Surrey and Waverley local councillor David Munro

Local Development Framework Core Strategy

2012-01-31T23:57:00.001Z

Not an exciting title but this planning document will define how Waverley planning will work in the decades to come. It's pretty important!

Waverley Borough Council issued a strategy document last year for consultation. As it dealt with the number of houses to be built in the borough for the next 15 years, where there should, and shouldn't, be development and other major planning issues, it proved quite controversial, especially on housing numbers. Eventually, the council decided to go for some 160 new homes a year, a figure arrived at by estimating the number of developments that could be squeezed in to existing sites without having large-scale development on greenfield areas.

The government have changed the rules however in their recently-issued National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It's clear that they won't allow us to get away with such a low number and so the council are having to reissue the core strategy consultation document. It will be formally released by the Executive on 7 February but is available under the committee papers for that meeting on the council's web-site. It will be widely circulated once the consultation gets under way.

After a protracted and at times heated debate, the council is plumping for 230 houses annually, a significant increase. It will involve looking for greenfield sites to achieve that scale of building. Given that the Green Belt is still set to be protected, that means that, around Farnham, the Strategic Gap between the town and Aldershot, and the land to the North-West of the town look vulnerable.

There are powerful arguments for going for 230 but my personal view is that it is too high, although I recognise that staying at 160 is not on. I won't continue the debate in this post but will return to it later. Suffice to say that there has to be a balance between providing housing, especially for those on our sky-high social housing list, and handing over a green and pleasant land to our descendents.

I think the issue will be one of the major ones for the next year or so and there is absolutely zero chance of pleasing everyone.

County Bus Review

2012-01-30T23:43:00.001Z

Tomorrow's the last day for responding to Surrey County Council's bus review. Spurred by having to save millions of pounds out of a rocketing bus subsidy budget, county have already reviewed what they're doing elsewhere in Surrey and now it's our turn.

I think South Farnham is reasonably well served by buses during the day (not brilliant but better than most) but suffers on Sundays and evenings. I have responded by saying that the No 19 which goes through the Bourne must stay as an hourly service, not every two hours as has been mooted, and the valued No 16 mustn't be reduced either.

I get lots of emails and calls about many other local matters but nothing on this review. I know that people value their buses because, when punctuality dips for any reason I get asked to help sort it out - and thank you to Surrey's bus team for keeping on top of the service. I have to take this as an indication that there's general satisfaction with what's provided at the moment and that residents don't perceive there's a real threat. But, as always, I'll try to keep on top of it.

Grit Bins - Again, but for the Last Time

2012-01-27T18:05:00.003Z

My file on grit bins in the Farnham South division is now able to be closed I hope - the last two bins I wanted installed/replaced are in. One at the junction of Vicarage Hill/Vicarage Lane (a replacement for a damaged one) and the other at the entrance to the Bourne campus of South Farnham School (to be maintained and refilled by the school but supplied initially out of my local allocation).

I don't have any more on my list - and don't have any more money anyway - so that's it until next season. As before, I hope they won't have to be be used.

Thanks to all residents who asked for them on their and their neighbours' behalf- I wasn't able to meet literally every single request but I think we OK'd the vast majority.

South Farnham School Admissions

2012-01-26T23:30:00.000Z

Tomorrow is the closing date for commenting on the proposals for South Farnham School's admissions for 2013. I have sent in my letter to the Chair of Governors and I hope that everyone else concerned has done the same - judging by the flurry of emails recently received, copying me and other councillors in to the responses, the school will have been left in no doubt at all about the strength of feeling in the Bourne and elsewhere.

My comments are as you would expect: a strong plea to revisit the 'Bourne siblings' policy so that local children aren't unfairly excluded from their own school. I am open about the ideal solution: the Bourne Residents' Assocation's idea, taken up by many, to apply the infants' entry policy only to families who had already entered the Bourne campuys will do the trick, and so will the current 'nearest school' arrangements. The main thing is to stop what's being proposed at the moment.

