McLaren to expand on current site?

McLaren's current footprint on Horsell Common

I learnt today that McLaren has submitted a new planning application (PLAN/2013/1297) for an 'Applied Technology Centre" as an extension to its existing 'Production Centre'.  

It seems this application is intended to replace the outline planning permission received for development of an 'Applied Technology Centre' back in 2012 (PLAN/2011/0823).

The description for the new application (see below) indicates development on the current site, that is to the west of the A320.

"Development of an applied technology centre of 57,000sq m (G.E.A.) as an extension to the McLaren Production Centre, to include an aerodynamic research facility, workshops, research and development space, offices, meeting rooms, teaching and training space, vehicle preparation and assembly spaces, together with terraced car parking and two car park decks, cycle parking, a replacement helipad, and service areas. Associated earthworks and re-contouring of the open parkland, hard and soft landscape and infrastructure works, including an electrical substation and foul water pumping station."

The previous outline planning permission was granted to allow building on the opposite side of the A320 (to the east) and to connect the two sites with a tunnel.  Description for that application below.

"Outline planning application for a new applied technology centre of up to 60,000sqm floorspace, together with hard and soft landscape proposals, earthworks including creation of new lakes, a new vehicular access, an underground circulation tunnel, vehicular and cycle parking, service areas, and associated infrastructure and works including a foul water pumping station and electricity substations. | Land East Of The A320 Chertsey Road"

Questions

I am puzzled that the application was received by Woking Council on Friday 14 November and was then validated on the following day - a Saturday.  I know workload is heavy in Planning but I hadn't realised staff worked on Saturdays.

Notification to neighbours of this validated application only went out this week, on Tuesday 9 December. Responses are due back by Tuesday 6 January.  Why so long to let residents know about a validated application?

As of today, Friday 12 December there are no details of the application, other than the summary description on the planning portal.

With the previous, approved, application McLaren ran consultation events at The Lighbox.  Will they do the same this time around?

Could McLaren possibly have timed this application for the busy Christmas period when residents and other interested parties may have other things on their minds?

Vodafone try again on Horsell Way mast

Schools are breaking up for the summer holidays so it must be time for a planning application to add to the Horsell Way phone mast.  Sure enough a new application for the Vodafone mast in this peaceful Horsell street has been registered with Woking Council.

It is Planning Application 2014/0805 which was received by the council on 11 July.  The application seeks to increase the height of the existing phone mast, add 2 extra cabinets at ground level and move the mast within the area.  In the process mature trees will be removed.

This is just the latest of many applications relating to this mast.  A number of the applications have been submitted with more than one coinciding with summer holiday periods.

Horsell Way where Vodafone want a
new larger mast

Strangely the planning application only shows one previous application for the site.  A very similar application was made in November last year and refused by Woking Council.  The application was rejected because information was not supplied on the effect of installing a new mast the many trees on the green are

The original application for a mast at this site was refused in September 2006 but allowed on appeal in February 2008.  in July 2010 Vodafone wanted to extend the mast to share with another operator.  I blogged at the time that applying to extend the mast at this site was ignoring an agreed site on Horsell Common land, disguised by trees and away from homes and schools.  i was delighted to be able to report just a month later that no further application for Horsell Way had been received from Vodafone and that they were exploring the Horsell Common site.

Unfortunately, as far as  I know,  there has been progress on the Horsell Common site and Vodafone came back first last year and now again this year with an application.

If you are concerned about this application please do email, comment on line or write to Woking Council about these plans.

Closing Commerical Way to vehicles

Very pleased to see Woking Council is consulting on closing the lower part of Commercial Way to vehicles.

Currently traffic is allowed along the section of the pedestrianised street between Chapel Street and Cawsey Way before 10.30 am and after 4pm.

It has always surprised me that this traffic free environment becomes a cut through and parking area at certain times of day and particularly on Sundays.  I was unpleasantly surprised one late afternoon several years ago when walking with one of my daughters.  She was just a toddler at the time and riding a small scooter when a car appeared behind us.  it gave me quite a fright because I wasn't aware that traffic was allowed on the street at all.

The area becomes a chaotic free car park on Sundays and it really detracts from the area.

Artistic impression of Commercial Way in future 

I hope this change does go through and the pedestrianised area becomes truly traffic free.  With Commercial Way being revamped and new restaurants opening along there it will be nice to have outdoor seating and people able to walk or cycle safely along.

If you would like to comment you can find the consultation here. Responses are required by 5pm on 1 August.

