The next Waverley Local Area Committee meeting will be held in Haslemere Hall on Friday, 20 March 2015 1.30 pm
The agenda for this meeting is now published online at: http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=195&MId=3555&Ver=4
The next Waverley Local Area Committee meeting will be held in Haslemere Hall on Friday, 20 March 2015 1.30 pm
The agenda for this meeting is now published online at: http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=195&MId=3555&Ver=4
SURREY NEWS
Free NHS Health Checks available in Surrey
Nationally, the NHS Health Check is expected to save 650 lives, prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes and stop 4,000 people developing diabetes. Residents aged 40-74 who have not had a stroke or been diagnosed with heart disease, kidney disease or diabetes could be eligible for a check at participating venues throughout Surrey. It will help them identify the warning signs of these conditions and their risk of developing them. This means early action can be taken to prevent them. The check is quick, easy and free. Residents are encouraged to visit www.healthysurrey.org.uk/healthchecks to find out if you’re eligible and where you can have an NHS Health Check.
Are you looking after someone but juggling too much?
Across Surrey there are people who spend much of their time juggling a career and running their home, whilst carrying out caring duties. Often referred to as a sandwich carer, they provide unpaid care mainly for an older or frail parent or relative, whilst helping care for other family members; grandchildren for instance. For the next fortnight we’re encouraging residents who look after someone else to visit the Surrey Information Point website, where they can find out what support and information is available. Surrey County Council will also be encouraging these unpaid carers to tell their GP about their caring role.
Please see my latest update of activities in the community since the New Year.
LOCAL MEETINGS
Haslemere Youth Campus
Attended Haslemere Town Council (HTC) meeting (15th January) where a large number of representatives from user groups of the Youth Campus in Wey Hill, including many brownies and scouts, staged a demonstration asking for HTC’s support to remain at the site and to be given a long lease so that they can invest in improvements. Local scout leader Paul Buckler then gave a short presentation outlining their plans. This is the open letter and annexe that were sent to Waverley Borough Councillors by the youth campus stakeholders.
Haslemere Train Station
Very positive meeting with SWT and SCC passenger transport (19th January) the long-term outcome of which will hopefully work towards a more integrated transport strategy.
Issues discussed included SWT/SCC plans for Haslemere train station forecourt reconfiguration to prioritise buses, pedestrian and cycle access- I raised my concerns that the planned changes must be integrated with associated highways improvements on Lower Street, that adequate public information must be given before the works are carried out as they will impact on the current parking in the station forecourt and that although a positive step to promote buses, the current SCC passenger transport review may in fact modify local bus services.
It was agreed that a station travel plan is needed in order to develop a more holistic transport strategy going forward. SCC is currently working in partnership with SWT to draw up a package of travel plans for a number of Surrey train stations – I have requested that Haslemere is prioritised.
The request that Haslemere Visitor Information Centre should have a greater presence at the station was positively received by SWT – I am currently following up on this. The general need for improved signage at the station, including real time bus information, was discussed and should be introduced as part of the forecourt reconfiguration. A bid has been made for funding for a ‘Cycle hub’ for 100 bikes at the station – news on this later in March.
SWT: an additional 18 cycle parking spaces at the station are currently being installed.
Haslemere Conservation Area
Attended Haslemere Conservation Area Review meeting (on 29th January) at Haslemere Town Council. See here for more information about Haslemere’s town centre conservation area.
Haslemere Vision
Attended Haslemere Vision housing workshop (31st January). Once written up, the minutes will be here.
Undershaw/Stepping Stones School
Attended Undershaw planning meeting (4th February) and gave strong support for the planning application on education grounds (my letter to The Herald is here). Very pleased it was approved by Waverley Southern Planning Committee, the final decision is currently with the Secretary of State.
Local Highways Issues
Road safety continues to be an issue in several areas, meetings with residents and SCC highways:
Parking issues:
Other local works:
Waverley Local Area Committee funded Highways Improvement Schemes
Other local matters
Attended a meeting with Haslemere Town Council and Surrey Waste Management to discuss the planned removal of the Saturday waste removal service. (Haslemere Dustcart Briefing Note)
Continuing to attend social service/education review meetings for a family with adopted children who are not currently getting the help they need.
