Weybridge Health Campus

The process of replacing the Weybridge ‘Hospital’ which was burnt down in 2017 is still grinding on. Even though the design team had submitted plans to the Local Planning Authority (EBC) in March 2023, delays meant that it wasn’t until the 4th February this year that the Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) were told that plans were about to be submitted to EBC ready for building to start in the summer of this year: http://weybridgelibdems.org.uk/2024/02/weybridge-hospital-site/

Astonishingly, just over a month later, on the 20th March, we learned that this timescale was put back yet again: NHS Property Services had decided that the Project Leader and his team, who had been working on the proposals for several years, were to be replaced. A new lead company, Wilmott Dixon, was appointed and they insisted on using their own architect to draw up a new design.

It has now taken a further eight months for the SRG to be informed last week that plans were at last ready for a formal planning application to be made. At least there now seems to be money available and the previous problem of a funding gap seems to have been closed. Let’s hope that after seven years of delays, the replacement project will now proceed to some spades in the ground!

Splash pad for Weybridge

You may have noticed that work began on the 14th October to install a new splash pad in Churchfields recreation ground to replace the paddling pool. This is set to open in spring 2025. It will includes various interactive features to promote imaginative play.

As a member of the EBC Cabinet with responsibility for Climate Change, several years ago Cllr Ashley Tilling raised with the council’s management board his concerns that the paddling pool did not meet the council’s intentions to make its operations sustainable. Every day the pool took all morning to fill with fresh water which then had to be drained each evening. Over the course of its open period during the summer holidays, this amounted to using several olympic-sized swimming pools of water. The routine also meant employing a contractor all day to conduct these operations. He therefore proposed installing a splash pad that would filter and recirculate the water to vastly reduce consumption. The cabin housing the pumps and filtering equipment will also benefit from solar panels to make it more energy efficient.

Splash pads appeal to a wider age range of children than a paddling pool and they can be operated over a longer period from May to September instead of just the school holidays.

In October 2022, the council consulted with residents to gather their views on future water play facilities in the borough. 96% of participants expressed their support for water play options. The feedback informed a new water play strategy while addressing the issues of environmental sustainability and financial prudence.

What will happen to the paddling pool in Churchfields recreation ground?

The council are exploring new play options in the current paddling pool area. These will cater for various interests and age groups and we should see the plans next spring. 

Weybridge Library

Extension and major refurbishment

We hope you were able to visit the Library for the recent public ‘drop-in’ event to view the latest plans for its major refurbishment. We were pleased to see that the revised drawings included our proposals for this to become more of a Community Hub by including a  kitchen and servery next to the activity/performance hall on the first floor which should give it greater scope for a wide variety of daytime activities and evening functions; the entrance into the ground floor extension from the car park will be moved to make it more visible and easier to use and the area in front of it will be landscaped to make it more attractive.

Planning consent was granted in December 2023 but some additional work will take place to include the changes described above. It is intended that the contract for the refurbishment work will be awarded in March, services temporarily co-located in the Community Centre in the same month, construction completed in April 2025 with fit out, handover and occupation in May 2025.

Weybridge highways improvements

Weybridge Transport Strategy: £5 million for Weybridge’s streets

A public consultation took place early last year on plans to improve the streets in Weybridge town centre to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists and to improve traffic flow at some junctions. The total cost of these improvements comes to £5 million with money coming from SCC and EBC’s Strategic CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) fund. As a result of the consultations, the proposals to close Elgin Road and Old Wharf Way to traffic were removed.

Due to the M25 junction 10 programme, which should finish by the end of this year, the programme has been divided into two phases. Phase 1 works will be less interfering to traffic and will be co-ordinated with National Highways to limit the effect of any J10 restrictions or closures. Phase 2 works will have a more significant effect on traffic flow and will be scheduled for early next year.  

We understand that Phase 1 works will include: 

  • Pavement and cycle lane improvements on the High Street between Elmgrove Road and Baker Street; 25/04/24, 1 day;
  • Improvements to Monument Hill/Baker Street priority junction; 23/04/24, 2 days;
  • Work on the Bridge Road/Old Wharf Way junction; 12/02/24, 20 days;
  • Installing a Manby Lodge School crossing (scheduled during the August school holidays). 

Phase 2 plans include improvements to the A317 Balfour Road/Church Street mini-roundabout, to the Monument Hill and Monument Green junctions, the Balfour Road/Portmore Park roundabout and the Church Street/Minorca Road junction.

Centres for the Community

During recent safety assessments of the services at Elmbridge’s Centres for the Community, some fundamental safety issues for customers and staff were identified that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. It was hoped that they would be closed for a few days but this was extended so that a reliable, consistent and safe service could be provided.

Since the Covid pandemic and through the recent cost of living crisis, there has been an increasing strain on organisations caring for people and it seems EBC’s services have been stretched very thin. The closures are needed to rectify issues which include fire safety procedures, risk identification, assessment, and mitigation processes, and safe staffing levels.

