River Thames Scheme animation

The River Thames Scheme (RTS) has produced a new animation to provide a straightforward summary of how the project will protect against flooding.

Entitled “How a Flood Channel Works” the video explains how the proposed new river channel and associated weir improvements will work by making the comparison with a road bypass and junction upgrades.

The RTS covers an area from Egham in Surrey to Teddington in Greater London and includes a new flood channel, built in two sections, that will reduce the risk of flooding to homes, businesses and infrastructure. The easterly section will meet the Thames opposite Elmbridge Canoe Club in Weybridge.

The scheme will also provide habitat for wildlife and a new feature in the landscape for recreation, including on Desborough Island. Footpaths and cycleways will run along the channel and through the new public spaces, linking different landscape elements with communities and providing better connections within and across the area.

The project is being delivered in partnership between the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council.

Find out more about the River Thames Scheme.

FACTCHECK: misinformation through your door

It’s one thing to engage in political debate, but parties should tell the truth!

You may have received Conservative party leaflets through your door with some statements and pledges. Let’s look at each of them in turn.

  1. “Collect ALL our bins”: waste services suffered from the nationwide HGV driver shortage. So that the priority collections of general waste, food and recycling could continue, garden waste was suspended. However, several collections were arranged over the last few months and, by working constructively with the contractor, Amey, and the other three councils in the joint waste management partnership, normal fortnightly collections will resume on 2 May.
  2. “Protect our Green Belt from the Liberal Democrats”: the Tories have continuously claimed that we are planning to build on the Green Belt – this is nonsense! Tory central government imposed a requirement for a Local Plan that built 647 homes a year for the next fifteen years. We resisted this and have just passed a Local Plan that challenges that figure by proposing 465 homes a year with no building on any Green Belt.
  3. “Free parking to boost local business”: parking charges are one of the few ways the Council can raise money without increasing Council Tax and compensates for the decrease in government funding to our council of 60% over the last twelve years. Free parking would necessitate a rise in council tax or a cut in vital services.
  4. “Electric vehicle charging points and help the environment”: some are already installed and more are planned for the current year, including in Churchfields car park, the Civic Centre and Drewitts Court in Walton..
  5. “Safer roads and communities for our children”: this is a Surrey County Council responsibility. SCC LibDems recently proposed introducing 20mph zones, particularly where there are schools, but the Tory-controlled council rejected this.
  6. “Better value for money and stop endless Lib Dem council tax rises”: the Conservatives have run Elmbridge for 9 of the last 14 years, so this is a fiction. The latest 2.2% rise in Elmbridge’s element approved by the LibDem/Resident administration contrasts with the 5% rise in Tory controlled Surrey’s element. As Elmbridge’s element is 11% of council tax, this is  an increase of £5 for a Band D property compared to an increase of over £80 for the 75% share that goes to SCC.

Oatlands Drive Crossing

Judy writes:

A friend with four boys at St James’ School expressed her concern about crossing with her children over Oatlands Drive when coming out of the path that runs from Grotto Road. Many parents with children have to cross this busy main road to reach the recreation ground or on their route to and from school. 

Grotto Road leads up the hill, from Thames Street, past St James’ School into an unusual traffic-free ‘green lane’ to Oatlands Drive. Unfortunately this lane is frequently overgrown and the path is narrow and obstructed by trees. Your ward councillors, Ashley and Vicki, asked Surrey County Council to draw up a scheme to install an improved and safer path for walkers and cyclists. Delayed by the pandemic, they have ensured it will come before the next council committee at which they hope it will secure funding approval.

Linking to this scheme, and to secure a much safer route to two of our schools (St James’ and St George’s Junior Schools), we are campaigning for a crossing on the busy stretch of Oatlands Drive close to where the ‘green lane’ meets the road.

Councillor Vicki McLeod recently took the opportunity to raise the issue with the leader of Surrey County Council. It has been confirmed that this will be considered as this area is under review, so hopefully we will be able to further enhance the safety of our Weybridge roads. We will continue to monitor the attention given to this issue by the council and trust that all families crossing at this point remain safe until a proper crossing is installed.  

 

The future of Weybridge town centre

In July 2017 Weybridge Hospital was burnt to the ground.  The hospital accomodated the two Weybridge General Practices, a “Walk-in” Centre and other services like physiotherapy. NHS Property Services acted quickly to provide a high quality temporary replacement building.  Work was already underway on considering the scope of a new building.  At the same time the NHS was considering the question of what kinds of primary care services should be provided across Surrey.  Councillor Vicki Macleod has been working hard, on behalf of local residents, to provide quality input into these plans, and brings us all up to date below.  

New optimism
After nearly three years of waiting to hear how GP and core NHS primary services were to be reprovisioned in Weybridge, there is finally a great step forward and optimism that concrete plans will start to emerge.