To continue to put Haslemere First, always looking to improve the way local councillors work together. Made request to Haslemere Town Council suggesting ways of working more cooperatively and collaboratively by increasing councillor use of social media, joint councillor surgeries and posting recordings of meetings.
Community Pride Fund 2014-15
I have used these funds to provide a new grit bin for Scotlands Close, bike racks at Haslewey and to fund a week of a SCC vegetation gang.
County Councillor Members’ Allocation 2014-2015
Here is a summary of my members’ allocation awards:
Logs for Labour scheme
Environment and Transport Select Committee
Attended E & T Select Committee meeting (agenda here) (on 22nd January). Raised a question concerning the large number of highways projects where matched funding is required, concerned that this will negatively impact on Local Area Committee funding; however, Cabinet Member John Furey assured me it would not.
Met Cabinet Member for Transport and Surrey Communications Strategy team (22nd January) to discuss what lessons could be learned from the recent A286 example of poor communication. Very useful, resulted in the planned development of a county wide protocol including the use of social media, local radio and the Member for Transport. Used social media (Facebook and Twitter) to share daily updates for the A286 roadworks and thanks to everyone who shared the information.
SCC Highways
Organised a meeting (26th January) with Living Streets, representatives from Haslemere Vision and SCC Highways Sustainability team. We discussed the options for a street audit to help create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets in the town. I’ll write a separate update about this in the coming weeks.
Residents Association/Independent Group
Attended Independent Group meeting (3rd February) to discuss the council’s budget, which due to a further reduction in central Govt grant will result in cuts to local services. Despite this, SCC cabinet members have recently been awarded significant pay increases. One of the Independents told the BBC here:
Councillor Eber Kington, from the Residents’ Association, said: “This council will not look at ways of saving money on the cost of running itself.”
Meetings of Waverley Youth Task Group (9th & 11th February) awarding contracts for Youth Local Prevention Framework (1 to 1, and community outreach contracts). The priority of the framework is to build the resilience of young people and to remove identified barriers to their future employability as part of Surrey’s early help arrangements. For more information on youth services on offer in Waverley: www.new.surreycc.gov.uk- search: “young surrey”.
Waverley Local Area Committee
Last Minutes from LAC meeting here. Next meeting will be on 20th March in Haslemere Hall and you can view the agenda here once it is ready. Please note the Waverley Local Area Committee is on Twitter, @WaverleyLC.
OTHER UPDATES
Surrey PCC Kevin Hurley commissioned YouGov plc to carry out independent research of Surrey people over a series of months to understand public sentiment towards the referendum. The questions asked and the corresponding results are here.
Notice of Surrey Community Action Funders’ Fair on 17th March – Funding Fair Invitation
“Are you looking after someone but juggling too much? The council is launching a fortnight long campaign, on Monday 2nd March to signpost people whose lives are squeezed by caring duties to information and support. It will also encourage them to talk to their GP about their caring role. Across Surrey there are people who spend much of their time juggling a career and running their home, while carrying out caring duties. Often referred to as “sandwich carers”, they will be providing unpaid care, mainly for an older or frail parent or relative, while also helping care for other family members, such as grandchildren. Such a caring commitment can put people under considerable stress, affecting their health and wellbeing.” Also see Hidden Carers here.
The Care Act is the biggest change to English adult social care law in over 60 years. Surrey County Council has a page here intended to help you understand the Act and how the council is responding in Surrey.
YHA Hindhead ceases to be a youth hostel on 31st March this year as the lease has expired and it is going back to the National Trust. YHA Tanners Hatch is also available for Exclusive Hire, group bookings and individual/family bookings. The Youth Hostel is in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to Dorking. For further details please see http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/tanners-hatch and http://exclusive-hire.yha.org.uk/properties/england/yha-tanners-hatch
For information, I advise of some impending utility works on Wey Hill, Haslemere. The works will be at the junction of St Christopher’s Road. The works are using two way temporary signals.
These works are being carried out by Thames Water and are to install new water services.
Due to the significance of this location, we have requested the works to take place in the school half term between Monday 16th February 2015 to Friday 20th February 2015.
Local Committee (Waverley) 12 December 2014: minutes
Please note that the minutes of this meeting are now available on line at:
Here is an update of a few activities from recent weeks. I will write a more formal summary of my Surrey County Councillor update for the Haslemere Town Council full council meeting on January 15th 2015.