Tomorrow I am meeting the local MP Jeremy Hunt and Surrey's education cabinet member to discuss the issue. I know that both have been similarly flooded with emails and letters - good!

As I have said to people who have contacted me - I detected willingness to think again by the school at the public meetings I went to (hope that wasn't wishful thinking). Whether the shift will be far enough remains to be seen. I truly think the community have done their best.

I was talking to Jeremy Hunt's office this morning. They have had the role of reading, collating, forwarding to Jeremy and then answering all message received. They told me that the emails and letters stood out amongst others in Jeremy's voluminous post-bag by their passion, clarity and thoughtfulness - not qualities always to be found in letters to MPs.

East Street Development Farnham

2012-01-25T23:42:00.000Z

A new development for me personally about the forthcoming East St redevelopment in the centre of Farnham - someone emailed me earlier this week to ask what I thought. That's the first time that has happened for years. As a local councillor representing parts of the South of the town, I get constant calls and emails about matters that residents say they are concerned about - the post-bag is full of school admissions, highways and council tax rates at the moment. Not a problem of course - it's the core of the job.

On East St however, not a murmur until now, and several councillors have said they have the same experience. Yet the local Farnham Herald has a story nearly every week and most Waverley council meetings start with a question on the subject. When I was canvassing for the local elections last May, in several wards all over the town, it was hardly ever mentioned. So, on the one hand, it's way down the list of concerns raised to me (and, trust me, Farnham people are far from reticent on other issues) and, on the other side, I hear at second hand that people have worries.

What's the truth of it? Is it a live issue? Perhaps blog readers could enlighten me.

Do I support the East St development? Yes, with reservations. Perhaps leave that subject to another blog.

Meeting with Bourne Conservation Group

2012-01-23T22:59:00.004Z

A most productive meeting with the Bourne Conservation Group this morning. They do all sorts of conservation and improvement-related projects - see their very good web-site. From tidying up and improving the old Bourne Churchyard, to planting up the Bourne cross-roads, down to renovating local footpaths, they are a real force for good. I have a particularly soft spot for their work in keeping up the Middle Bourne Lane Community Garden as it was the first thing I was involved in in 1995 when I was elected to the town council.

Much of the meeting was spent in talking through the quite alarming threats to the Bourne in planning terms, of which there will be more later in the months to come I'm sure.

Keep it up please, BCG! And I know they're always on the look-out for more volunteers.

BT Cabinet at the Bourne Cross-roads

2012-01-20T22:25:00.001Z

A small but pleasing victory this week. I and local residents have been complaining for some time about the siting of a new hi-speed broadband cabinet in an unsuitable position at the Bourne Cross-roads - see blog of 7 October. I promised to take it further and, after a fair amount of toing and froing, including a very helpful article in the Farnham Herald (based on a complaining press release), I managed to get a meeting with a senior manager of BT Openreach.

I'm now told that the cabinet WILL be moved to a better position. It'll take a few weeks but will definitely happen.

Those who are already on hi-speed broadband through the existing cabinet, have no fear - you and everyone else won't be affected.

Grit Bins in South Farnham

2012-01-19T21:33:00.002Z

Pleased to see that two of the extra grit bins I asked for are now installed - at the top of Ford Lane (pictured next to my car) and half-way along Middle Bourne Lane. Two more to go and then that's it for all the bins that have been requested. My division of Farnham South probably has more than anywhere else (48 now) but I hope that we don't need to use them too much - the novelty of snow and ice wore off last year and I could do with a normal winter.

Public Meetings about South Farnham Admissions

2012-01-17T23:32:00.000Z

Two public meetings - one last night on the Bourne siblings issue and the other tonight about St Andrews. Each a success I think in that the subjects were forcefully, eloquently but respectfully aired and both sides given a good chance to make their case. And the turn-out (more than 150 combined) demonstrated the passion that people felt. The SF team can't be in any doubt about the feeling in the community - not just parents incidentally, there were a number of 'ordinary' residents there too. So, more light than heat (not always the case at meetings of this sort).