I hope in due course attention will be given to the other end of Commercial Way, between what will be the new Tante Marie and Carluccio site and the Big Apple.  Vehicle access is needed here to reach car parks behind the shops but this area will really stand out and look even worse when work on the rest of the street is completed.

Proposed new Horsell Boundaries

The move towards Woking's new borough boundaries has reached the latest stage.   Following initial proposals and a consultation by the borough council a revised set of proposals was sent to the Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBCE).  The commission has now come back with its proposals, based on what the council and others submitted and its own view.

I am disappointed with the proposals for the Horsell ward that are being made by the LGBCE.

As there will only be 30 rather than 36 councillors representing Woking each ward will be larger than before.  Every ward will have 3 councillors and roughly the same number of voters (within a 10% margin).

Current Situation

Horsell currently has two wards - Horsell West and Horsell East and Woodham.  

Horsell West is broadly bounded by Chobham Road in the east, Horsell Rise in the north and the canal and Lockfield Drive to the south and runs along Brewery Road to the end of the village plus to Carthouse Lane and a few roads in Chobham.  

Horsell East covers the area of Horsell east of Chobham Road and north of Horsell Rise and stretches out to all of Woodham that is part of Woking borough - essentially to the Sheerwater roundabout on Woodham Lane.

Earlier Proposals

Woking borough initially proposed a new Horsell ward that was essentially Horsell East and West but without Woodham.

Following the council's own consultation Woodham was added back into the Horsell seat but this meant various parts of Horsell had to be chopped off to get the voter numbers right.  I objected to areas such as Merrivale Gardens and Hedgerley Court being taken out of Horsell but this was supported by your Conservative councillors.  I hoped the Boundary Commission would redress this when the council plans were put to them. 

The Boundary Commission Proposals

Proposals from the commission take Woodham out again, making the new Horsell ward a more manageable size, but also remove two other areas which I would argue are very much part of Horsell.  Set out below are the key changes proposed by the commission.

Boundary Commission proposals for The Grove, Ferndale Road, Chobham Road, Brewery Road and Broomhalls 

The Boundary Commission proposes that part of the eastern edge of Horsell West ward and a little of the west of Horsell East ward move out of Horsell to a new Sheerwater ward.  The area involved (shown below) is the beginning of Chobham Road, from Victoria Way (including The Lightbox), The Grove and Ferndale Road, Kingswood and Alwyne Court on Brewery Road, Brewery Road car park and the WWF Living Planet Centre, Broomhall Road, Broomhall Drive and Broomhall Lane, the Wheatsheaf Pub and several houses to the north of the pub.

Roads,  flats, Wheatsheaf Pub, Trinity Methodist Church, WWF, Brewery Road Car Park and The Lightbox move to Sheerwater ward

Boundary Commission proposals for Merrivale Gardens and Hedgerley Court

Another proposed loss from Horsell is Merrivale Gardens and Hedgerley Court. The commission wants to move this area to Goldsworth Park ward.

Merrivale Gardens and Hedgerley Court move to Goldsworth Park ward

Boundary Commission proposals for Claydon Road, Tresta Walk and Darvel Close and Kestrel Way

There had been suggestion that this area could move back to Goldsworth Park but it has been retained in Horsell by the commission.

Claydon Road, Tresta Walk and Darvel Close plus the Goldsworth Park / Kestrel Way Trading Estate stay in Horsell

Boundary Commission proposals for McLaren, Anthonys and the Recycling site

Anthonys residential area, the McLaren site and Surrey County Council's recycling centre stay in Horsell.

McLaren, Anthonys and the Recycling Site stay in Horsell

What you can do

The commission is now consulting on these plans until 6 October.  Go to the main commission pages for Woking to understand the whole process and take a look at the maps for Horsell and Woking.  You can zoom in and look at any part of the map in detail.

Any individual or group can comment to either support or disagree with the commission's plans or to draw new boundaries.

I would also be interested to hear your views on annmarie.barker@gmail.com

What's Happening in and around Horsell

A selection of happenings in and around Horsell in the week ahead.  This is by no means a comprehensive events listing, rather a snapshot of what catches my attention.

Monday 30 June

Open Mic night at Phoenix Cultural Centre, 27 Goldsworth Road, Woking - 7pm to 10pm. A pleasant evening at Woking 's newest venue for live music and arts.  Mondays offer a chance to "play, listen, practise new songs, make some up, do whatever".  All welcome. No entry fee but a donation to running costs appreciated.