Why has it taken so long?
Two key reasons it has taken this long are:

  • the national changes brought in by the NHS on the future of urgent treatment services and lengthy NHS project timelines 
  • the renewal or refurbishment of Weybridge Library.  

Given the location of the sites involved – opposite each other in the town centre – and the idea of a community hub, proposed by the Weybridge Society, all the authorities involved seized this as an opportunity to do something bold and imaginative with the sites and the way in which health and community services interconnect.  Previously these were all located in different buildings on different town centre sites.  In the future there will be mixed provision.  

What sites are involved?
The key sites are what is referred to as ‘the Hospital site’ on one side of Church Street and the Library site across the road.  However, current thinking has expanded into considering the wider area in which these are located and now included are Churchfields car park, the former Sure Start Centre and the Centre for the Community on Churchfield Road.  

The current situation is that three separate authorities – NHS Property Services, Surrey County Council and Elmbridge Borough Council are the owners of the sites. The tradition is that they each use their sites for their own services and they rent those parts of the site they don’t occupy.  This has tended not to happen in a planned way in pursuit of joint goals.  A key difference in the current approach is to think strategically about the best place for services to be located and how to make co-location work to the benefit of all.  Included in this thinking is how to make the most of the wonderful green spaces we have in central Weybridge and how to protect and enhance the town centre iconic heritage sites of St James Parish Church and the Old Rectory.

What services will there be?
Clearly, core NHS Primary Care services will be provided, including GP surgeries and treatment rooms.  The local Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) (replacement for the North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group) are aware that they must use the need for reprovisioning primary care services after the devastating fire as an opportunity to get things right in Weybridge.  The new campus will also house the Library; space for the Centre for the Community services to elderly residents and other users such as Dementia groups and the Stroke group; youth services; possibly co-working space; possibly accommodation and space for commercial use – with the hope that social entrepreneurs will want to base themselves in central Weybridge.

Who is involved in bringing this about?
SCC and the ICP have engaged an organisation with a strong track record in community projects – Well North Enterprises, led by Lord Andrew Mawson – to lead in the early stages and help get the project off the ground.  Naturally there are representatives from key services and authorities, and alongside these, there are community activists, including the Weybridge Society and local borough councillors.  Currently the structure for taking the project forward involves a Strategic Board / Steering Group plus two task groups – one responsible for communication and making input to the design and configuration of services and spaces, the other responsible for the business case and operational aspects of the project.  Lesia Scholey of the Weybridge Society has been appointed as Project Champion and is leading on communication and community engagement.

When can we expect to hear more?
A public engagement event is planned for early February.  The project team are very clear that they  want to hear from people who would like  to get actively involved and who have energy and commitment to offer.  There is no shortage of ideas but the project will only meet its true aim of building a happier, healthier, better connected community if it engages the energy of those with the will to dig in and work.  Are you up for this? Do you want to bring about a better future for Weybridge?  If so, please get in touch at weybridge@elmbridgelibdems.org.uk

There is also a full description of the project in the Autumn/Spring edition of the of the Weybridge Society Newsletter which will be distributed soon to all households in Weybridge, or can be accessed here (https://www.weybridgesociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Magazine-Autumn-Winter-2020-min.pdf).  

The project is still in search of a name.  Some suggestions are:
#WellBeingWeybridge   #WayBetterWeybridge   #ReviveWeybridge   #RenewWeybridge  Please let Lesia know your thoughts, preferences and ideas by emailing her at: hubfeedback@weybridgesociety.org.uk

 

Surrey’s Parking Proposals for Weybridge

Surrey’s two-yearly parking review proposal for Weybridge is planned to be advertised this August. We’ll send out another notice when we get the date. Apart from a minor permit change in one scheme, all the proposals bar one is recommended because of safety.  The exception is the proposal for Wey Road which some people say is a solution looking for a problem.

When the proposals are advertised you will be able to offer your comments, objections or support for any of the schemes.  You do not have to live in the street concerned.  The Weybridge streets with changes are:

Anderson Road. Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive

Barham Close

Castle Road

Cedar Grove

Churchill Drive

Cross Road.  Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive

Drynham Park

Egerton Road

Fortescue Road

Kemble Close

Oatlands Chase

Oatlands Drive

Park Lawn Road.  The restrictions being “revocated” (zigzag lines on the map) which are “No parking for certain periods” are being replaced by “No parking at any time”.

Parkway

Pennington Drive

Radnor Road

Ronneby Close

Rosslyn Park

Round Oak Road – see Wey Road

Rylands Place

St George’s Avenue

St Mary’s Road

The Paddocks


Vale Court. Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive

Vale Road

Wey Road

The history.

The parking engineers do not believe that comprehensive parking controls are required for Wey Road and Round Oak Road.

The reason is quite simple, parking controls are introduced to meet concerns about the four main criteria:

  • Safety
  • Access
  • Congestion
  • Parking stress

Even a casual observer would recognise that Wey Road in does not fall into any of these criteria (except at the entrances which were dealt with already).