More to the point, what was the outcome? We will see definitely when SF publish their firm proposals after the consultation closes but I got the feeling that the school is prepared to move a bit. But how much? That I don't know. Keep going with the responses.

Parking at the Chine Farnham

2012-01-13T23:05:00.000Z

Attended a meeting with local MP Jeremy Hunt and residents to see what could be done about parking on the grass verges of this road. The problem's there for all to see - residents' and visitors' (to the block of flats nearby) vehicles with nowhere else to go, and chewing up the grass not to mention obscuring sight lines at this junction and basically detracting from the scenery.

But what to do? We've been wrestling with the issue for years and I fully sympathise with residents' frustrations. Jeremy suggested a compromise solution - discouraging people from parking in the triangle of grass hard by the main road, and we'll set about doing that. Hope it works and good for him for suggesting it, but I wish we could find a more complete answer.

School Admissions - No More Anonymous Comments Please

2012-01-10T09:37:00.000Z

I've always allowed anonymous comments on this blog as I believe that this facility has contributed to a better flow of information on all the important topics that have been raised.

But I'm afraid that too many of the comments verge on, or exceed, the limits of acceptability and I have decided not to allow anonymous comments any more, and to take down those comments that are not signed.

So please feel free to say what you think needs saying but make sure you put your details in. I haven't been able to alter the blog settings to stop anonymous comments automatically, but I'll be removing them as soon as I see them.

Very regrettable I'm afraid but things have gone a little OTT. I repeat: please comment as you wish but you now need to identify yourself.

Proposed Admissions for 2013 at Weydon School

2012-01-09T23:48:00.001Z

The controversy over South Farnham Primary School's proposed admissions for 2013 seems to have overshadowed another admissions' consultation that's just as important: Weydon School (11-16-year-olds) is consulting on their own admissions for 2013. The consultation closes on 20 Feb 2012 and is on Weydon's web-site.

The major change as far as I can see is a significant extension of siblings' priority. Currently, the older child would have to be actually at the school at the date of arrival of the younger sibling to be given priority. That will change to the older sibling being able to have left up to two years beforehand, surely leading to more younger siblings having priority over other children living nearer.

As per South Farnham, I have asked the Local Education Authority to 'run the numbers' and will definitely comment before the deadline although, as merely a locally-elected representative at the Local Education Authority, I (and Surrey County Council) have no formal part to play because Weydon School is an academy.

I hope that many local parents will make their views known so that the school will get it right.

Public Meeting about 2013 Admissions to South Farnham Primary School

2012-01-06T23:08:00.000Z

Carole Cockburn, Martin Lear and myself, all local councillors in some way for the Bourne Farnham, met with Surrey education officers this morning to discuss the proposed admissions criteria. As Bourne councillors, we concentrated on the effect that the new siblings rule would have on the availability of Bourne children getting in to their local Bourne-based school.

Predicting the numbers of children who may be affected is not easy as so much depends on guessing what parents will do, but we came away with our fears confirmed - the proposals will make it harder for local children to go to their local school since significantly more places are likely to be occupied by siblings who will live further away (nothing against them per se of course but they will crowd out 'non-sibling' children who live nearer).

We have decided to hold a public meeting to see how best to get South Farnham Primary School governors to think again. Publicity for this will be going out in the next couple of days and of course we shall invite the school along to put their case.

Everyone is invited to:

St Martin's Hall Dene Lane Monday 16 January at 20.00.

We hope as many concerned parents as possible can come along to give their views.

Please note that, as Bourne councillors, we anticipate concentrating on the 'Bourne siblings' issue, not others, important as they may be to other groups.

Follow-up to Sandrock Hill Flooding

2012-01-05T23:39:00.003Z

Good news about the flooding in Sandrock Hill - emergency crews pumped out the water over the New Year and cleared the main offending gully. All seems to be well in the short term although I'm sorry that it seemed to take so long.

That was only a temporary fix though and we need to investigate a longer-term solution. First off, I've arranged a site meeting for local councillors and residents to meet the highways officers. It will take place at 11.00 on Friday 13 January and I hope that it will kick-start a project to eliminate the problem.

