A MAJOR new development containing more than 100 flats and several shops and restaurants could be built on the site of a Guildford town centre car park.

The borough council began a public consultation this week to gauge views from town centre residents on what would be the largest residential complex in the town if approved.

One third of the proposed 139 apartments for the site in Bedford Road would be affordable housing, combined with new ground floor commercial accommodation.

It also includes plans for the refurbishment of a former auctioneer’s building to provide shops and a restaurant.

River views

A new car and cycle park with space for 65 vehicles is also part of the proposals, the equivalent of one space for every two homes.

The site, which was previously terraced housing, is yards from the Odeon cinema, and backs on to the River Wey. It provides 70 public car parking spaces.

A planning application is expected to be submitted next month and will be considered by the council’s own planning committee. The site will then be sold to developers with planning permission.

Consultants Colliers CRE, along with architects Bennetts Associates, were commissioned to develop the scheme.

The proposals for the combined residential and retail development were based on council requirements for the site and follow an earlier consultation in 2005.

Colliers CRE is the same company involved in the planned 180-room hotel in London Road next to the Civic Hall.

“If it gets planning permission in the autumn the council will then sell the land with the planning consent attached,” director Nigel Cooper said.

“Planning consent can last for several years and if the council do not attract bidders, it will continue to stay in use as a car park.”

The proposals are also a similar height to The Billings and Tempus Court on the opposite side of the River Wey.

Mr Cooper added the proposals for the site could change over the coming years but the idea of the mixed-use site was one the council had decided was appropriate.

"ill-thought out proposal"

Entrepreneur Michel Harper, whose nightspots back onto the site, said that he believed the council proposals were unsuited to the area.

The businessman made an attempt to buy the land for £5.2 million, but his bid to build a luxury hotel behind Bar Mambo and Voodoo Lounge was turned down.

“We are in the midst of a slowdown in the property market so who will buy this site if the council gets planning permission?” he said.

“It does not make sense to put 139 apartments right next door to a town centre with 20,000 visitors a week. This is an ill-thought out proposal when there is an interested party in myself who will negotiate with the council.”

Cllr Andrew Hodges, leader of Guildford Borough Council, declined to comment on previous bids by Mr Harper, but said the site would be put up for sale.

“The council took a decision some time ago that it would put together a planning application for this site,” he said.

Cllr Hodges said any comments from the current consultation would be included in the formal planning application.

“We wouldn’t have put forward the current proposal if we didn’t think it was suitable for the area,” he added.

The plans will be on view from today (Friday) from the council offices in Millmead until July 10.