham.
Planning Secretary

TREASURER'S FINAL REPORT 2006

These accounts cover twelve months exactly, so they do represent a year in the life of the group reasonably fairly.

Thanks to our Road Representatives we have had a very good year as far as our income goes. You will see that subscriptions account for the majority of our real income - the entertainment activities show make a slight profit, and I must thank the kind souls who organise them for us, but the intention is that they should cover costs and any extra is a bonus. There has been no major theatre outing in the year - the GSA 'Oklahoma!' visit being organised and financed by Jean on a personal basis.

On general expenditure you will see that once again no bills have been presented for either planning expenditure or our website, both active and essential items of our work. This is unlikely to continue in the long run, but as you can see we have adequate funds at our disposal.
v On the entertainment side you will see that the money from carol singing is donated to Crossroads and that the gardens open scheme covers the seniors outing(s) - but this latter is not exclusively dedicated money.

Our balance sheet is drawn up assuming that one cheque just deposited has now been credited to our account. Since the cheque was written by me as a substitute for some coins from subscriptions I have every confidence that the cheque will not be returned.

All in all, it was a good year financially. This is my last year as treasurer, since I have far outrun the five year rule we instituted last year. In my time as treasurer our income and net worth have more than doubled, much of it due to general inflation, but much too because of the efforts of members. I would like to thank you all one last time, and wish my successor well.

Steve Palmer
(Hon. Treasurer)
Holy Trinity Amenity Group AGM - 17 November 2006

EGRA (East Guildford Residents Association) Report

The South East Plan

As some of you will know, EGRA, this year, has wrestled with the Draft South East Plan, an enormous document put out for public consultation, which runs to over 600 pages. The Plan has been published by SEERA (the South East Regional Assembly), a body nominated by Government.

The Draft South East Plan for the next 20 years to 2026, outlines the future planned expansion of the South East Region. The South East is the economic engine of Britain. To drive the economy forwards and to compete with Europe and the world, the South East is to be regenerated with housing, the expansion of business, leisure, retail and tourism.

The South East Region stretches from London to Milton Keynes, to Oxford, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Hastings and to Dover. There are ten sub-regions within the South East Region and twenty-one towns designated Regional Hubs. Guildford, Woking, Reigate and Redhill are all Regional Hubs within the sub-region of the South East called the London Fringe.

Regional Hubs, such as Guildford, have been selected for greater expansion and for extra housing. Guildford town has been set a target to build 5,940 houses (297 per year) by 2026 (with the Borough included the target is higher - 322 houses pa).

Guildford is already meeting such a target, but this housing target will have to be met for the next 20 years. There are few sites left in the town to develop in the future. Building on brown field sites in Guildford will mean building in gardens.

At this very moment the Examination in Public (the EIP) of the Draft South East Plan is taking place. But Guildford is only a very small cog in such a large Examination in Public. Guildford Society has one slot in the EIP - while CPRE (the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England) has a very much bigger part to play with 40 out of a total of 57 sessions. EGRA has links to both Guildford Society and CPRE.

An Independent panel is conducting the Examination in Public, but final decisions will be taken by the Secretary of State.

Other Consultations

There have been other documents for consultation, such as the Core Strategy (for Guildford) and the Town Centre Action Plan. These all for consultation, so close to each other and in holiday time, have severely stretched the EGRA members in producing responses.

EGRA Concerns

EGRA members have concerns which affect all members - as well as concerns specific to individual members.

All are concerned about Guildford's heritage. There are concerns about the loss of green garden suburbs, over-development of sites, loss of character of much-loved areas, parking, traffic congestion and so on.

HTAG is concerned - along with others - about the loss of the panoramic view with green hills from Bright Hill, which is much-loved by pedestrians. It is also concerned about the loss of small shops in the town and about the effect on residents of the new Town Centre Boundary for mixed development.

Merrow and Burpham - with their own community identities - are concerned about the loss of small shops, the loss of community facilities and village character.

Downsedge Residents' Associaton is concerned about what is now coined 'garden grabbing' and the loss of family houses.

CRARA (Cranley Rd Area Residents Association) has carried out a survey and found that 50% of its Victorian villas and houses had been demolished by developers, to be replaced mainly with flats.
v Clandon Society is concerned about the Merrow Park and Ride - and the consequent future development that it might encourage in the area.

All associations were against the sale of Tyting Farm (which as you know) is now to be leased to the Surrey Wildlife Trust in conjunction with the Halow Trust.

EGRA is concerned about the 'creeping' urbanisation of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in our countryside close to Guildford. Especially now that Chantry Wood has been designated a SPA Avoidance site, which will bring an enlarged car park, further dog bins, litter bins, signage, boards and so on, all to entice the residents of Stoughton with their dogs away from Whitmoor Common - where the ground nesting birds, the Dartford warbler, woodlark and nightjar have been found.

To sum up it has been a very busy year.

Jenny Kyte
HTAG EGRA Representative

SOCIAL REPORT

Coffee Morning: Last Thursday of the month, 10.30 at The Forresters Pub, in Cooper road. Again, many thanks to our hostess, Liz, who provides us with a great welcome and homemade scones (by Rosa), jam and biscuits with our coffee - all for only £1.00!!

Carol Singing: Wednesday 20 December. Meet at the top of Bright Hill at 7.00 pm. Dress warmly and bring a torch. Song sheets provided. Children welcome but must be accompanied by an adult. We need lots of singers or collectors for our "Crossroads" fund raising. Hot punch and potatoes after (donation of £1 appreciated) at Ruth's, 22 Harvey Road. Contact Steve on 564021 for further info.

Guildford School of Acting: We went as a group to see "Phoenix" - about the life of D H Lawrence. It was a most successful production. With tickets of about £8 and lifts on offer this was a fine opportunity to have an evening of entertainment in congenial company. I intend to book seats for one of their Spring productions.

On 24 February 2007 Addison Court will celebrate its 40th Anniversary. If you know of anyone who has had strong links with Addison Court (recently or many years ago) can you let us know their names so they can be invited to the celebration party? If you have photographs of events held there in the past we would love to borrow them for our display. We also need helpers on the day moving chairs and serving teas etc. Contact: Tieleke Williams 569203

Guildford-Freiburg Association minimarket, Saturday 10 December, 10 am to 4 pm, where you can have a glass of gluwein and buy wooden toys and candles from Freiburg.

Concert of Christmas Music in the Cathedral at 7.30 pm on Sat 2 Dec. The Guildford Choral Society and the St Catherine's Middle Chamber Choir, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, will sing "Hodie" and "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" by Vaughan Williams.

Jean Bridger
Social Secretary

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