Wild Weather

2012-01-03T18:36:00.001Z

Today's winds saw the end of the exceptionally mild weather we've had across the county. Surrey's call-centre tells me that they've had over 400 calls regarding trees on the highways, and crews will be working through the night to continue the clearance job.

I know about two significant incidents in South Farnham (but of course there may be others I haven't heard of). Outside More House School there was a very dangerous branch across the carriageway, horizontal at head-height. I reported it as an emergency, as did others, and am glad it has been removed.

In addition, Shortheath Road to the West of the Ridgway shops was reported completely blocked. When I went to take a look about a hour ago I saw it had been more or less cleared, with branches stacked on the side of the road ready for disposal. Some necessary signs/cones etc still there but not to my mind quite enough so I've asked the county emergency team to take a look and 'beef up' (?flashing lights) as soon as possible.

Very pleased and grateful that the emergency clearance crews seemed to have sparked well.

Sandrock Hill Road Farnham Flooding

2011-12-30T22:47:00.001Z

Sandrock Hill Road in Farnham is on the list for resurfacing next year - see my post of 21 December. Just as well, the surface is again starting to crack up and I've asked that the potholes be fixed ASP.

A separate issue, but just as annoying for residents and motorists, is the great pool of water near the junction with Rock Lane. Probably caused by a blocked gully and I've reported it - hope it's done as soon as possible in the New Year. Thanks to the resident who alerted me - it was a new one to me since I seem to have gone along there only in fine weather recently. My fellow ward councillor, John Ward, is also on the case so between us we will get some action - definitely on the 'chase' list.

My Three Roads all to Get Surface Treatment

2011-12-21T13:55:00.001Z

Every year, all county councillors get to nominate three roads in their division that they think are most in need of attention. The nominations are scored and the points added to those given by highways engineers for road condition etc - so councillor points give a road a 'leg-up' but aren't the main determinant, which is as it should be.

My three roads last year were (in alphabetical order): Sandrock Hill Road, Tilford Road and Wrecclesham Hill. I'm really pleased that, when Surrey's list of roads to be done next year were announced last week, my three all appeared.

Sandrock Hill Road will get the full works: dug-up, the existing surface scraped down and a complete resurfacing. The other two will be surface-dressed which means nothing will be taken away but a layer of tarmac added - quick and inexpensive.

Of course, we'd all like more roads to be treated but that's how the system works - the worst get done and the others move up in the queue. Haven't thought about the three for next year but will turn to that after Christmas - and would welcome suggestions.

On-Street Parking Charges in Central Farnham

2011-12-20T22:10:00.001Z

An important step forward taken at the Waverley Local Committee meeting last week on introducing parking charges in streets such as Castle Street. We councillors approved a scheme to go out to statutory consultation and that will now happen in the New Year. The proposals will be publicised widely in the local press and on Surrey's web-site but the outline is available in the Committee papers. Go to surreycc.gov.uk/waverley, scroll down to committee papers and it's Item 11 of the meeting on 16 December.

We have been wrestling with what to do with Castle Street and other roads for literally years - trying to get the balance right between residents' and shoppers' parking and, frankly, seeing if the council can raise money from charges, to be spent on highways improvements. The latest scheme was aired at a public meeting earlier this year and, to my surprise, approved of strongly. Since then, although elsewhere in the county proposals to charge for on-street parking have raised a storm, I've had no objections at all.

But, when Farnham residents and businesses actually see the details of what's on offer, that could change - that's one of the reasons for such an extensive consultation. I hope lots of people respond once the consultation opens. It's important that people in favour also write in as well as those against so decision-makers can get a true idea of what people think.

The proposals are forecast to raise a fair amount of revenue and local councillors have been arguing strongly that this stays in the Farnham area to be spent locally. We haven't won that battle yet but will keep fighting.

