Content

Pursuant to the Council resolution of 23 July
2024, the Council has entered into a Development Agreement with
Wates Construction Ltd. Wates Construction Ltd is appointed as the
Council’s Development Partner to support it in delivering a
housing scheme at the Guildford Park site. The Development
Agreement includes an obligation that Wates must submit the
completed planning pack to the Council (in its capacity as Wates
partner) for approval prior to formal submission to the LPA.
The decision is to approve the pack so that Wates may proceed to
submit the planning application to the LPA.

Reasons for the decision

The pack has been reviewed by members of the
project team and the Council Representative. It has been confirmed
on the basis of the information provided that the scheme developed
by Wates is in accordance with the Council’s specification
(save the previously agreed derogations). The Council should
therefore provide the necessary approval to Wates to enable them to
submit the planning application.

Alternative options considered

The alternative was not to approve the
application pack. This was not considered an appropriate response
as:
This option is not recommended as it would delay project delivery
until such time as an alternative pack was agreed. The Council has
been working to bring forward this site for development for at
least the last ten years, with a number of previous design
iterations, a historic planning consent and considerable Council
resources expended to date.
The pack has been reviewed by members of the project team and the
Council Representative and there has been no reason why this
approval should not be given.
The Council had already accepted divergence from its specification
in accepting Wates tender stage proposal. The Development
masterplan and design intention has changed little since Wates
tender stage proposal, with only minor modifications to the
building positioning and arrangement of ancillary areas and more
detailed development of the materials palette, hard and soft
landscaping proposals etc.
The Council is in partnership with Wates and has tasked Wates with
developing the optimal design solution for the site. The Council
specification provides a framework to inform this, but it is agreed
and acknowledged that the parties may agree to amend the provisions
within