Brooklands College development approved

Illustrative Master plan from Cala Homes

At Elmbridge Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Tuesday 5th December the application to redevelop the Brooklands College site was approved.

The application involves providing a total of 320 new homes in blocks of flats, town houses and the refurbishment of the listed Brooklands mansion into luxury apartments. The College put forward a development of such a significant scale on Greenbelt land largely to pay off £20m of a £25m debt it had incurred when contracting apprentice training to a company that subsequently went bust. The money is owed to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an agency of the DofE.

The debate in the Planning Committee meeting involved discussions on whether paying off the debt was a legitimate use of the planning process and constituted the Very Special Circumstances (VSC) necessary for building houses and flats on Greenbelt land, whether the design, mass, bulk and height of the proposed buildings were acceptable and whether there would be undue additional pressure on our roads. Despite being advised that paying off the debt did not constitute VSC, and with a number of councillors expressing concern about the scale of the proposed buildings and the effect on our already congested roads, the application was approved by a majority.

Clearly there are advantages to the proposals, including:

  • Upgrading the College’s teaching facilities;
  • Increasing the provision on site for local students requiring a high level of Special Education Needs, supported with funds from Surrey County Council;
  • Delivering a new sports centre and community space for the use of the College and the wider local community;
  • Refurbishing the site’s listed mansion, returning it to its historic residential use and restoring its terraced gardens;
  • 40% of properties will be affordable homes providing a mix of rented housing, shared ownership and discounted first homes;
  • Opening up 12 hectares of woodland for newly accessible public use;
  • Reopening pedestrian and cycling access across the railway bridge giving residents living south of the railway better access to Brooklands College, Heathside School and into Weybridge;
  • Remediating and building on areas that were former landfill sites.


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.

New Crossing on Oatlands Drive

Two years ago your local councillor team were pleased to see the work they had proposed to widen, resurface and install better lighting on the ‘green lane’ that connects Oatlands Drive to Grotto Road to make it a better shared walking and wheeling path. We then pressed SCC to install a crossing on Oatlands Drive to make it safer, particularly for children and parents going to and from St James Primary and St George’s Junior Schools. Good to see that this installation is now nearing completion.

Be aware of oak processionary moth (OPM)

A warning message from Elmbridge Borough Council:

Oak processionary moth (OPM) was accidentally introduced into England in 2005. Today, OPM poses a threat to Britain’s oak trees and is hazardous to the health and wellbeing of humans and animals who come into contact with it. OPM is present in the South East of England and in Elmbridge.

Elmbridge Borough Council follows Forestry Commission guidelines in dealing with OPM on its land. Our role is to protect our oak trees and their associated wildlife by managing the spread of OPM, minimising its impact on oak trees and protecting the public.

There is no single solution to managing OPM. We adopt a local risk-based approach which is informed by our local oak tree population, its associated biodiversity and the severity of OPM infestation.

When risk assessing each site, we:

  • look at each nest according to its location, and the risk to residents and pay particular attention to densely populated areas and the proximity to vulnerable individuals, for example, children, infants and elderly
  • control high risk areas by spraying (Spring) or removing nests manually (Mid-June – August), where appropriate, and manage low risk areas through on-site information.

For more information, please see Oak processionary moth.

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.

Helping to clean our river – you can join too!

 

Councillor Judy Sarsby stepped up the litter picking efforts around Desborough Island this summer, having initiated the Monday morning litter pick on the island two years ago.

Together with rowers from Weybridge Rowing Club, Judy paddled around the River Thames and pulled out floating plastics from the banks. A big thank you to Judy, who works so tirelessly on so many issues!

Keeping our rivers and waterways clean is as important as removing the litter from the land, not only for pollution reduction to enhance life for humans, animals and plants, but also for climate resilience.

If you would like to make an immediate impact locally and help with our litter pick, please get in touch with us at JSarsby@elmbridge.gov.uk. Come and be part of making a better river environment in our area!

Elmbridge’s Vision 2030 – public event 7th March

Elmbridge’s Vision 2030

On 8 February, Elmbridge Cabinet recommended to Council a new Elmbridge Vision 2030; a Vision that encapsulates Elmbridge’s sense of community, that understands how our residents care about their environment, how they care about supporting each other and how they care about the vibrancy of their towns and villages.

The 2030 Vision has been co-created with our residents, businesses, colleagues, and Councillors, who all understand more than ever that Elmbridge has the potential to grasp the future, to be an enabler for growth and opportunity, that we should be ready to adapt to future working life, future high streets, and future living.

On 7th March, residents, businesses, and local partners are invited to the Civic Centre in Esher to hear more about our Council’s Vision 2030 and our aspirations for Elmbridge.