Thursday 3 July

Horsell Police Panel - 7.30pm at St Mary's Church on Church Hill (not usual venue as Village Hall closed for building works)
All residents and businesses are welcome at the panel meeting to raise issues of concern with the local policing team.

Saturday 5 July

Party in the Park - 12 to 7pm in Woking Park
Returning for a 3rd year with something for all the family.  Party in the Park features music, dance. food, sport, art and crafts.  There are events to watch in 
the park such as Dance Woking and events further afield such as the Wimbledon Woman's Singles Final and the start of the Tour de France on a big screen.  Have a dance, listen to music, watch Punch and Judy or experience all the fun of the fair.  It's all happening at the Party in the Park.

Horsell Splash - finally some progress

Huge puddle on Brewery Road
pedestrian crossing 

I took the opportunity of Woking's Joint Committee this week to ask for an update on Horsell Splash.  I have been asking the county council to tackle the huge puddle that appears between the Brewery Road car park entrance and the pedestrian crossing to Footpath 19a for almost 2 years now.  An answer was not available on the night but I got a written reply by email on Friday.

It seems the county may finally be making real progress in tackling this major annoyance and inconvenience for everyone who walks or cycles along this route.

The Problem

As regular users of this route will have noticed there are two elements to this situation.  The initial problem was around the car park entrance.  The road dips at this point. It is my view (though this has not been confirmed) that this was caused by a combination of road resurfacing prior to work beginning on the WWF building and a succession of heavy vehicles going into the building site.

The secondary issue is the spreading of the flooding beyond the car park entrance, across the pedestrian crossing and towards the entrance to Kingswood Court.  This happens when the drain can't cope during heavy or sustained rainfall.

Resolution

Following CCTV investigation in the drain between Brewery Road and the canal the problem was identified as an issue for Thames Water.  Surrey now tell me the drainage was "compromised by the development of the WWF site".  This explains the second part of the problem described above.  Thames Water has been spotted on site investigating the situation but no timescale for remedying the problem has been given.

Huge puddle at entrance to
Brewery Road car park

Once Thames Water has dealt with the drainage problem Surrey plan to install a new gully to drain away the water at the car park entrance.

More Questions

I have gone back and asked if Surrey will be seeking recompense from Wilmott Dixon for the impact work on the WWF site has had on the drainage system and for the likely timing of the blockade being cleared and the new gully installed.

We have progress but we are not there yet.

Getting Answers on Well Lane

Well Lane closed whilst the sewer
was repaired

I took the opportunity of the first meeting of the Surrey County / Woking Borough Joint Committee this week to seek some answers on the chaotic and disruptive programme of road resurfacing in Well Lane.

I got some answers but the response I received also raised many more questions.

Well Lane resurfacing work was originally scheduled to last for 10 working days.  At the last count it has been running for almost 3 months and is yet to be completed.

The collapse of a deep, major sewer did lead to long delays but the project was well over-time before this became a problem.  Could this issue have been anticipated given there had been problems before.

Assessing the site before work began

I had previously been told that site assessment had taken place before the resurfacing work began but in response to my question at the committee it appears that little or no assessment took place:

"There were unique local ground conditions that presented themselves on Well Lane that did cause issues. Such issues/ risks occur so rarely that the level of resources necessary to undertake the site testing, to pre-empt a possible problem, would not be viable for every scheme. It would add months onto the design process on something that may only happen in 1 in 100 or more. This would in turn reduce the amount of schemes we complete county wide considerably."

The response went on to say:

"The largest delay on the site has been associated with a sewer failure/ collapse, which was 3m deep and not identified until the existing surface layers had been removed. Thames Water have since been working on site for several weeks to rectify an historical issue and have now completed works."

Public questions are limited to a single question and a follow up so I couldn't explore this further but I would expect a risk assessment on each job to determine the level of site testing required.  There had been issues on this road before. Shouldn't that have rung warning bells?

Managing Contractors

I made a visit to Well Lane late at night 2 days into the project.  I heard from various sources around 10.30pm that contractors had arrived on site and started work half an hour earlier.  Contractors told me they were "getting ahead" ready for the next day and that their work was authorised.  The out of hours highways office couldn't tell me if this was the case but next morning I confirmed late night working WAS NOT authorised.  Highways told the contractors this wasn't to happen again - but it did - the very next night.  I was straight on to Highways and thankfully this time the work was stopped.

