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Next phase of consultation on a parish council for Guildford Town launched

View of Guildford

View of Guildford
We're 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. This will:

  • outline the draft proposals
  • ask residents to share their views. 

This is the second stage of our 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. We're 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.

What responsibilities would a new parish council have?

To begin with, a new parish council would have responsibilities for things like:

  • allotments
  • 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
  • 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 the 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 (opens new window) from today or wait for the printed brochure and questionnaire. The deadline for responses is midnight on Sunday 1 March 2026.

We'll review all the responses and share recommendations with Full Council in mid-March. Councillors will make the final decision on whether to set up the new parish council.

Published on: 6 January 2026

Previous release about the Community Governance Review

12 December 2025: Next stage of consultation for a Guildford parish council agreed

5 August 2025: Help shape future representation for ten Guildford wards

18 July 2025: Executive recommends a Community Governance Review for Guildford Town