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)
Saturday 24 May 2014
Wednesday 21 May 2014
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.
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.
Thursday 8 May 2014
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.
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| 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.
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| Catherine Bearder with Ann-Marie Barker & Will Forster in Horsell |
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
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| 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,
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