Guildford Borough Council is proposing the creation of a new parish council, so that residents across central Guildford have elected parish councillors making decisions about local, parish-level services. There are currently ten wards in central Guildford that are not represented by a parish or town council.

Households in the currently unparished area will shortly receive a booklet outlining the draft proposals and asking residents to share their views.

This is the second stage of the Council’s ongoing Community Governance Review. The first consultation, held last summer, received 1,116 responses. Of those, 58% supported the creation of a new parish council. The Council is now seeking views on detailed proposals for how it could be set up.

What the draft recommendations propose

• Create a parish area called ‘Guildford’ to cover the ten wards that are currently unparished.
• Form ‘Guildford Parish Council’ to serve the parish area.
• Name the ten parish wards the same as the existing ten borough wards.
• Elect 24 councillors to represent the ten wards that make up the parish area.
• Charge a precept (a new increase to the amount of council tax paid by each household) to pay for the running of the parish council and the services it may provide.

Although the new council must initially be set up as a parish council, it could decide to call itself a ‘town council’. It could then have a ceremonial ‘Mayor of Guildford’.

Parish councils set their own precept, which pays for the running of the parish council and the services it provides. The precept for a new Guildford Parish Council is estimated to be between £60 and £100 for a Band D property for the first year. That’s about £5 to £8.34 a month.

To begin with, a new parish council would have responsibilities for things like allotments and representing the community on planning matters. Later it could negotiate with the new unitary authority, landowners and other partners to take on more responsibilities.

If created, the new parish council would have a strong connection to local communities, providing local services and aiming to bridge any gap between residents and the new, much larger, West Surrey unitary authority. After the first parish elections, which could be held in May 2027,  Guildford residents would have the same local representation as people living in all other areas of Guildford borough.

Cllr Julia McShane, Leader of Guildford Borough Council said:
“Parish councils can play a vital part in representing the interests of local people, improving quality of life and the local environment.

“Before making a final recommendation, we want to hear whether our residents agree with our draft proposals to create a new local parish council.”

Eligible residents can complete the survey online from today or wait for the printed brochure and questionnaire. The deadline for responses is midnight on Sunday 1 March 2026.

All the responses will be reviewed and recommendations shared with Full Council in mid-March. Guildford Borough councillors will make the final decision on whether to set up the new parish council.

Image supplied: View of Guildford