All this is brushed off in the response I received this week.

"In regards to the start of the works on Well Lane there were definite teething issues with the contractor on the first 2 days and these were immediately rectified, however the longer lasting disruption is due to site conditions not contractor quality.

The night works described was the lowering of man hole covers, this operation needed to be carried out as close to the main works as possible, and was delayed due to works elsewhere. Consequently the sub contractors operatives carrying out the work decided to work on to catch up without approval, and as soon as this was discovered the situation was resolved. We must apologise for this, even though it was carried out with the best intention of those involved."

The whole project raises issues about who controls those working on our roads.  Surrey has a contract with May Gurney for highways works.  May Gurney in turn give work to a wide range of sub-contractors.  The late night working is an excellent example of the difficulties in controlling these contractors.

After Easter, when there had been broken drains and a major water leak the county councillor got involved.  He lives just down the road and, to give his his due, worked very hard and spent a lot of time in Well Lane talking to those working on the road and to residents.  Reading his updates it seems he took on a project co-ordination role.  Now it's all very well for a councillor to get so involved but surely the role he took on should be done by either by county officers or May Gurney employees.  Otherwise why does so much of our Council Tax go to pay these people?

As I write on Friday night it seems the last section of the road is being resurfaced, but again, there is late night work.  My response at the meeting indicated work might take place on Friday evening, but 10pm is not the time to resurface a road in a residential area.  

Informing Residents

Residents first started telling me about issues with these works when they were trapped in their homes, unable to get out to work, business, school or other appointments.  This issue affected the roads off Well Lane such as Holyoake Avenue and Crescent, Well Close, Well Path and Gregory Close.  I was assured at the time that all of Well Lane and all neighbouring roads had been advised of the works.  A Conservative borough councillor at the Joint Committee appeared to admit that communication had been an issue and that these road WERE NOT advised about the resurfacing.

Compensation

I asked about compensation for both residents and businesses affected by the Well Lane works.  I had already raised this point back in May.  This week I was told:

"We have been in discussion with the local councillor and Woking Borough Council in regards to an appropriate compensation process for this scheme, and we will action as necessary."

An unsurfaced Well Lane and the
remains of leaks

Not giving anything away there but further exploration of this point at the meeting, particularly in relation to the impact on the business of Horsell Fish and Chips suggested the county are still looking at this.  I do hope, that for the sake of residents and businesses who have suffered so much over this lengthy saga that compensation is found

Give us back our public space

It is almost a year since local residents began to grow horrified at the decimation of flat, open space in Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Horsell.  I blogged at the time about the huge piles of sand being piled by the side of the bowling green and rendering an area used for children's play and dog walking unusable.  If you follow the sequence of blogs you will learn that a petition raised by local residents led to action by the Council who agreed the mound should not stay.

Agreement was reached with petitioners in October and the plan was to remove the sand (much of it has gone) and then landscape and re-seed the area with grass in the spring.  Spring has come and gone.  There is less sand but still no grass and no access to the area.

I raised this matter regularly with the Chief Executive of Woking Council whilst I was a councillor.  The last update I had, just a couple of months ago, was that the new footpath planned for the edge of the site still had to be resolved.  Since then I have heard nothing.

I have now written to the Chief Executive asking when Horsell will get its public space back.

How online is Woking?

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has recently published figures on the proportion of census returns made online across the country.  I completed my census online so I was interested to see how many other Woking residents had done likewise.

Fewer than a quarter of Woking residents (23.1%) completed an online census form.  The great majority (76.9%) filled in a paper form.  This figure places Woking borough as the English local authority 39th in level of online completion.

Online completion rates vary across Woking from 15.2% to 32.7% with lowest levels of online completion recorded in parts of Byfleet and Maybury and Sheerwater whilst there were higher levels of completion in parts of Maybury and Sheerwater, Mount Hermon West and Horsell West

Most neighbouring boroughs have a lower level of online census completion than Woking .  Elmbridge was at 22.1, 10 places below Woking, Guildford at 21.9, 17 places below Woking and Runnymede was at 21, 27 places below Woking.  Surrey Heath has a higher level of completion than Woking.  At 24.1% it is 16 places above Woking.

The highest level of online completion across English authorities was in the London borough of Tower Hamlets (30.9%). London authorities took the top 5 places in the table of online completion and overall London topped regional completion figures at 24.2%, followed by the South East at 19.9%.

