November & December bi-monthly update from local councillors George Potter and Jane Tyson.

Come and talk to us

We hold our regular drop-in sessions where people can come to speak to us on the first Saturday of every month at Burpham Bowling Club from 10am to 11.30am. Please drop by if you have any issues we can help with, or email us at george.potter@guildford.gov.uk and jane.tyson@guildford.gov.uk

London Road consultation open until 27th November

The public consultation on Surrey county council’s proposals for new walking and cycling infrastructure along London Road has been open since 18th September. The consultation was originally meant to end on 13th November but will now run until 27th November due to delays with sending out letters to local households to let people know about the consultation.

The consultation covers both the design and the construction plans for the changes to London Road, so please do read the proposals and have your say: burpham-activetravel.commonplace.is

Find out about local planning issues

Burpham Community Association and Burpham Neighbourhood Forum will be holding a public meeting at Burpham Village Hall on Thursday 2nd November in the evening to give an update on various major planning issues affecting our area and to give people a chance to ask questions about them. Topics will include the new sewage treatment works and the impending planning application for Gosden Hill.

Planting new trees

Many thanks to the resident who got in touch with us to point out that the birch tree on the Clay Lane/London Road roundabout has sadly died. We’ve been able to arrange for the planting of two new trees on the roundabout to replace it.

Additionally, Surrey County Council have happily announced that they are about to scrap the £25 fee they currently charge residents for requesting a new tree on their street. So if you know any trees which need replacing in Burpham, or know anywhere where a new tree should be planted, please request a tree on the county council website here: surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/permits-and-licences/planting-trees

Guildford borough council announces balanced budget

In our previous updates we’ve talked about the big financial challenges facing Guildford borough council and that, unless urgent savings were made, the council faced declaring bankruptcy this year by issuing a ‘section 114’ notice. But this month we have some positive news for a change! The council finance team have confirmed that we have managed to balance the budget for the current year and avoid the immediate threat of bankruptcy.

However, there is still a great deal of work left to do to get the council back to financial stability, and this will unfortunately have to include some difficult choices over the next few years. But obtaining a balanced budget this year and avoiding bankruptcy means that those choices will be made by local councillors, who are accountable to local people, rather than by government-appointed commissioners as is happening in Woking.