Guildford town gets its own parish council from 1 April 2027, with 24 seats, a £1.98m budget and about £69 a year at Band D. Elections are in May 2027.
Guildford town will have its own parish council from 1 April 2027. The decision was made on 15 September by the executive of the West Surrey Shadow Authority, the body setting up the new unitary council that replaces Guildford Borough Council next spring.
The new council covers the ten town wards that currently have no parish council. For households there, it means a new charge on the council tax bill: about £69 a year for a Band D home in the first year.
What was decided
The shadow executive resolved that Guildford Borough Council’s community governance review “be implemented” as set out in the draft order (West Surrey Shadow Authority Executive, 15 September 2026, item 12). Its monitoring officer now has delegated authority to finalise and sign the order.
The draft order sets out the new council (draft Guildford Order 2026, Appendix 1):
- a new parish called Guildford, served by Guildford Parish Council
- 24 councillors elected across 10 wards, which follow the existing borough ward boundaries and names
- a first-year budget requirement of £1,983,500
- elections for every seat on the ordinary election day in May 2027, then every four years
- the town’s 13 council allotment sites transferring to the parish
The ten wards are Bellfields and Slyfield, Burpham, Castle, Merrow, Onslow, St Nicolas, Stoke, Stoughton North, Stoughton South and Westborough. The villages around the town already have parish councils and are not affected.
What it will cost
The shadow authority’s report puts the first-year cost at £1,983,500. That equates to a Band D precept of “approximately £69 (£5.75 per month)” (West Surrey Shadow Authority, report WSE26-001, para 10.1.6). Residents were consulted on a likely range of £60 to £100 a year, so the figure sits near the bottom of it.
Council tax bands are charged as fixed fractions of Band D. Applying those ratios to the £69 figure gives a rough guide for each band. These are our calculations, not published figures, and the real precept will be set for 2027/28:
| Band | Approximate parish charge a year |
|---|---|
| A | £46 |
| B | £54 |
| C | £61 |
| D | £69 |
| E | £84 |
| F | £100 |
| G | £115 |
| H | £138 |
Check which band your home is in on our Guildford council tax bands page.
From the second year the parish council sets its own budget, which “could be higher or lower” than the first-year figure, the report says.
What the parish council will do
At first, not much beyond the basics. The report says the new parishes will start with “the basic functions of a parish council plus responsibility for any statutory allotments”. Apart from the allotments, and possibly civic items such as chains and maces, no assets or extra powers move across in year one. Taking on more would be agreed later with West Surrey Council.
The first-year budget pays for a parish clerk, election costs, and running costs such as office rent, insurance and audit.
What happens to the Mayor of Guildford
The order also settles the future of the mayoralty. The shadow authority’s charter trustee report notes that Guildford “claims a mayoral lineage going back over 650 years” (report WSE26-002).
Under the draft order, the borough’s regalia passes to the parish on the date it resolves to call itself a town council. The list includes:
- the large and small maces and the Sword
- the Mayor’s Staff, Chain and Badge, Robe and Hat
- the Deputy Mayor’s Chain and Badge
- the High Steward’s and Honorary Remembrancer’s robes and badges
The parish must be created as a “parish council”. It can vote to style itself a town council at its first meeting.
As a fallback, the executive also backed a request for charter trustees for the same area from 1 April 2027. They would keep the mayoralty going only if the parish somehow is not created. If the parish goes ahead, the charter trustee request falls away.
How we got here
Guildford Borough Council ran two rounds of public consultation:
- 5 August to 28 September 2025: 1,116 responses
- 6 January to 1 March 2026: 3,197 responses
The borough agreed its final recommendations on 16 March 2026. Because of reorganisation, the final decision passed to the shadow authority, which made it on 15 September.
Between 1 April and 10 May 2027, before the elected parish councillors take office, the parish will be run on an interim basis by the new unitary councillors for the area. The report expects them to act “as custodians, not policymakers”.
What it means for you
- If you live in one of the ten town wards, expect a new parish line on your 2027/28 council tax bill, about £69 at Band D.
- You can stand for election. All 24 seats are elected in May 2027. Nomination details will come from the returning officer nearer the time.
- Allotment holders on the 13 town sites, including Pewley Hill, Lido, Merrow Street and Bellfields, will have the parish council as their landlord from 1 April 2027.
- Villages outside the town, such as Shalford, Send or the Horsleys, keep their existing parish councils.
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