Lowest level of online completion came in the district of Eden in Cumbria at just 11.7%.  The average level of online completion across all local authorities was 18.4%.

It appears that Woking is an online borough that is ahead of many neighbouring boroughs and above the south east average.

New Vision Homes - Satisfaction and Performance Update

UPDATE Wednesday 25 June

Following the Conservative group forcing through plans for a constitutional change - giving themselves chair of Overview and Scrutiny - the committee settled down to review the report on New Vision Homes. 

Given that this report was first requested in February, was potentially to come to an April meeting but was delayed until June in order to complete all the necessary research I was very shocked that the first act of new committee chair Cllr Hussain was to suggest deferring the item another month.  Thankfully common sense prevailed and the report was reviewed.


When tonight's Woking Council Overview and Scrutiny meeting takes place (see here for how it will be delayed by Conservative plans for constitutional change) there is a key paper on New Vision Homes.

Several months ago councillors asked for a review of New Vision Homes (NVH) performance on maintenance and repairs.  This was promised for after the election period.  Councillors duly submitted issues their residents had experienced in the last six months.

The report before the committee tonight - you can read it here - covers a satisfaction survey run by an independent company.  It seems clear from this report that whilst NVH performs well in some areas - tackling anti-social behaviour for example - there are issues on repairs and maintenance. Feedback on the reports that councillors were asked to supply doesn't appear to be there.

I hope the Overview and Scrutiny committee fully explores the report before them tonight and continues its work to get a better repairs and maintenance service for tenants and leaseholders in future.

The meeting can be viewed online, either live from 8pm tonight or in a recorded form after tonight.

Final bell tolls tonight

The final death bell for democracy within Woking Council is likely to toll tonight.  As I set out here and here in earlier posts the Conservative group who run Woking Council want to take control of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Previously there had been agreement between parties that this important committee should be chaired by an opposition member.

Tonight there is to be a special meeting of the whole council to debate a proposed constitutional change to remove this requirement.

Papers for the meeting, available here from the Council website provide no justification for this change.  Rather the Leader of the Council sets down his wish that the requirement for the committee to be chaired by an opposition member is removed.  The only supporting evidence is a list of arrangements at other Surrey boroughs and at Surrey County Council.

It is no surprise to see that the ruling party tends to controls Overview and Scrutiny function on Conservative and Residents Association run councils where the ruling group has a large majority.  Surrey Heath where Conservatives hold 87% of seats, Runnymede where they have 83% and Tandridge which has 81% Conservative members are prime examples.  Is this the aim of the Conservative party in Woking? A virtual one party state and total control.

The special council meeting starts at 7pm tonight.  You can watch the meeting either live or recorded from this link.

Death of democracy deferred for 2 weeks

As predicted it would seem that a little piece of democracy is about to die in Woking.  The throes of death did not come on Monday night.  They have been deferred until Monday 23rd June.  On that day the Overview and Scrutiny committee of Woking Council will meet and elect a Chair for the year ahead.  This first meeting of the committee would usually have taken place during the first proper meeting of the full council.

This year the Leader of the Council put forward an amendment during the full council meeting such that the whole Council will have to meet again on 23 June. It would appear that this special meeting has been called for the purpose of changing the constitution so non-opposition group members can chair Overview and Scrutiny.

Whilst it was apparent the purpose of deferring the first meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny committee was to change the constitution Liberal Democrats wanting to raise concerns were not allowed to speak on this subject.  Speaker after speaker was interrupted by the Mayor and told they could only speak about the change of meeting date.  The Deputy Chief Executive reiterated this point and tried to close down debate.

On the vote all Conservative councillors present supported the deferral of the first meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Now the wait until Monday 23 June to find out what the Conservatives are planning.

Is democracy about to die a little in Woking?

I am very concerned to have learned in the last few days that Woking Conservatives want to change Woking Borough's constitution and take over the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny committee.  

As the ruling party the Conservatives already chair all the other committees. This is the one committee that is run by the opposition and allows the smaller parties to review the operation of the Council and be consulted on important matters.

Back in 2000 Woking Council started running under the Executive model. This means that our local Council is run by a Leader and his/her appointed Executive. The actions of the Leader and Executive are scrutinised by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Originally there were three scrutiny committees covering environment, economic and social issues. This was revised to a single committee on the recommendation of a cross party working group. A key principle was for the committee to be chaired by an opposition member.

