New Mayor launches his Charity Appeal

Posted on by
Reply

Following his election as Mayor of Elmbridge at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Wednesday 19 May, Councillor Tony Popham held his charity launch via Zoom on Thursday 20 May. Councillor Tony Popham has chosen to support The Grace Dear Trust for his Mayoral term of office.

Judy Sarsby writes:

In a year like no other, when so many are struggling to stay positive, it was encouraging to hear that the new Mayor has chosen a charity that reflects the needs of the young people of the borough struggling with mental health. The Grace Dear Trust is a powerful and active mental health charity set up in the memory of a sister and daughter, Grace, lost to suicide in February 2017 aged just 27. Grace had been suffering with depression and anxiety from the age of 13. The aim of Grace’s father, Graham, and sister, Hope, is to help save the lives of other young people suffering with mental health issues. Mental health is still seriously underfunded and requires more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Their slogan “it’s ok not to be ok” communicates the message that we can all have feelings of depression, but that we can reach out so that we do not have to suffer alone as there is help available. Many young people struggle to understand their own feelings and don’t know how to talk about them; this can lead to them suffering in silence without seeking the help they need. The charity supported by the Mayor, who lives in Hersham and has a teenage daughter, raises money to deliver presentations to schools and organisations on the importance of good mental health. The charity partners with local schools and clubs, providing mental health training courses and sets up strategies to support club members and pupils. They have embraced the pairing of sport with good mental health and also set up a young persons’ theatre project where they talk about their feelings through creative and performing arts. The Grace Dear Trust is certainly an appropriate cause in a year when showing empathy, listening and community spirit are of optimum importance to the young.

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline

Local Election Results May 2021

Posted on by
Reply

There were no seismic shifts in the political representation in Elmbridge, but a number of long-serving councillors stood down making way for some new faces. In the Weybridge area we welcome Judy Sarsby as the new councillor for Weybridge Riverside and Ananya Banerjee for the Oatlands & Burwood Park ward. Peter Harman was re-elected in Weybridge St George’s Hills.

The LibDem council group elected a new leader, Bruce McDonald, newly elected in Claygate, and Deputy Leader, Mike Rollings. Read here about the new members of the administration for the Borough.

Tim Oliver continues to represent the Weybridge division in the County Council. However, you may have read about some crumbling of the ‘blue wall’ in the south east, part of which was the Lib Dems gaining 5 seats on Surrey County Council, resulting in the largest Lib Dem Group at County Hall since 1997. The Lib Dems now have 14 County Councillors in Surrey: 5 from Guildford, 4 from Waverley, 2 from Mole Valley, 2 from Woking and 1 from Tandridge. The party narrowly missed out on winning a further 5 seats by 173 votes or less. Read here about the Group’s new leader.

Overall, the Conservatives lost 14 seats in this Surrey County Council election, leaving them with 47 of the 81 seats on the Council.

Here are the Weybridge and Oatlands results in both Elmbridge Borough and Surrey County elections:

Oatlands Drive Crossing

Posted on by
Reply

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.  

 

Desborough Island

Posted on by
1

Our campaign to tidy up Desborough Island

As a keen rower with Weybridge Rowing Club, Weybridge Riverside candidate, Judy Sarsby, has noticed the increasing amount of rubbish being casually strewn around Desborough Island, some of it from fly-tippers. And so she set about forming an enthusiastic group of volunteers who meet every week to tidy up this lovely Weybridge open space. Everyone is welcome to join by getting in touch with Judy.

As summer begins and lockdown recedes, families, sports enthusiasts, walkers and picnickers venture onto the island to enjoy the peace and quiet, the fresh air and the flora and fauna. It appears that the example set by the litter-pickers has encouraged others to take their rubbish home, or at least to the bins at the entry to the island. On recent outings much less litter has been found on the green spaces, though there is still some fly-tipping.

Surrey County Council have recently announced that they will continue to help with funding of the Environment Agency’s scheme for a lower Thames flood relief channel from Staines to Shepperton. An exciting part of the plans include the formation of a wetland habitat on Desborough Island and improvements to access through forming an interconnected route along the channel for walkers and cyclists. 

We would welcome your ideas on the future of Desborough Island via our comments section below.

 

Helping our High Street

Posted on by
Reply

There has been a significant impact on local businesses over the last year due to closures imposed under covid-19 lockdown rules. This has accelerated an existing trend away from high street shopping to on-line purchasing (32.5% of sales are now on-line). Weybridge has 25 empty retail units and both Santander and Barclays banks have recently announced that they are closing their Weybridge branches.