2013 School Admissions to South Farnham Primary School

2011-12-17T17:57:00.004Z

South Farnham Primary School has published its proposed admissions criteria for the school year starting September 2013. There are significant changes from the current system and admissions patterns will (in my view) have a great effect on the local community. The consultation lasts until 27 January.

The proposals are on South Farnham School's web-site. The two main changes are that there is a 'South of the A31 Farnham Bypass' bias in some circumstances (read the complete document for details) and all younger siblings have a priority track to go to the Bourne campus regardless of whether their older sibling went through or would have gone to the Bourne pre-amalgamation or even whether the family is in the immediate area. There are fears that many local Farnham Bourne children will be excluded by this provision.

Although Surrey County Council is (unfortunately in my opinion) excluded from any formal role because the school is now an academy, I have asked them to use their considerable expertise in admissions to weigh up the implications and if possible to put estimated numbers against the various criteria.

The issue is causing a local stir, quite understandably, and I'm considering holding a public meeting in the New Year so that all the issues can be debated in public. First off though, I'll contact the school to see what they're doing.

Naturally, I will want to respond and I know that other local councillors will do the same, so would welcome comments. Happy also to meet with parents who fear they will be affected to hear their concerns at first hand.

Parking in the Farnham Great Austins Area

2011-12-14T23:33:00.001Z

Commuter parking round Farnham Station is gradually spreading further and further into local residential streets, and is now reaching the Conservation Area in the roads leading off Great Austins, about 10 minutes walking time from the station. Parking here became more prevalent when some of the streets near Waverley Lane to the East came into the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) thus causing displacement parking. I supported this on balance because there were clear safety hazards involved with parking near schools, but it has undeniably caused problems elsewhere.

There's talk of expanding parking at the station - by building a two-story parking block for instance - but I am dubious whether this will ever happen and, even if it does, then commuters will still in my view seek free street parking rather than pay the £5.00+ daily charges.

Solutions, as always with parking issues, are difficult but one idea is to make the whole of Great Austins Conservation Area a CPZ, thus restricting parking there. But where will it then go?

However, this has to be looked at properly and county have put it on their list for consideration next year following a proper study and detailed consultation. We kick off with an informal meeting that I've arranged (following requests from residents) with the parking team on 24 February.

So at least there is a process underway to tackle the issue, but I'm under no illusions that it will be easy.

Launch of Surrey Hills Tourist Initiative

2011-12-12T23:16:00.004Z

Privileged in my Surrey Vice-Chairman hat to open a conference at the newly-restored Watts Gallery in Compton (the gallery looks stunning, thanks to a hefty lottery award and dedicated fund-raising over the years). The occasion was the Surrey launch of the 'Our Land' tourist project, a web-site funded by government - so free to users - for tourist businesses and operators to advertise their wares, whether it's accommodation, produce or whatever.

Tourism is increasingly important to Surrey and we've got a lot to boast about: the Surrey Hills, the heathland, stately homes, recreation facilities of all kinds including (a mile from me at Frensham) a beach. People wanting to offer their services should just get onto the web-site and follow the instructions - to repeat, it's all free.

The conference was told that 'Our Land' has been really successful already with hotel and B&B bookings directly attributable to it, so it sounds a winner.

Christmas Tea at Wrecclesham Community Centre

2011-12-09T18:49:00.001Z

Very kindly invited to one of our local community centres to have tea with the 20 or so local residents who regularly use the centre - and very good it was too. Carols from the Pilgrims Way school choir to start with (amazing) and then good food, drink and conversation.

The latter turned to local affairs, quite naturally. I came away with some snapshots of what some people were thinking. In no particular order: concerns over the nature of the East St development, impatience that the council weren't getting on with it, praise for the builders currently redeveloping St Peter's School just round the corner, universal approval about how 'buzzy' the community centre was getting, complaints that the temperature of the Farnham Sports Centre Swimming Pool was too low.

In response: reaffirmed my personal support for the development, explained that the council were as impatient as anyone to get things moving but held up by the global credit crunch, made a note to tell St Peter's that their builders seemed to be doing a good job in relating to the local community, will thank the Management Committee of the centre for their good work, and will drop a line to the Sports Centre relaying the message on temperature.

