Lib Dems Challenge £1million SPA avoidance strategy - 'it won't work'

11.41.29am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th Sep 2006

Liberal Democrat councillors backed residents' protests against the Special Protection Areas Avoidance Strategy at last Thursday's meeting of the Borough Council's Executive Committee, saying the Strategy won't work and will be a waste of over £1 million.

The Strategy is intended to protect rare birds on SPA heathlands such as Whitmoor Common, by charging developers a tariff for all new houses built within 5 km of an SPA. The funds would be spent on improvements to council-owned countryside 'avoidance areas' to divert people, especially dog-walkers, away from the SPAs. Five members of the public from across the borough addressed the meeting, all protesting against the Strategy. Lib Dem councillors told the Conservative Executive that the Strategy simply would not work, would not protect the birds on the SPAs, and would waste over £1 million.

Cllr Vivienne Johnson (Lib Dem, Christchurch) asked the Executive to amend the Strategy to force house-builders in wards such as Stoughton and Westborough to provide or improve open space near to any new homes, and to include Westborough Woods in the Strategy as an avoidance site. Cllr Johnson said "English Nature's own survey shows that Whitmoor Common is visited by people from north Guildford and not from the south of the town - where most of the investment is proposed. It's green space that's desperately needed in North Guildford, not even more cars on their roads. New development should not be allowed here without a proper plan to achieve this. The "strategy" makes no strategic sense - it won't work and it's unfair."

Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem, Stoughton) was angry about accusations from Executive members that protestors were jeopardising the Council's PFI bid for affordable housing. Cllr White said "The only link between the two issues is timing, because the government will be considering the PFI bid in mid October. The Conservative Executive have had a year to sort this out, but have left it until the last minute. They are adopting a panic measure which will allow developers a free-for-all in the most over-crowded areas of the town." Speaking after the meeting, Cllr White pointed out that Lib Dem councillors had proposed an alternative approach which would have allowed planning permission to be given for the PFI affordable housing sites, and other new house-building within walking distance of avoidance sites, while the whole Strategy was revised, but Conservative councillors had rejected it.

Cllr Liz Hogger (Lib Dem, Effingham) agreed with the public who were worried about 'urbanisation' of countryside areas to be used as 'avoidance sites', particularly Chantry Woods and Effingham Common, and protested against Cllr Jenny Wicks's description of the 'modest measures' being proposed. Cllr Hogger said "This strategy proposes to spend over £400,000 on Chantry Woods, and over £200,000 on Effingham Common. These are scarcely 'modest' measures, and residents are right to worry about urbanisation of this countryside, and about wasting money on surfacing footpaths, dog-bins, and car-parks. If this Strategy is adopted, parish councils and residents groups must be consulted in advance about all the works proposed. But it would be much better to spend this £1 million of planning-gain money on community benefits for the local area where new houses are built, not on unwanted 'improvements' to our countryside."

The Executive agreed to remove Tyting Farm from the Strategy, but rejected the Lib Dem proposal to include Westborough Woods so that residents in the north of the town would gain some benefit. The Strategy was formally adopted, and will come into effect on 18 September.