Timings:

6-7pm arrival and networking
Meeting some of our partner organisations such as Surrey Police, The River Thames Scheme and our waste partners Joint Waste Solutions.

7-8pm Vision 2030 launch
Hear from The Leader, Cllr Chris Sadler, the Deputy Leader Cllr Bruce McDonald and the Chief Executive, Adam Chalmers. There will also be time for questions and answers.

Register your attendance at the launch event via Eventbrite

15 years more of sewage discharges into our rivers!

Our MP, Ben Spencer, and many other Conservative MPs have just voted to pass a target which will allow water companies to dump harmful substances into rivers until 2038.

The Environment Act, which was voted on in Parliament last week, set a target of an 80% reduction in phosphates in rivers by 2038. Phosphates are naturally occurring minerals deriving from human waste and too much phosphate can cause a dramatic growth in algae and deplete oxygen levels when they are dumped in rivers. This new regulation would allow sewage to continue to be dumped in rivers for another 15 years.

Recent analysis has already shown the lack of care from the Conservative government when it comes to our rivers. Data from the River Trust shows that in 2021 The River Mole at Cobham and Esher has been pumped with sewage 100 times for a total of over 1000 hours. Meanwhile, for the whole of the River Mole’s catchment area, sewage was discharged over 800 times for a total of 9,120 hours.

Since 2010, the Environment Agency (EA) has been on the end of dramatic cuts to its budget from the Government, this has been reduced by nearly two-thirds from £120 million to just £48 million. This new target can only result in these figures getting worse as the EA struggle to inspect, monitor and enforce regulation.

At Elmbridge Borough Council, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee recently invited the EA to answer questions on their performance, including why they are continuing to fail at tackling the problem of illegally moored boats on the Thames. For the second time in a year they failed to attend. This lack of accountability by a public body is very disappointing and does nothing to help explore ways to resolve matters.

Water safety in Elmbridge

Elmbridge Borough Council agrees £30k of additional water safety measures

Being situated within close proximity to rivers and open water has many advantages for Elmbridge but of course it brings responsibilities and consequences. While many of our residents and visitors safely enjoy the river both in terms of hospitality and water activities, the dangers of open water should never be underestimated; cold water shock, currents, and the risk of being caught in submerged debris is ever present.

In the absence of a single body responsible for water safety in Elmbridge, and in recognition for the important role that the rivers and other water courses have in the borough, Elmbridge Borough Council is leading the way in Surrey with a ‘Respect the Water: Drowning Prevention Plan’, which was agreed by Elmbridge Cabinet on 11 January.

The plan sets out to reduce the number of water incidents in the borough through training and improved awareness and commits £30k for 2023-2024 to deliver additional drowning prevention projects including:

  1. Free swimming lessons for 12- 18-year-old non swimmers during the summer delivered by Places Leisure at the Xcel Leisure Centre.
  2. Subsidising lifeguard courses run by the internationally recognised Royal Life Saving Society.
  3. Additional throw line boards: Six throw line boards have already been installed at Hurst Park Open Space, Thamesmead Recreation Ground, Waterside Drive, Albany Reach x 2 and Cowey Sale. Additional throw lines will be installed at other high-risk areas, including Desborough Island.

Leading community safety

The Elmbridge Community Safety Partnership has been leading the way in Surrey for a number of years with its multi-agency Drowning Prevention Strategy. Working with our partners at Surrey Fire and Rescue, Surrey Police, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the partnership educates and informs about the dangers of open water and acts to keep the open water safe in the borough.

The Partnership also consults with ROSPA about safety equipment such as throw lines.

Educating and informing

This education takes the shape of regular sites visits to our more popular river locations, schools’ promotion, the annual Junior Citizen programme, where in 2022 over 1,550 year 6s from around Elmbridge participated in an interactive session on water safety run by RNLI.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, working with Elmbridge and other partners, have also held a number of water safety events in recent months, demonstrating throw line use and highlighting the dangers open water.

River Thames Scheme edging closer

The scheme to build a second flood-relief channel to help prevent the flooding of residential areas, called the River Thames Scheme, has been a long time coming. Plans were first presented to the public by the Environment Agency over ten years ago but were then put on hold by the government due to cost. The floods in 2014 provided impetus to revive the idea of a Thames supplementary channel from Staines to Shepperton as well as work on the downstream weirs at Sunbury and Molesey to allow for the additional flow.

This large scheme is treated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) which requires a Development Consent Order (DCO). This removes the need for separate planning permissions in each local authority and is a quicker process. The application for the DCO is now (September) being presented to the government’s Planning Inspectorate after which parties with an interest in the scheme will be able to comment.

More information is at: www.riverthamesscheme.org.uk