New Council Depot

WEYSIDE URBAN VILLAGE

Enhancing Guildford's Community

About the new depot

The new depot is being built on previously developed land east of the Slyfield Industrial Estate.  It will become home to several council departments and services. These include the teams that empty our bins, clean our streets, and manage our parks and green spaces. Housing services and some administration teams will also be based there. The new depot site includes three main buildings:

• Depot building: a three-storey hub for operational teams, featuring offices, training rooms, meeting spaces, and welfare facilities. It will provide storage facilities, including a secure museum store. A fully equipped vehicle workshop will accommodate heavy goods vehicles.
• Multi-storey car park: located to the north of the site, the car park will be used for service vehicles, staff and visitors. It will include electric vehicle (EV) charging points and infrastructure for future EV expansion.
• Storage building: dedicated secure storage for grit and salt to support winter operations, alongside general storage and specialist equipment rooms are being provided.

Planning history

Initial planning permission was granted in March 2023. In 2024, a revised planning application was submitted to reflect updates in the design, layout, and usage of the site. This was approved in June 2024.

Build

Construction of the new depot is being undertaken by McLaren Construction (Southern) Limited.

A cleaner future

The new depot will contribute to the council's long-term strategy to become a net zero borough by 2030. It has been designed using a 'fabric first' approach which maximises the buildings' performance to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

Progress

Construction will be completed in July ahead of staff moving in later this year. The structure is constructed and the internal fit out is underway. Once the new depot has been completed we start to move the teams across to the new building later this year.