Changes approved for town centre redevelopment
St Edward / Guildford Borough CouncilChanges to a major Surrey regeneration project have been criticised by councillors, despite being approved.
Guildford councillors have agreed to alterations to the redevelopment of North Street, signing off an extra storey on one building and a long list of design alterations required under new national fire-safety rules.
But despite voting the changes through on Wednesday, several councillors have criticised the updated designs.
Richard Mills called the plans "monolithic" and "top heavy", saying the designs represented a "significant reduction in quality", and weakened the project's contribution to Guildford's townscape.
The redevelopment covers a major stretch of land between North Street, Leapale Road, Commercial Road and part of Woodbridge Road.
It includes demolishing existing buildings and delivering a new bus station, pedestrianised streets, public squares, shops, commercial space and hundreds of new homes, along with major changes to the surrounding road network.
The developer says the revisions are needed to comply with updated building regulations, including new guidance on evacuation lifts, energy efficiency and building safety.
Some other buildings will be reduced in height, with revised balconies, windows and vents.
The total number of homes in the redevelopment will rise from 471 to 479, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Another councillor, Joss Bigmore, says the new appearance "is never going to be the most characterful development" and warned that some of the finer architectural touches that previously "persuaded people on the fence" had been lost.
He described the revisions as "value engineering" and urged the developer to "think again".
Planning officers, however, said the development still offers major public benefits.
They acknowledge impacts include reduced sunlight for some flats and lower-than-ideal open-spaces, but have concluded the overall benefits outweigh the harms.
The North Street scheme was first approved in 2023 and revised again in April 2025 before this latest round of changes.
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