The following services have been running as usual:

  • Community Transport’s Dial-a-Ride, Hire-a-Bus and school services.
  • Meals on Wheels deliveries 7 days a week.
  • The Community Alarm service.

External groups hiring the centres were able to use them again from Tuesday 5th December. All vulnerable users have been invited to either the Walton or the Cobham Centre (both re-opened on the 11th December) where there will be a warm welcome with the option of lunch and table-top games. Those who need transport have been identified and will be helped.

If you have not been called by the council, or you know someone who should be contacted, please phone 01372 474 474

Runnymede & Weybridge MP VOTES DOWN sewage sickness compensation scheme

Our protest against dumping raw sewage

Local Liberal Democrats have slammed Dr Ben Spencer for VOTING AGAINST a compensation scheme for swimmers who get sick from sewage.

The amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, would have allowed anyone who gets sick, as a result of illegal sewage dumping, to claim compensation from water companies. However, it was voted down in the Commons this week after Conservative MPs, including Dr Ben Spencer, voted against it.

It comes despite a recent report which found a staggering 1,924 cases of people getting sick due to suspected sewage pollution over the last year, nearly triple the number of cases reported in the previous year.

Ellen Nicholson, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Runnymede & Weybridge, said:

“It’s shameful that Ben Spencer and this Conservative government have once again put water companies’ profits before people’s health.

“It is a complete slap in the face to all those in Runnymede & Weybridge who expect their MP to stand up and fight for them, instead of for massive companies who have dumped filthy sewage into our rivers and lakes.

“It is a sad state of affairs when swimmers are falling seriously sick from sewage while water company bosses trouser millions in bonuses.

“The Liberal Democrats have exposed the sewage scandal and will continue to hold these polluting firms to account even if Dr Ben Spencer refuses to.”

New flower beds at Churchfields Rec

Your local councillor team has held discussions over the last few months to improve the planting of the prominent beds at Churchfields Rec following the dying back of the annual summer bedding plants. This accords with the council’s vision for a more sustainable Elmbridge with improved biodiversity and they have now been planted with lower maintenance grasses and flowering shrubs to provide an attractive display all year round.

Our MP votes against improving GP and ambulance wait times

The Runnymede & Weybridge Conservative MP, a qualified doctor, has been criticised after voting against a Liberal Democrat amendment which would have committed the government to improving GP and ambulance wait times.

The amendment also called on the government to build the 40 new hospitals that had been promised and bring in measures to address the crises in the NHS and social care.

The Liberal Democrats have set out a clear plan to fix local health services, including giving people the right to see a GP in a week or 24 hours if in urgent need. 

Ellen Nicholson the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for  Runnymede & Weybridge said: 

“Dr. Ben Spencer has shown a callous disregard for patients waiting in pain. As a medical professional himself, this is deeply concerning. Runnymede & Weybridge deserve local health services that provide the care people need, instead of being forced to wait for weeks on end for a GP appointment or hours for an ambulance to arrive. They also deserve an MP that will be a strong local champion and stand up for our health services.

“This Conservative government has run our NHS into the ground. Communities like ours have been taken for granted for far too long. Voters know that with the Liberal Democrats they will get much better, just as they deserve to.”

Large numbers enjoy expanded Weybridge Festival

2023 was the year of our new King and for Weybridge, a new festival. The week long programme started with a dinner catered and served by Brooklands College students and finished with the Community Fair on the 24th June. An exhibition by local artists, photographers and sculptors spanned the halls and walls of the library and Oatlands Park Hotel; concerts and plays, restaurant and cafe lunches and dinners, literary and art talks and a quiz, were enjoyed by many all over the town.

Over one hundred stalls, two stages hosting local choirs and soloists, a beer tent run by Weybridge Vandals and the best cream teas hosted by the Soroptimists and the local Ukrainian population in the Community Centre, all came together at the Community Fair based on Churchfields Recreation ground.

Councillor Judy Sarsby, who worked with the Weybridge Society to organise the Festival, said “an estimated 8000 attended these events and to see churches, schools, sports clubs and local organisations supporting each other was truly inspiring. We are very lucky to live in such a giving community.”

Our MP visits Weybridge Rowing Club

Our local MP, Dr Ben Spencer, accepted an invitation to row at Weybridge Rowing Club on the 6th June. A former college rower (he’s in the blue t-shirt in the middle of the boat), he was accompanied by Cllr Judy Sarsby, a member of the rowing club, as he rowed around Desborough Island in an eight. It was a good opportunity to point out some of the problems experienced by river users, including the illegally moored boats along the Desborough Cut, which a few weeks earlier had again caused the cancellation of the much-loved Weybridge Ladies Regatta, and sewage discharges by the water companies. He was talked through the key location for the future flood-relief channel into the Thames (the River Thames Scheme) and where the ‘Row Paddle Run’ charity event takes place to raise money for The Grâce Dear Trust for young people’s mental health. He experienced a busy morning of residents using the river for sport and pleasure.