This important function of the Council has done much good work over the years.  Call-ins have raised key issues affecting the council, national service providers such as Royal Mail and South West Trains have answered residents's concerns in the chamber, problems with the planning system have been highlighted and councillors have investigated service provision in the borough.

Now Woking Conservatives want to take over the chair of this committee.  This is in addition to chairing the Executive and all other council committees The group that controls the Council wants to chair the committee that scrutinises them as well. 

Democracy could die a little in Woking if this goes ahead.

Research shows that most councils, even where there is a small opposition, allow other parties to run the scrutiny role.  Woking Conservatives have 23 seats.  Lib Dems have 11 and there is 1 Labour and 1 Independent councillor. More than a third of council seats are held by opposition parties.  57% of residents did not vote for the Conservatives in the recent local elections.  Why should one party control the Council and not subject itself to external scrutiny.

The meeting at which the Conservative group is threatening democracy in Woking takes place at 7pm tonight (Monday 9 June).  You can go along and watch the meeting in the council chamber or you can watch it live from your PC or tablet on this link.

A loss but the blog goes on

I was disappointed to lose my borough council seat this week.  Horsell now has 3 Conservative borough councillors (one of whom is also the county councillor for our area).

Although I will no longer be an elected representative for Horsell I will continue to blog here on local issues and post tweets on Twitter.  Think I may need to edit my Twitter name (currently @cllrannmarie) 

Election Round Up

As election day dawns I thought I would provide a round-up of some of the issues I have dealt with in recent months.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or I can provide any further information.

Well Lane
As I have explained in previous posts Surrey County Council planned to resurface the road from end of March for 10 working days.  The project has run massively over time, affected all major utilities in the road, led to properties and vehicles being covered in a horrible white dust and had residents disturbed by unauthorised contractor work in the middle of the night. 

Blocked drain
Surrey has now been able to resurface part of the road, and very nice it is too.  The other part of the road has a huge hole courtesy of Thames Water who are trying to clear a blockage in the drain.  I spoke to Thames Water this week and they can't tell me when the blockage will be cleared.  They have regular trucks coming to pump out the drains.  This pumping will eventually clear the drain but it could be several more weeks!

Once Thames Water have finished Surrey's contractors will return and resurface the rest of the road.

Speed calming
At some point (it is not clear when) Surrey will consult Well Lane residents on putting back the speed calming.  There is likely to be yet more work on the road then to put in new humps.

When I followed up as to why speed humps would not be replaced during the resurfacing works I was told that the road resurfacing team on the special Project Horizon could only replace like with like and weren't told that new speed humps were required.  However plans for new speed humps and approval to consult residents was given by a council committtee last June.  Given that this work was originally planned for September, then November, then February you would have thought there had been plenty of time to sort the speed calming.

Learning lessons
The list of lessons to be learnt on how not to run a roadworks project is endless but there are several key points on which I am seeking answers from Surrey

- Who is in charge of these projects - Surrey commissions the project via the Project Horizon team, roadworks are contracted out to May Gurney, May Gurney then use multiple contractors on site.  Nobody seems to be in charge.  Our local county councillor, who lives just off Well Lane, has spent a lot of time in the road, but is this the role of a councillor?  What are we paying our taxes for if county council staff or the contractors paid money to maintain our roads are not managing the job?

- The resurfacing method used on Well Lane was apparently experimental.  Why were residents and local councillors not told that Horsell was to be a guinea pig in this work? Can we be assured this method will not be used when other roads including Arthurs' Bridge, Bury Lane, Church Hill, High Street and Thornash Road are resurfaced.

Queen Elizabeth Gardens
Most of the mound is gone but not all and the area is still not open to the public 9 months after it closed.  The delay is due to plans for a new footpath but this is now becoming unacceptable and I will be looking for answers on when we get our public space back if re-elected on Thursday.

Green gunge on the canal
Doesn't the canal look great now the green gunge has been cleared.  I raised this with Council and got them to take it up with the Basingstoke Canal Authority (to whom we pay fees to maintain the canal).  The canal authority finally came along and cleared the gunge with some new equipment.

Horsell Splash
There is still a puddle by the Brewery Road car park entrance.  Some clearance work had made the area around the zebra crossing stay clear unless there is a really substantial downpour.  The area at the car park entrance is as bad as ever.  We are still waiting for CCTV to look at the area between the road and the canal to find out what is blocking the water from draining.  I remain convinced that this is just part of the issue and that the flood at the entrance is due to incorrect levels when the road was resurfaced combined with heavy trucks in the area during the building of the WWF.  I will continue to press for action on this local hazard.

