Councillor update from the past few weeks:
Shepherds Hill
The worst of the potholes have finally been repaired! The major Project Horizon resurfacing will take place in the Autumn.
The large lime tree at the Shepherds Hill/Lower Street junction has a split in its trunk: I was assured that a 50% reduction in the crown and a supporting metal brace would be sufficient to save the tree. Unfortunately, all the branches have been cut (along with an accidental chop of the Christmas tree lights!) and the tree looks very stark. While regrowth will occur, it will never regain its former glory and a decision needs to be taken whether to replace the tree now, or to plant a new tree next to the old tree that would be removed when the young tree reaches maturity.
SCC Highways work gang
Chief Highways Officer for Haslemere, Ian Fowler, manages all local highways maintenance. I have agreed with Ian to allocate £4000 for 2 weeks of work gang time over the next year. The gang have been working around Haslemere including hedge cutting, sign cleaning, repairing and repainting of the damaged railings outside Clayton Jewellers.
Highways Localism funds
Following discussions with SCC Highways, Haslemere Town Council has successfully bid for £2000 from the new Highways Localism fund to carry out local highways maintenance work.
Parking – Kings Road
Concerned residents in Kings Road have been in contact about the hazard presented by the growing number of cars parked on the bend of Kings Road by the industrial estate. SCC Highways are planning double yellow lines via a temporary traffic enforcement notice that should be in place by the end of August.
The Kings Road parking situation is the result of inevitable car displacement following recent additional yellow lining and the introduction of resident only parking schemes in Haslemere. SCC Highways are planning to assess the impact of the schemes in the autumn before the December parking review. An efficient use of limited parking capacity in the town is essential and I am concerned to note some ROP bays are almost permanently empty suggesting a less than optimal use of the available parking spaces.
West Street/High Street: further yellow lining
A number of residents have asked why in addition to the highway, now the kerb on West Street and into the bus layby in the High Street has been painted with repeated double yellow lines, accompanied by enforcement signs on new posts inserted into the pavement. There have been complaints that the lining is very ugly, and also impacts on the traders as now no stopping to unload at any time is permitted.
I met with the SCC parking officer to discuss the matter, and plan to meet with the representatives from the Fire service and local businesses in September to understand the full logic behind the new lining. My initial conversation this week with representatives from the fire service suggests that the main reason why fire engines get blocked on West Street when responding to an emergency is the lack of car driver consideration, rather than loading and unloading vehicles. The extension of the lining into the bus layby outside the bookshop does not seem to fit with the argument of providing a clear route for the fire engines.
Given that SCC Leader David Hodge recently stated at the recent full council that SCC actively supports local businesses, it would seem important to make sure that unnecessary barriers to trading are considered carefully.
For general interest, here is recent RAC report on parking charges.
Attended Full Council Meeting: July 16th
Meeting of full council, for the agenda, minutes here.
Presentation on World War 1 Commemorations
This is planned for period 2014-18, led by imperial War Museum has website detailing all initiatives http://www.1914.org/
A County Remembers: Surrey in the Great War: SCC Heritage has put in a bid to £10 million Heritage Lottery fund for projects that relate to the impact of the war on peoples lives and society in general. The SCC application is for a community based research project into the histories of individuals, communities and organisations during the war years, with a focus on engaging and inspiring people curently not acctively involved in heritage. By working with people of ages and backgrounds the aim is to create a global, accessible and enduring resource which will tell Surrey’s story during the Great War. The research will focus on the following themes: Stories of Survivors: Life in Surrey 1914-18 Serving at Home; Surrey All Over the World. The names on war memorials will provide a catalyst for a broader research enabling people to explore, discover and understand the impact of the war on their local area and community. If the SCC HLF bid is successful, Haslemere should be part of this exciting initiative.
Haslemere Town Council: July 18th
Presented an update of all issues to Haslemere town council.
Environment and Transport Select Committee and Surrey Cycle Strategy Workshop
Presentation on Operation Horizon, £120 million investment plan for major road maintenance to replace worst 500km (10%) Surrey roads, delivered through 2 key actions:
Increase road maintenance budget: cabinet has approved an additional £25m funding over 5 years, annual budget increase from £12m to £20m
Contract savings: project will deliver 16-20% saving on existing contract rates, nearly £20m re-invested in Surrey roads.
Discussion on CIL- Community Infrastructure Levy (replacing existing Section 106 funding) which is paid by developers to the District or Borough Council on a charge per square meter basis. A percentage of this funding will be transferred to communities which have a Neigbourhood Plan to realise the goals of that plan.
I raised the issue of the Waverley Borough Council Core Strategy which has recently been rejected by the Planning Inspector, and the implication that no CIL funding will be available to the Haslemere Vision if Waverley fail to adopt a core strategy. It was agreed that in this scenario would present a problem. Deadline for report to inspector was August 1st. Next meeting with Inspector will be 7th October 2013.
Haslemere Buzz Event
Attended the Haslemere Buzz event where the Chamber of Commerce had invited professional moderators to organise a series of workshops to brainstorm ideas for the High Street. A report will be presented back to The Chamber and working groups will manage actionable ideas.
Surrey Cycle Strategy Workshop
Cycling is a major transport issue both nationally and locally. Surrey is now seen as a cycling destination, with a post Olympic growth in both regulated (road racing, time trials and Ride London-Surrey events) and unregulated (cyclo sportive) events.
The aim of the strategy is to ensure a lasting Olympic cycling legacy and maximise the economic, health, environment and quality of life benefits of increasing cycling in Surrey.
There are main three groups of cyclists, those that take part in on road sports cycling, utility cyclists using a bike to get to work, to the shops etc, and leisure cyclists including families and children.
Meeting the needs of these different groups will clearly be a challenge for the strategy, improving road safety for cyclists is critical. While cycling participation has grown, there has also been increase in cycling casualties in Surrey.
There was an interesting discussion from a range of perspectives. Councillors representing communities (for example in the Box Hill area) which experience regular road cycle races and training events with large groups/peletons of cyclists, identified the need for improved communications with local residents where there are extensive road closures for events, as well as the need to better manage the relationship between all road users, and between cyclists and residents.
I raised the results of the Haslemere Vision consultation that has identified the need for safer cycling routes in and around Haslemere as a key priority. To date improvements for cyclists in Surrey have focussed on the main urban centres, Woking, Redhill etc. Clearly given the geography and size of Haslemere, providing better facilities for cycling will be a challenge but I do believe it should be a long term goal that everyone, adults and children can feel it is safe to cycle to school, to work and around Haslemere as others living in towns across Northern Europe currently do.
Project Horizon
Very constructive follow up meeting with Mark Borland who heads up Project Horizon to discuss Wey Hill/Hindhead Road which is not included in the original Project Horizon list of roads, despite its very poor surface condition. I have asked SCC to look into this and they are currently carrying out a technical assessment of the road to decide if the road base needs repair or whether a surface repair would be sufficient. Mark has agreed to report back to me by August 30th.
It is intended that Project Horizon schemes will work in partnership to address local congestion and road safety issues, and we agreed that all opportunities to address these issues in the Wey Hill area should be taken when the road is being resurfaced.