Council decision on Guildford House wrong in every way

10.37.00am GMT Fri 12th Mar 2010

"The decision to move the Tourist Information Centre and the Gallery at Guildford House is wrong financially and wrong on heritage grounds" said Sue Doughty at Guildford Council's Corporate Improvement Scrutiny Committee last night.

The meeting, which was the result of the Liberal Democrat call in of Guildford's Executive Committee decision drew a full house in the public gallery.

Sue called for a full review of all the options in Guildford for both the display of recent works of art and for the relocation of the Tourist Information Centre. In particular she asked that the new Civic replacement building should be factored in.

"The Civic, due to changing economic circumstances, is now a much greater call on Council resources and must be included in any review."

"The council has failed to include in its evaluation the possibility of letting 170 High St to a commercial organisation such as The Picture Palace who would then bear the cost of refurbishment of the building in addition to paying much needed rent to the council."

After the meeting Sue said "I was shocked at the level of investment and upheaval needed for such a small annual saving which risked letting Guildford House move into commercial ownership. The council must recognise that Guildford House is a community asset held by the council on our behalf. Much more work needs to be done to look at the real costs of the proposal. It very much looked to me as if the likely financial savings were over estimated, and the possible Heritage loss underestimated."