A good afternoon, enjoyed listening and talking (and won some Christmas tree decorations in the raffle), and some serious stuff too. What came over overwhelmingly was how much people loved their neighbourhood, which was uplifting to hear.

Christmas Tree Festival Frensham Church

2011-12-07T15:08:00.001Z

Not a political or council subject for a change but, since it's taken up a fair amount of my time over the last few days, I thought I would mention this festival. 46 individually-decorated trees in my local Frensham church of St Mary's (where I help ring the bells every Sunday) last week-end for all to see, at an entry price of £3 to raise money for a vestry extension. A huge amount of effort, ingenuity and design flair by local villagers and organisations really paid off: the church looked just magical and we raised over £2300.

The winning tree was a 'bottle tree', a cleverly-arranged pyramid of (empty) bottles, just by the main alter. Congratulations to the builders and I hope they enjoyed 'preparing' ie drinking, the bottles first.

Next festival will be 7 and 8 December 2013 so please put it in your diaries.

Superfast Broadband

2011-12-05T22:47:00.001Z

A most informative seminar at County Hall today on superfast broadband roll-out in Surrey. It's become recognised that this is an essential business need as well as being highly desirable to most residents. The problem is getting to be access to it.

Urban areas like Farnham are OK - they will either have access already or will do so shortly. The problem is more with the rural areas, such as Frensham where I live, because it's not so far profitable for a provider such as BT Openreach to invest in highly-expensive infrastructure to provide a relatively few number of people with the opportunity.

Surrey County Council and the government are coming to the rescue however. County are putting in tens of millions of pounds, and government a bit less, to make the whole of Surrey accessible to superfast broadband. If all goes well, contracts will be signed next year. The exact technology isn't yet clear: it might be fibre optic to neighbourhood cabinets, wireless channels such as already exist for mobile phone coverage or even satellite for some (very expensive though). We'll wait for the market to come up with an answer.

By the way, by 'access to superfast broadband' we mean a terminal of some sort being available nearby so users can hook up to it at a reasonable cost and quality - not literally providing free broadband to everyone's home.

East St Farnham

2011-11-30T23:13:00.001Z

At the local elections earlier this year in May, Farnham conservatives gave the following pledges in relation to the forthcoming development in the east part of the town (called the East Street Development). We all stated in our manifesto:

The long-stop date (when both Waverley Borough Council and the developer Crest Nicholson can walk away from the existing contract) is 31st December 2011. The Conservatives at Waverley will not extend this. If the existing contract breaks down, we will campaign for a smaller scheme which still has a cinema and a better Day Centre.

I was asked yesterday evening in Waverley's Executive meeting whether this pledge, now that eight months have elapsed, still stands, and was glad to say 'Yes, it does'.

I don't think in fact that the first promise - not to extend the long-stop date - will need to be discharged because it's highly unlikely that, with 31 days to go, the developer will ask for the date to be extended. But, if they do, then I will vote against granting their request.

As for the 2nd pledge - to campaign for a smaller scheme if the current contract breaks down, again - because I am optimistic that the present contract will be implemented - I don't think that I will be called upon to implement the pledge (so different from earlier this year when the scheme, to my eyes, was in doubt). But, if that unlikely eventuality comes to pass, then I will fulfil the pledge to the best of my energy and ability.

Tilford Road Water Mains Works Done

2011-11-25T17:36:00.001Z

Very pleased to see that South East Water have finished their new water main along Tilford Road Farnham one month ahead of schedule - well done to them.

I think the works have gone well. I got very few comments - just one asking me to check that the company are going to reinstate some damaged verges on the diversion route of Old Frensham Road (Surrey highways are checking) and evidently a few HGVs went head-to-head at the junction of OF Rd and the A287. But these were minor compared to what could have happened.