I attended the unveiling of the WW1 commemoration mural on Wey Hill organised by Ken Griffiths and displaying artwork from Woolmer Hill, Bohunt and Rodborough Schools.
I also attended the centenary party for St John Ambulance, Haslemere. We are so fortunate in Haslemere to have these amazing volunteers serving our community.
Placed a Surrey County Council wreath in honour of those who lost their lives in the wars during Haslemere’s Remembrance Service.
Attended the town Christmas carol service at the fire station.
Picture from the Haslemere Town Crier’s Twitter page
A few other items:
Sculptor Jon Edgar is involved in a proposal to build a community sculpture for Haslemere in Wey Hill. Please take a look at Jon’s website to read more about it and to have your say: https://haslemeresculpture.wordpress.com/about/
My Surrey County Councillor representation to Waverley Borough Council regarding the Undershaw planning application is here: Cllr Barton response to WA20141655 for Undershaw at Hindhead.
Letter from Police Commissioner re lack of fudning for local police funding- Letter from Surrey PCC.
In my last blog post of 2014, may I wish you all a festive and peaceful Christmas. I will be with my family in Haslemere.
Woolmer Hill’s Christmas tree outside Haslewey
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in 2014 and I look forward to working together for Haslemere in 2015.
I have a lot of papers to read this week:
The agenda for the meeting of Surrey County Council on 9 December 2014 is available via this link http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=121&MId=3682&Ver=4 …
The agenda for the Waverley Local Area Committee meeting on Friday, 12 December 2014 1.30 pm is here: http://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=195&MId=3554&Ver=4 … The meeting includes a petition from a Haslemere resident:
On 24 January 2014 a speed check was carried out by Surrey Police in Shepherds Hill, Haslemere, Surrey. According to data collected over 70% of vehicles were speeding, with some speeds reaching 59mph. We, the residents of Haslemere, petition Surrey County Council to look at introducing Siemen SafeZone in Haslemere to promote safer roads and reduce casualties in Haslemere. SafeZone combines Siemens’ new Sicore Automatic License Plate Recognition camera. The systems reduce serious accidents by 77% on average. There is a high level of driver compliance (99.4%). The camera has a compact design to reduce street impact. A single camera is used for two lane bi-directional traffic which reduces the project cost. The branding and technology enable a community-based approach to enforcement. Siemen SafeZone is a scheme whereby the goal is to construct an individual and ideally self-financing solution based upon locally retained funds arising from Driver Awareness course participation.
My Surrey County Concillor Update for Haslemere Town Council Full Council Meeting 20th November 2014, Item 5.
Wrote update for A286 and A287 road repairs from last week. It was not intended to have an overlap of the 2 roads but due to bad weather, gulley cleaning and maintenance, plus equipment breakdowns, the A286 repair has been delayed by a week. Pleased that the improved communications strategy is proving effective, following review with highways team. Also, please note full repair of Derby Road East.
Attended Haslemere & Western Villages Task Group, 3rd November 2014. The priorities for Haslemere are listed below. The priorities from the four area task groups (Haslemere, Farnham, Godalming, Cranleigh) are considered jointly by the four chairmen of the same who then recommend a programme to the local committee meeting in December. The bids from the four areas always exceed the available budget so there is no guarantee schemes prioritised at a local level will make it through to the programme.
Haslemere dustcart discontinuation proposal. See attached: Haslemere Dustcart Briefing Note
Made representation regarding Stepping Stones planning application for Undershaw. See attached: Cllr Barton response to WA20141655 for Undershaw at Hindhead
In contact with YHA’s Chief Executive to discuss closure on 31st March 2015 of YHA youth hostel in the Devil’s Punchbowl. Very sorry to see this hostel closing, especially in light of recent opening up of the vast National Trust area around the Devils Punhcbowl. See below comment to Haslemere Herald:
The closure of this youth hostel, tucked away deep in the heart of the Devil’s Punch Bowl will be a real loss to walkers and visitors to the area. While I appreciate that the YHA have decided to focus resources on the Tanners Hatch hostel near Dorking (over 30 miles from Hindhead) as their access to the Surrey Hills, this strategy appears to overlook the huge increase in visitors to the enlarged Punch Bowl area since the Hindhead Tunnel opened.
