To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council.
Minutes:
Turnaround in planning performance
Following intensive efforts to improve our planning performance,
the Leader was pleased to announce that The Minister of State for
Housing and Planning would not designate the Council for its
planning performance on non-major applications. The Leader
thanked the Joint Executive Head of Planning Development and her
team for all their hard work that had gone into achieving this. The
Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change,
Councillor George Potter also thanked the team for this impressive
turnaround in performance, which was entirely down to their hard
work and dedication and commented that there was still significant
work to do to maintain and improve performance.
New round of funding through
Crowdfund Guildford
The Leader announced that a new
round of funding through Crowdfund Guildford opened this week. To
support our communities, the Council was offering up to
£5,000 for community led projects that helped Guildford
thrive. This funding was supported by
the UK Share Prosperity Fund.
First Gold win in the RSPCA PawPrints Awards
The
Leader congratulated the Licencing team for winning a Gold Animal
Activity Licensing Award in the RSPCA PawPrints Awards. This award was a great reflection
of the hard work of our officers, who ensured our standards
remained high when it came to the welfare of animals in the
borough.
Ash Road Bridge drop-in sessions
The Leader announced that over 400 people had visited the Ash
Road Bridge drop-in sessions at the Ash Centre on 21 and 22
September. There had
been a lot of interest in the new bridge and how the roads would
look in future, as well as how the work was being carried out.
Residents could find out more by searching for “Ash Road
Bridge” on the Council’s website.
Electoral Registration - Annual
Canvass
Last weekend our canvassers
started following up on households that had not responded to our
annual canvass emails and letters. The Leader noted that
the quickest and
easiest way for electors to update their details was
online, but the
paper forms could also be used.
Encouraging young people to register to
vote
The Leader announced that the
Electoral Services team had visited Guildford College and the
University of Surrey to make sure students knew how to register to
vote. The team were on hand to
answer questions and explain that young people could register to
vote from the age of 16.
Burpham Neighbourhood Area and Forum
Consultation
There was still time
for residents to have their say about the proposed boundary changes
and forum until midday on 12 October 2023.
More information could be found in the newsroom on the
Council’s website.
Councillor David Bilbé asked the Leader whether the turnaround in planning performance related specifically to hiring, motivating and retaining more staff, and whether she could give an assurance to the Council that there was not a propensity to put forward applications for approval by officers as distinct from refusal on a more balanced basis. In response, and on behalf of the Leader, the Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change indicated that the reason for the improved performance was because of the hard work and dedication of staff and continued efforts to ensure that the team was adequately resourced.
In relation to the determination of applications by officers, the Lead Councillor confirmed that officers would always make decisions based on their professional judgment, and in accordance with planning policies.