Guildford's old Debenhams to be turned into flats
Permission was approved by the local council
Planning permission has been granted for the former site of Debenhams to be turned into flats in Guildford.
The borough council’s planning committee narrowly approved the plans for 185 homes on the site of the old department store. As part of the redevelopment, a riverside walkway will be created around the site, though an application for a bridge to the Yvonne Arnaud theatre has been withdrawn.
The plans were approved by six votes to five, with two abstentions at the meeting on Tuesday.
Council documents show a cinema could be included in the development, underneath a garden area which would be for use only by residents. But we've been told that it would be a 'boutique' style cinema, rather than an Odeon-style complex/
John Busher, the borough council’s case officer for the application, says, " “In terms of the number of seats, that will be up to the applicant to sort out the internal arrangements, but it certainly won’t be a massive Odeon that you probably have in your head at the moment.”
Planning conditions were included on any future cinema, that it would not open to the public until screening times and other measures had been agreed and approved in writing by the council.
With the number of homes reduced from the originally-planned 215 to 185, just five affordable homes will be included in the development. Developers said a viability assessment did not allow for any affordable homes, but they would nonetheless be including five one-bedroomed homes as affordable.
The site, which was bought in December 2020 for £20 million, will be redeveloped to include a pocket park and public square, and will be built in materials that will reflect the surrounding buildings including the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and the Guildford Castle.
Cllr Christopher Barras says, "It’s always wonderful to have a few more affordable houses, in as much as affordable is a definition of affordable in this area, but on the other hand, something like bridge is all part of opening up the riverside to thousands of people.”
The river also came into the debate when Cllr Ramsey Nagaty (Guildford Greenbelt Group, Shalford) said it had been suggested that Broadford Bridge in Shalford be used as for construction traffic, despite not being wide enough for a car and a lorry to pass.
He said: “A solution may be found possibly in using barges on the river to move the demolition waste, and I would hope that that can be considered.”