Attended Waverley Youth Task Group meeting. Updates from Guildford YMCA and Surrey Care Trust on Local Prevention Framework work (Sept 2013 – Aug 2014)
Other Items
Had pocket park discussion (jn Shepherds Hill & Lower Street) with town council and Haslemere Society
Yellow lining to arrive early 2015. Team is making its ways around Waverley towns. Next Waverley parking review is at LAC March 2015. Requests to parking@surreycc.gov.uk by end of year.
Community Enhancement Fund (£5K per annum) for Highways issues spent on new grit bin, veg gang, bike racks at Haslewey (to be installed by end Q1 2015)
Met Highways team to discuss cycle/walking network. Agreed to plan a street audit of Haslemere town centre as 1st step.
Have requested (in meeting with town council) better collaboration between all three tiers of local government.
Of General Interest
The Highways Agency are currently undertaking a feasibility study of the A3 Guildford Bypass with the aim of identifying potential improvements to the road network which could be implemented within the next five to ten years. A computerised traffic model will be developed, which will require the accurate capture of journey and traffic data, in order to accurately test any options.
A reminder of Passenger Transport Survey: https://www.surreysays.co.uk/e-i-directorate-programme-group/local-transport-review
Christmas meal at Haslewey on 25th December for anyone who may be alone at Christmas. Transport can be provided. Please kindly share this information. Contact hclorganiser@gmail.com
Two important updates relating to road repairs.
A286 Road Re-Surfacing
Further to the ongoing Project 400 carriageway resurfacing scheme at the A286 Haslemere /Grayswood Road, please be advised that major issues with the existing surface water drainage and gully cleansing maintenance progress have meant slow progress during the recent heavy rains. This repair scheme has now overrun and as such will now continue for at least another week up to the 21st November 2014.
A287 Hindhead Road Re-Surfacing
The scheme is due to commence on the 17th November and completion is projected as 4th December, weather permitting. Working hours are 20.00 to 06.00 except 4th Dec when a revised start time of 21.00hrs will be in place (to help with the Haslemere shopping night – click on poster below and please help to support all our local businesses).
Limits are the junction of Polecat Hill in the North (including the section across the junction) and the Jn Lion Lane. The works teams will isolate the section across the junction with Polecat Hill so that it can be worked on and then the closure can be moved forwards, which will allow the junction to be re-opened.
There will be ‘Gatemen’ stationed at either end of the closure. Armed with ‘Walkie Talkies’ they will be in direct contact with each other and the workforce and will be able to direct any residents living off of the closed section of road so that they can be informed as to whether they can access their residence through the works at that point or if they need to follow the diversion round (or any other suitable way they may know) and gain access via the other end of the closure. VMS signs are in place and signs and letter drops have taken place.
And finally…
Derby Road East outside St Bartholomew’s Primary School has now been repaired. The council has appreciated the e-mails and tweets with thanks from The Headteacher at St. Bartholomew’s, the Derby Road and Weydown Road Residents’ Association and town residents.
NOTICE
SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL
(A287) STURT ROAD, HASLEMERE
TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC ORDER 2014
SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL PROPOSE TO MAKE the above mentioned Temporary Order (“this Order”) under Section 14(1) to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (“the Act”), the effect of which will be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from entering or proceeding in that length of (A287) Sturt Road, Haslemere, between its junction with (B2131) Liphook Road and its junction with the access road used to enter The Herons Swimming and Fitness Centre, a distance of 175 metres.
This Order is required to enable Network Rail to replace damaged warning chevrons at the railway bridge. These works are anticipated to be carried out over three nights between the hours of 21.30hrs and 05.30hrs from the 3rd November 2014 within the two-week period of operation of this Order that commences on 3rd November 2014. Advanced warning signs will be displayed and the temporary closure will only operate when the relevant traffic signs are displayed. Access will be maintained for pedestrians. No access to any property will be affected. Access will be maintained for emergency vehicles via the signed diversion route.
Vehicular traffic will be diverted via Sturt Road, Midhurst Road, Shepherds Hill, Lower Street, Wey Hill, Lion Green, Junction Place and Liphook Road.
Authorising Officer: R Bolton
Local Highway Services Group Manager
Any Enquiries relating to this notice should be directed to:
Traffic Regulation Orders Team
Surrey County Council – Highways
Hazel House
Merrow Lane
Guildford
Surrey GU4 7BQ
Tel: 0300 200 1003