Grant awarded for more than 1,000 new homes in Guildford as council prepares to sign off projects worth £145 million

Plans to build more than 1,000 houses at Slyfield in Guildford has received a boost after the project was awarded £600,000 government funding. The homes plan is part of Guildford Borough Council’s ongoing Slyfield Area Regeneration Project (SARP), which also includes relocating the Thames Water sewage works, the borough council’s depot and the county council’s waste station. The estimated cost of the project over the next four years, to the council, is said to be just shy of £105 million. The £600,000 funding has been allocated as part of a wider £6.3 million grant across the country from the government for housing projects using brownfield land. However, the Slyfield scheme has recently come under criticism from Greenpeace due concerns over flooding. Another contentious issue is the Clay Lane Link Road, which the council sees as vital to ensuring the smooth relocation of the sewage works, freeing up land for the housing.