Elmbridge Borough Council has been administering grants to businesses to cover the time they have been mandated to close. Discretionary grants have been paid to those not mandated to close but who have suffered a large downturn in trade and up to £9000 one-off payments were given in January to retail, leisure and hospitality businesses forced to close in the third lockdown. 

The government’s Budget continued both the furlough scheme and the reduced rate of VAT  for tourism and hospitality businesses until September, while extending the business rates holiday for three months.

As we emerge slowly from lockdown constraints, the Council will be looking to further support businesses from its own funds. £2000 per business will be available to improve shopfronts and signage and £1000 to support improved footfall or sustainability. Further support is available in the form of a grant of up to £2000 to bring shops that have been empty for over 3 months back into commercial use.

32 independent retailers in Elmbridge have already benefited from a grant of up to £1500 from the Elmbridge Digital High Street Fund to help them convert to selling on-line and 82 start-up awards have been made so far to provide £1000 to set up new businesses. 

Further discretionary grants are in the pipeline. Currently there is no detail on these but the following links can be used to check on progress of these grants.

Council Finances

Posted on by
Reply

Council Finances after a Challenging Year

The EBC Residents Group/Lib Dem Administration put forward for approval a detailed Budget for 2021/22 at the Council meeting on 24th February 2021. This sets out the challenging circumstances the council is facing and the share of this year’s council tax increase which will come to Elmbridge.

“The COVID–19 pandemic has hit all local councils’ budgets, and, contrary to earlier promises, central Government has only covered part of the extra costs and the lost income arising from the impact of restrictions on business activity this financial year. The estimated net cost to the Council in this financial year 2020/2021 is about £4 million.

During the pandemic the council has paid out over £30 million in direct support to businesses, awarded over 100 grants to help independent retailers adapt to social distancing, supported over 25 shops to sell on-line with the Digital High Streets grant and helped launch over 20 new businesses over the last year.

Fortunately, the Administration has been building reserves for day to day expenditures over recent years. As at 31 March 2020, the Council’s revenue reserves (including the General Fund, but excluding Statutory Reserves and CIL funds) stood at almost £23 million, compared to almost £19 million as at 31 March 2016 just before the RA/LD Administration took office.

The Budget for the coming year is a balanced Budget which incorporates over £2.3 million of savings, including a freeze on Councillor Allowances. In addition, like almost all the other Surrey Districts and Boroughs, the share of the overall Council Tax bill will be increased by £5 a year for a Band D property, which equates to an increase of 2.2%. £37.62 of the total increase in your (Band D) Council Tax bill, roughly two thirds of it, goes to Surrey County Council, a percentage increase of 2.5%. £15 of the increase (5.5% in percentage terms) goes to Surrey Police. Less than one tenth of the increase in your Council Tax bill is kept by Elmbridge Borough Council. 

The Administration believes that the Budget for 2021/22 is constructed on a prudent basis which recognises the uncertainties inherent in the current economic situation. While further use of revenue reserves is expected in the coming year, the central forecast is that revenue reserves will not fall below £12 million as at 31 March 2022. “

 

Council Meetings: Real or Virtual?

Posted on by
Reply

Virtual Council Meetings to end on May 7th

The Local Government Association (LGA), a cross-party body, has responded to the government’s announcement that emergency legislation allowing virtual council meetings will not be extended beyond May 7th.

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the LGA, said: 

“This decision is extremely disappointing. The Government’s own roadmap out of lockdown states that indoor gatherings or events – organised by a business, charity, public body or similar organisation – cannot be organised until May 17 at the earliest. Yet councils will be unable to hold remote meetings from May 7. MPs will retain the right to participate remotely until at least June 21 but the powers-that-be in the House of Commons will not make time available to legislate for councillors to do the same. 

“The case is clear for the ability for councils to continue to be able to hold meetings flexibly. We urge the Government to reverse this decision and not force councils to have to hold COVID-19 secure face-to-face council meetings until all restrictions are lifted. 

“This also risks damaging the gains seen in public participation in remote council meetings during the pandemic and our vital local democratic process.

“Left with no choice, Lawyers in Local Government, the Association of Democratic Services and Hertfordshire County Council have made an application to the Courts to declare that councils already have the powers needed to hold online meetings. The LGA will be providing support in these proceedings as the representative body for councils.”

 

Haines Bridge

Posted on by
6

 How can Haines Bridge be made safer for pedestrians?