A Week of European hopefuls

Horsell was visited by two of the Lib Dem candidates seeking to be members of the European Parliament last week.  

Antony Hook in Woking

Anthony Hook dropped in on Tuesday.  He met local councillors and campaigners in Woking and then came to Horsell to.knock on doors and meet residents.  Anthony, a barrister by profession, is hoping to be elected as a member of the European Parliament for the South East for the first time.  As a barrister Antony worked with the police to prosecute international fraud and money laundering cases.  Antony is focusing on the jobs and economic strength that come from the UK being IN Europe.

Catherine Bearder with Ann-Marie Barker
& Will Forster in Horsell

Current MEP Catherine Bearder came to Horsell on Saturday.  She enjoyed meeting residents and was horrified at the shambles Surrey County Council has created in Well Lane.  Catherine is a current MEP who is recognised in Europe for her passion and her hard work.  She has championed environmental causes in Europe and worked to end human trafficking.  Catherine has encouraged South East communities affected by flooding to apply for EU grants.

Victoria Square - Retail and Tower Blocks

A planning application has been submitted for the development called "Victoria Square".  This is planned as a retail extension to Wolsey Walk, covering the area of the Bandstand, the fire station and to the current Boots store on Commercial Way.  Marks and Spencer will be the flagship store and there are hoped to be other new shops and restaurants.  The development is also planned to include residential towers, a hotel and gym / spa and potentially medical provision.

The road layout around the area will change dramatically if these plans go ahead.  Cawsey Way (behind Wolsey Place) where buses currently stop will be closed.  Road changes will mean a revision of bus stops and routes around the town.

Plans were initially due to have gone to the planning committe by now but councillors expressed concerns about the road system and planned location of bus stopping points.  One drop-off point for buses was suggested as Victoria Way - just past the junction with Goldsworth Road.  This would reduce Victoria Way to a single line.  Councillors felt this could only be a recipe for more town centre congestion and plans are now being reviewed before the application comes to committee.

I have concerns about the high rise blocks proposed in this application.  i am all in favour of building in the town to save our green spaces (although we must also recognise the need for family housing) but these blocks would be the 3rd tallest structure in Britain (outside of London).  Do we really need skyscrapers in Woking?

Horsell Hell Goes on in Well Lane - Day 38

No sign of a new surface on Well Lane

The Horsell Hell that is the Well Lane resurfacing works is now entering its sixth week.  Work was scheduled to take 10 working days. 

Contractors started work on 2 April so work should have been completed on 15 April. The project is now 12 working days over time.  it has taken more than twice the allocated project time to date.

There is still no end in sight.





The current situation is that the road is being resurfaced in sections.  This is a slow process. Thames Water continue to work on the drainage in the road after drains collapsed during an earlier stage of the work.

I wonder if it is a record that these works have impacted all the utilities during their tortuous procession.  The water main has been hit at least twice, sewage has been affected on a number of occasions,  there have been at least two gas leaks and a power cut of several hours duration.

During this hell residents and businesses have suffered noise, dirt, impeded access, late night disturbance and a scene of chaos outside their front doors.

Surrey County Council should offer compensation to both residents and businesses that have suffered so much, for so long,

Council Planning Site finally moves beyond Internet Explorer

Woking's Updated Public Access for Planning System

After a wait of more than 3 years Woking Council finally has a planning access system that works on modern browsers.

For the last few years we have been stuck with  a system that only worked on older versions of Internet Explorer.  Residents wanting to view the documents of a planning application had to revert from browsers such as Chrome and Firefox to the older browser.  



I first raised the incompatibility issue back at the end of 2010 after residents highlighted a problem.  My research at the time informed me that the supplier of the system used by Woking would be upgrading.  I was then told that the upgrade wasn't to happen for over a year.  A ridiculously long time to wait.

Worse was to come.  A long way towards the promised upgrade data, the supplier announced there was to be no upgrade.  A new supplier was required, and this was actioned by the incoming new Head of Planning.

It has all taken much longer than it should have done but I am pleased that we now have a system that makes planning application documents accessible to the public.

Open for Business in Well Lane

As the endless, chaotic programme of road resurfacing drags on in Well Lane local businesses are suffering.  It looks like there may well be another two weeks of disruption before the work is finished.

Access to businesses is open but it's not surprising that many are put off by the scene of devastation.

Horsell Fish and Chip Shop has continued to trade throughout the works.  Business has been particularly affected at lunch times.