Pedestrian Crossing at the Bourne Cross-roads

2011-11-23T23:16:00.001Z

A number of comments recently from parents of children at the Bourne campus of South Farnham Primary School asking why there isn't a pedestrian crossing at the Bourne shops.

We've been trying for years to get one but the answer has always been the same: in order to have a safe crossing you have to ensure that sight lines for pedestrians and motorists are good enough for them to see each other, and that means doing away with the parked cars outside the shops. But if you do that, then you hammer the shops' business as they get a lot of trade from passing motorists. The choice is fairly stark: it's a pedestrian crossing or the shops - you can't have both. I wish this weren't the case but repeated analysis over the years has not found a magic way out of this dilemma.

Help might be at hand however once some sort of development of the garage at the north end of the cross-roads gets underway. It's held up at the moment in the planning process but I'm hopeful that something acceptable will emerge quite soon. That will pave the way for money for a crossing nearer the vet's surgery - not ideal since that's not where many people want to cross, but better than nothing.

Winter salting - Boundstone and Sandrock Hill Road Upgraded

2011-11-17T17:23:00.001Z

I'm very pleased to say that months of lobbying at County Hall have worked: Surrey County Council have put extra resources into snow and ice clearance for this winter (but I hope it won't be needed) and have upgraded Boundstone Road and Sandrock Hill Road to Priority One.

That means that they will be at the front of the queue, together with the other major roads in the area, when it comes to regular salting and snow clearance. Equally to the point, county have laid in extra supplies of salt for more roads to be serviced in this way so, unless the government commandeer supplies as they did last year, we should be OK. This will all cost money but, if we get the conditions of the previous two winters, then it's surely well spent.

Western Cluster Meeting

2011-11-16T23:26:00.001Z

To the initiated, the heading is obvious: it refers of course to the regular meeting of towns and parishes in the West of the Borough of Waverley in Surrey that's held in Waverley's Council Chamber every six months. We had the latest one, which I chaired, on Monday evening.

I thought it went reasonably well - and very often meetings of this kind don't - as a number of important topics were discussed and, much more to the point, follow-up actions minuted. Foremost to my mind were the impending county bus review which will affect a number of little-used bus routes (but vital perhaps for the few who use them) and the general difficulty on both sides of communicating what we're doing.

On the former, towns and parishes asked to join in with the briefing session that we are arranging with Surrey County Council's bus team on 6 Dec - the answer is 'Yes', having taken soundings with councillor colleagues, and we'll be letting everyone know tomorrow. And on the communications issue, we'll just have to try harder, everyone that is. In my experience, failures in communication aren't deliberate, but stem from forgetfulness allied to lack of imagination: try to put yourself in residents' or other organisations' shoes and ask yourself what information you would like to receive. It isn't easy!

Rerouting the A325 out of Farnham Town Centre

2011-11-11T22:01:00.001Z

I have put down a formal question to the local highways manager for the next meeting of the joint Surrey County/Waverley Borough committee meeting on 16 December as follows:

Many people in Farnham are in favour of officially rerouting the A325 away from Farnham town centre and on to the roads to the South, East and North of the town. In this way, through traffic, especially HGVs, would have a greater incentive to avoid the congested town centre.

What is the procedure for doing this, how much would it cost, and what in your opinion are the advantages and disadvantages?

This issue has been talked about for years and it's really time we came to a solution one way or the other. I don't think incidentally that it will be easy to do: it will cost a lot - new signs are very expensive - and has to go through the usual tortuous legal procedure. And will it cause more problems than it solves? Where will the diverted traffic go - Upper Hale, South Farnham? However, the point of the question is to start teasing some of these implications out.

Secondary School Places in South Farnham

2011-11-04T18:13:00.004Z

The deadline for applications for secondary school places in Surrey schools has now passed and parents and children face an anxious few months until they hear whether their first preferences have been achieved.

I don't yet know how many applications there are against places available in South Farnham's only secondary school, Weydon School, but I'll be very surprised if there isn't a significant excess, leading to a long waiting list. The school is now an Academy so can, within reason, run its own admissions policy. Although it has already increased its Published Admissions Number (PAN) from 224 to 252, I am betting that it will come under pressure to go further to prevent children in South Farnham having to be bussed across town or even elsewhere because there isn't room locally. But if they don't want to, then there is little that county can do about it.

