Agenda item

The Executive Advisory Board received a report and presentation on progress for the Bedford Wharf Plaza Landscaping scheme.  A condition of the planning permission for the replacement Walnut Bridge was that a landscaping scheme (for Bedford Wharf Plaza) must be implemented within six months following the bridge completion.  The Executive last considered Bedford Wharf Plaza at its meeting in January 2019 where funding of £500,000 was approved to facilitate consultation on, and design of, a landscaping scheme for the plaza.  The funds would not secure a development of high quality and so a phased and sequential approach was recommended.

The scheme represented an opportunity to regenerate the wider area, particularly around the railway station which was being developed by Solum and was expected to generate significant footfall.  The scheme offered a means of developing a streetscape legibility for how the town looked and what people recognised as a Guildford townscape.  Guildford did not have a square and the plaza therefore represented a means of creating a significant gateway feature for the town.  

The Board were asked to provide their views and guidance on the project approach for the Bedford Wharf Plaza Landscaping.

The following points arose from related questions and discussion:

·         Considered whether the scheme should only be looking at landscaping when we should be looking at the wider area around Bedford Wharf.

·         It was confirmed that as part of Walnut Bridge Planning condition (not S106) the council was obliged to deliver a restorative landscaping scheme.

·         The Board noted that Solum was moving forward, the planning conditions were being discharged and works would start next year.  The landscaping works had to be in place within 6 months of the completion of the consent of the proposed bridge. 

·         The Board questioned the difference between a masterplan and a landscaping scheme and recommended that rather a Framework was required which acted as a guide for development in the wider area.  Given the cinema was likely to be redeveloped as well as the Surrey Police building, it was a shame that Bedford Wharf Plaza was the sole focus when it should include the whole of Bedford Wharf. 

·         The Board noted that the consultation would be undertaken online which required significant advertising through social media platforms otherwise a low response rate was anticipated.  The online consultation was due to have started on 20 September but had been postponed so that the views of the Board could be taken into consideration prior to commencement.

·         The Board received confirmation that Bedford Wharf Plaza was a landscaping masterplan, not a masterplan for development uses.  Part of the area was in a flood zone and the Council was therefore unable to use it for those purposes. 

·         The masterplan was in response to a planning application whereby the Council was trying to engage with the public to identify what should be in the public realm.  It was confirmed that the Council had secured £1 million pounds of funding towards public art at Guildford Station.

·         The Council had previously been criticized for not consulting with the public.  The Plaza didn’t have to be in place until 6 months after the completion of Walnut Bridge and therefore provided the time in which to develop a scheme that was in keeping. 

·         The Board considered it was of great concern that if the scheme would not be completed until June 2022 that the Council was not using that time to look at a broader masterplan which encompassed all of Bedford Wharf. 

·         The Board noted that there was a significant period of time to implement the scheme and elements of it may change but ultimately the Council needed the scheme to start taking S106 contributions. 

·         The Board noted that the Bedford Wharf Plaza scheme was an integral part of the Walnut Bridge development and was not exclusive in terms of their delivery.  The scheme was focussed on the landscape and its connections with the surroundings were important.  The Council would also be undertaking in depth online consultations with focus groups.  Officers were fully aware of a lack of cohesion across other schemes and hoped that this proposal would unify them with an overarching vision for Guildford.

·         The consultation results would drive and inform what sort of plaza the public wanted and in turn the Lead Design Consultant would be recruited at that point. 

·         The Board wanted to understand how the Bedford Wharf Plaza Scheme fitted in with the Town Centre Masterplan in terms of timescales for implementation.

·         The Board noted that the Council was in the process of commissioning consultants to revisit the Town Centre Masterplan that would include the public consultation.

·         The Board recommended that expenditure on the scheme was cut to a minimum so that strategic master-planning could be undertaken. 

·         The Board questioned the value of replacing the bridge without surveying the life of the existing bridge as well spending £1 million on public art works. 

The Board remained unhappy about progressing the Bedford Wharf Plaza Landscaping scheme in isolation.  A broader approach via a strategic masterplan was required to address the development needs of the entire area in a cohesive manner and that the Executive should note the Boards issues raised.