I have been along to Well Lane a number of times to see the effect on businesses and residents and have spoken with Brian, the owner of the chip shop.  With the work entering its 5th weekend the family and I supported this great local business and treated ourselves to chips for tea on Saturday evening.

If you would like some great fish and chips and want to support a local business do try and drop into Horsell Fish and Chips in the next week.

Green Gunge Going ...

Canal covered in green gunge

After many months of the Basingstoke Canal being covered in green gunge it is finally being cleared.

Since last summer the canal has been covered in a green carpet.  I highlighted the issues in a Council meeting last year, asking Woking Council to write to the Basingstoke Canal Authority to get clearing work done.

Some of the weed required a new weedcutter as the small size of the weed meant it was not picked up by usual equipment.

Post-storm work on the canal, picking up many fallen trees, delayed the clearing of the gunge but staff and volunteers are now hard at work clearing the canal.

Gunge free canal

In discussion with the canal authority I learnt that there are two types of weed afflicting the canal.  The good news is that neither type is damaging to wildlife.

Lesser duckweed does not generally affect animals or the plant life of the canal. However oxygen levels for fish can be affected if there is a large quantity of this weed.

Floating pennywort is a fast growing plant. It can grow by 20cm a day.  The new weedcutter is now tackling this plant. Floating pennywort is particularly difficult to control because it can re-grown from the tiniest fragment.  The canal authority is asking boat users to check their weed boxes to help clear out this invasive species.

Some of the area of the canal between Sheerwater and St Johns has already been cleared and the rest should soon be cleared.

More on Well Lane Chaos

AND THERE'S MORE

Residents of Well Lane continue to suffer as road resurfacing work drags on.  

Whilst the work is yet to finish it has now been decided to recycle the materials off-site and to resurface the road in sections.  This has meant some of the heavy machinery has been moved off the road.  Some small respite for the embattled residents and businesses.

Part of the road remains closed because of a damaged sewer which Thames Water will be tackling.  Residents have advised there have been issues with this part of the sewer in the past.  The question is why was this not picked up on the site survey carried out before work began?

And of course, even once this is over, residents have yet more disruption to come when new speed humps are installed at a later date.



UPDATE - More Well Lane Chaos

With a road resembling a war zone and news that resurfacing works will run over into next week Well Lane residents were surely already suffering enough.





Unbelievably things got worse when the Easter Holidays were greeted by a triple disaster cocktail of sewage leak, water leak and gas main leak.  

The sewage leak was fixed promptly on Thursday afternoon.  Repairs to the water leak, which cut off water supply to homes, were delayed until the gas main damage was fixed but was restored that evening.

A separate small water leak is still affecting the Well Lane / Gregory Close junction this weekend but worse another sewage leak happened on Saturday afternoon.  Sewage poured down the road and residents suffered a horrible stench.


Well Lane residents have suffered a catalogue of chaos in the last week as contractors have been working to resurface the road.  Poor communication has left residents trapped, they have been disturbed by unauthorised late night work and given a new water fountain courtesy of the contractors.

Residents have very much welcomed the resurfacing, which was much needed on this road, but they did not ask for the chaos the work has caused and are concerned that speed calming measures will not be put back in place immediately during this phase of work.

Residents do not recall receiving notice of the works and a number of residents found their way blocked when they tried to leave homes in Well Lane, Holyoake Avenue and Crescent and Well Close.

Residents were disturbed by work on site that started at 10.30 pm.  One resident called the police thinking that no legitimate work would go on at that time if night and that drain covers were being stolen.  I had to start making phone calls at 11.30pm on a Thursday  evening to get this work stopped.  It took until Friday to confirm that overnight work was not authorised.  Despite this the contractors still tried to work on Friday night and I again had to make late night phone calls to get the work stopped.

Speed humps will not go back as part of the current programme of work as the style of humps used in Well Lane is now outdated.  Surrey has failed to design the scheme for new humps or to do the required consultation with residents.  Contractors will have to return to the road to install speed humps at a later date.

This catalogue of chaos is a failure of communication, a failure of contractor control and a failure in works planning.  To add insult to injury the contractors hit the water main yesterday and treated residents to a spectacular new water fountain.

I have asked the county council how they plan to improve future communications about roadworks, what sanctions will be brought to bear on the contractors who caused serious disruption to residents by working late at night without permission and chaos by hitting a water main; and when the traffic calming will be reinstated.