However, a petition was submitted by Michael O’Sullivan of Wey Road to the
5 December 2019 committee:

Expand further, as part of its 2019/20 Elmbridge Parking Review, the existing Controlled Parking Zone presently covering Elmgrove Road and Oakdale Road in Weybridge (and soon also to encompass Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road) to include Wey Road and Round Oak Road. 

The petition raised 64 signatures.  Surrey does not verify the petitioners’ location.

Surrey parking professionals replied.

The existing parking scheme in Elmgrove Road and Oakdale Road, which will also be introduced shortly in Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road is not technically a controlled parking zone, but a resident permit parking scheme. It is the county council’s policy to introduce resident permit parking controls in roads where residents with insufficient off street parking face undue competition from non-residents for the existing on-street parking space, which is the case in these four roads, but is not the case in Wey Road and Round Oak Road. Therefore to extend the scheme would not be appropriate. In the additional details supplied by the petition creator, there is a suggestion of introducing some sort of short stay parking in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, although the details are not clear. However it is generally considered that the type of parking most lacking in Weybridge is free long term parking (for employees working in local businesses and shops, for example), not short stay parking, of which plenty is already provided for free on the High Street and in other surrounding roads, as well as the various off street car parks in the town. So it is not necessary to introduce more short term parking in these two roads.

The possibility of introducing new parking controls or restrictions in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, and in other roads in the area, or changing existing controls, may be considered as part of the next parking review. This will provide sufficient time to allow for the new parking controls in Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road to be implemented, and for the impacts of them to be assessed, before making any decisions about the introduction of any more parking controls in the area.

In response Mike O’Sullivan told the Surrey Local Committee that between 750 and 1000 commuter vehicles park in Weybridge each year  The town needs long stay parking, but not at the expense of short term parking and inconvenience for residents.  He is not requesting a resident only parking scheme and wants to make space available for short term parking for those wanting to access the town for shopping or business.

Mike O’Sullivan’s estimate of how many commuters arrive in the town centre might even be an underestimate but as many residents drive outside of Weybridge in the morning.  The net requirement could be negative.  Initial surveys suggest that for all we know more people could leave central Weybridge than enter).

Committee Decision
The Surrey Local Committee decided that the Parking Strategy and Implementation Manager to consider and agree the details of parking restrictions in Wey Road and Round Oak Road to be added to the 2019/20 parking review, in consultation with the divisional member and Local Committee Chairman.

Professionals‘ proposal
As the committee asked the parking professionals to come up with a special scheme they naturally did so.

Introduce a controlled parking zone covering Wey Road and Round Oak Road, operating Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm. Introduce DYLs (No Waiting At Any Time) and singe yellow lines and double yellow lines to prevent obstructive parking. Introduce parking bays – ‘Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm permit holders or 3hrs no return to zone’ ~ 27 spaces. This will allow permit holders (i.e. residents) to park in these bays for an unlimited amount of time, and anyone else to park for up to three hours for free. Introduce parking bays – ‘Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm 3hrs or pay by phone for longer stay’ ~ 63 spaces. This will allow anyone to park for up to three hours for free or pay a small fee to stay for longer, with a tariff of 50p/hr for the paid for period. An administration fee of 19p would apply to each transaction.

Road marking and signs
The controlled parking zone would require signs at the entry and exit points, and the parking bays would require upright signing. Key permit eligibility details (full details are listed in the draft TRO):

  • Residents eligible to apply for all permit types are those occupying any residential address in Wey Road or Round Oak Road.
  • The cost for a resident permit is £50pa for the first permit, and £75pa for any subsequent permits issued.
  • The maximum number of resident permits issuable per place of abode is calculated by the number of vehicles registered to the property minus the number of off street spaces at the property.
  • The maximum number of resident visitor permits issuable per place of abode per year is 120, at a cost of £2 per permit. Each permit lasts all day and is specific to the registration number of a visitor’s vehicle.
  • Permit types available within this scheme are residents, visitors, carers and operational.
  • There are no business permits.

Only one Weybridge Riverside councillors was permitted to speak.  Cllr Ashley Tilling made a good speech but only a couple of other councillors raised concerns and those demonstrated their lack of understand the parking controls implementation process.

After a final roundup by Cllr Tim Oliver the committee decided the following.

That the Local Committee (Elmbridge) agreed that:

  1. The county council’s intention to introduce the proposal shown in Annex 1 (map above) is formally advertised, and subject to statutory consultation.
  2. If objections are received the Parking Strategy and Implementation Team Manager is authorised to try and resolve them;

iii. If any objections cannot be resolved, the Parking Strategy and Implementation Team Manager, in consultation with the Chairman/Vice Chairman of this committee and the county councillor for the division, decides whether or not they should be acceded to and therefore whether the order should be made, with or without modifications.

Reasons: To better manage parking demand in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, so as to improve access for short term parking for visitors to the Weybridge area, whilst maintaining parking as needed by residents and their visitors.