Godalming & District Chamber of Commerce is firstly very disappointed that Waverley Borough Council (WBC) failed to discuss with us in advance its proposals for the redevelopment of three commercial sites in the town centre.
The Chamber strongly objects to the main proposal, which is to build residential housing on Crown Court, the town’s main car park which is ideally situated in the middle of the retail centre, just a short level walk straight on to the High Street and conveniently positioned for all businesses including those in Church Street and the Upper High Street.
The Chamber has long argued for additional car parking capacity and would have liked to see more parking provision for business workers, resident and shoppers visiting the town. The redevelopment of Wharf Street with no additional parking provision is a wasted opportunity and should be reconsidered.
The Chamber understands that WBC needs to redevelop its existing facilities at The Burys and would welcome the inclusion of pop-up retails shops and office accommodation for small businesses and for those currently working from home. While this site is said to be on a Flood Zone, any residential development should be considered for this site and built above car parking and retail and/or office accommodation to overcome that.
John Taylor, President of Godalming & District Chamber of Commerce, said: “These plans are very ill thought out. Moving our main car park away from the centre of the town and replacing it with a less accessible, multi storey car park will not benefit our retail and commercial sector which is still struggling post Covid”.
“We would ask Waverley to actually engage with the business community and work with us to create a development which will improve our town centre, help people start new retail businesses and make it easier for people to come and spend money in Godalming. While we welcome the consultation by Waverley (here), we have devised a survey of our own and would ask Chamber members, business owners and Godalming residents to let us know what they think.
Our survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3HP96L3”.
Issued by Godalming & District Chamber of Commerce
For more information or comment, contact John Taylor by email to [email protected]