It has been observed that Haines Bridge, which carries the Queen’s Road over the railway, puts pedestrians at risk since the bridge is so narrow. This leads to restricted width lanes for vehicles and thin strips of pavements. Queen’s Road is a busy main road and, if pedestrians coming from different directions have to cross on the pavements, it makes it very challenging for people to pass; this is particularly difficult for people with child buggies. 

A local resident also pointed out that the parapets are below regulation height. Ashley investigated and asked Network Rail to ensure that parapet alterations would be in the coming year’s budget. They have now informed us that they plan to install caging over the pavements. 

However, we have suggested that a longer-term solution of a new parallel pedestrian bridge should be investigated. While it is acknowledged that this would be expensive, this would make it safer for pedestrians and without widening the bridge itself. 

Here are a couple of examples that have been implemented elsewhere and could be used for inspiration.

1. A bridge in Florida: 
2. The Clifton Suspension Bridge: 

Support from the Planning Inspectorate!!

Posted on by
1

Former Cafe Rouge, Queens Road

At last a Planning Inspector has agreed with a decision of your local councillors with regard to off-street parking provision! 

As anyone who lives in Weybridge Riverside or in the triangle near Queen’s road knows, parking spaces for residents are at a premium. This acute pressure on both day and night time parking is known technically as ‘parking stress’.

Councillors Vicki Macleod and Ashley Tilling have long argued that planning permission should not be granted to developments which do not provide adequate off-street parking.  The development at the former Grotto pub is a case in point.  

More recently, fellow councillors on the committee have agreed with your local councillors and this has led to a number of proposals being turned down because of inadequate parking – for example one in Baker Street and another in South Road.  Both of these refusals were turned over by national Planning Inspectors and the developments went ahead, with inadequate parking or indeed in South Road, no parking for residents of the new builds. 

In August last year, the local planning committee refused permission on three applications for flats in the old Cafe Rouge building (2020/0265, 0473 and 1288) because of inadequate parking.  We were notified on Thursday 1st April that for the first time in our memory (and we don’t think this was an April Fool) the committee’s refusal on the grounds of inadequate parking provision was upheld by the Inspector.  In summing up his observations and reasoning, the Inspector said:

“I therefore find that the proposed development would be harmful to residential living conditions through increased parking pressures on nearby local roads. It would conflict with Policy DM7 b) of the Elmbridge Local Plan Development Management Plan April 2015 which seeks that the proposed parking provision should be appropriate to the development and not result in an increase in onstreet parking stress that would be detrimental to the amenities of local residents.“

This is a major step forward for Weybridge as it now gives Inspectorate backing to our arguments on the need for adequate off-street parking provision to be made for new developments in and near our town centre.

This gives us hope that we may again get Inspector backing in the case of Clive House in Queen’s Road (2020/2438).  Here, the planning committee on Wednesday 30th April refused permission for an additional floor to be built on top of the existing building and one of the reasons given for refusal was lack of adequate off-street parking. The second reason for refusal was the harm to the character of the area because of the imposing mass that would be created by adding another floor.

 

Bizarre spate of tree vandalism

Posted on by
2

This week, Weybridge has been subjected to a bizarre form of vandalism – cutting down small trees situated on public land.

Councillor Vicki Macleod was alerted to the first in-town instance – on the green in Thames Street – last Wednesday 31st March by a local resident.  She spoke with households in Thames Street and posted on the local Facebook group.  She also reported the incident to an Elmbridge Officer in the Green Spaces team and was given the crime reference so she could get through to the police directly.  

Later on Wednesday another local resident told Vicki he had seen someone leave the green, get in a red car and drive away.  It was only on seeing Vicki’s post that he put two and two together.  Vicki passed this information on to the local police – Elmbridge Beat – via Facebook Messenger.

Then at 10.40 that evening Vicki was contacted by one of the people she had spoken with earlier who heard sawing, looked out of the window and spotted an individual who got into a car and sped off.  He had come back to cut his tree into three pieces!

Sadly, the following day, Friday, reports came in of another tree that had been cut down outside Manor Court.  Then on Saturday there was a report of another tree cut down off the Queen’s Road, by the cricket ground and Manby Lodge School and one in Pantile Road near the Oatlands Recreation ground.  Police were called to the cricket ground where there was also a noisy gathering. Unfortunately they did not find the perpetrator.  

A red car was spotted near the site of tree vandalism on more than one occasion.

It is not certain whether these incidents are linked to the recent felling of trees at Cowey Sale, along the Desborough Cut and in Walton-on-Thames. If you have seen or heard anything suspicious, please contact Elmbridge Beat and state the crime number 45210028887.