I have asked Surrey's Director of Education, Nick Wilson, formally to let me have his plans to deal with any shortage. I know that Surrey also has concerns and the sooner that a strategy is publicised to deal with them, the better.

Encroaching Vegetation in South Farnham

2011-11-02T22:31:00.001Z

Pleased to see that county's 'vegetation gang' has been out and about in South Farnham doing some much-needed autumn tidying-up. My top three have all been done although I'm sure there's lots more to do.

So I can strike off the list the road outside the Bourne Hall, the Shortheath Road opposite the Brambleton Avenue turn-off and Firgrove Hill near the Ridgway Cross-roads - until the shrubs grow back next year that is.

Service level Agreements with Community Organisations

2011-11-01T22:46:00.002Z

One of the ways that Waverley Borough Council is trying to improve the value for money it (and residents of the borough) get from the hundreds of thousands of pounds that it awards to community and voluntary organisations each year is to explore getting the major ones onto a longer-term 'Service Level Agreement'. In return for a, say, three-year arrangement, the council would state more explicitly what it wants to get out of its funding. This is surely especially important as the financial screw tightens and we need to get every penny's worth of value out of the money paid over by council tax payers.

Organisations have told us that they welcome this approach in principle - at least, most of them have said that - as it gives them greater opportunities to plan ahead.

So we're launching three pilots: with the community minibus company HOPPA, arts centre The Maltings and the CAB. First off is a general discussion (no money on the table) that I'm chairing to see what an SLA might look like, and we've had these with HOPPA and CAB, successfully I think, and the Maltings to come. A long way to go, but I'm reasonably confident we'll get there. To answer some people's criticisms: yes, it will take a little more work and some effort on both sides, but once a workable SLA is in place, life should be easier for everyone and all concerned will be able to concentrate on providing services to their clients.

Surrey County Council Bus Review

2011-10-28T18:32:00.005+01:00

The all-Surrey bus review has now reached Farnham, with a consultation document published (www.surreycc.gov.uk/busreview) earlier this week which will be publicised widely. The consultation's open until 31 January 2012 and everyone's urged to make their view felt.

I support the review in principle as I don't believe we get the best value for the enormous (over £11m pa) amount of taxpayers' money spent on subsidising services, and the network can surely be improved. But we must get it right, especially for people with little access to a car. So the consultation is extremely important and will certainly be one of my top priorities for the next few months.

In South Farnham, there are three services to the centre of Farnham and beyond - 16, 18 and 19. None of these are proposed to be axed and the routes as far as travel to Farnham are concerned are not suggested for any alteration.

One option (not a firm one) however is that the No 19 running from the Bourne into the town centre could be made a two-hourly service, rather than the one-hourly service as at present. I'll be interested in what people say about this but my immediate reaction is 'no', the service needs to stay at the current frequency.

I'd be interested in people's views.

Winter Preparations - Salt Bins

2011-10-26T23:37:00.001+01:00

As the days draw in, many people's minds are turning to winter, and the snow and ice that it brings. Who can tell whether we will continue last year's pattern of having an unprecedented amount of pre-Christmas snow, or will the huge (and expensive) preparations that councils have made all be wasted.

I'm told that County have now refilled the 1500 or so bins throughout Surrey - and 49 of them are in my division of Farnham South. The ones I've inspected seem to have been filled but, if anyone notices one that has been missed, please let me know.

I paid for several new bins out of my local allocation last year but I know of one or two locations where residents are keen to have one installed: those I'm pursuing with highways but, if anyone thinks there should be others at particular locations, get in touch and I'll see what I can do (no promises).

Please don't use the salt for private driveways.

Thanks for Sorting Out Salt Bin

2011-10-24T22:29:00.000+01:00

A thank-you to the public-spirited person who put right the up-ended salt and grit bin at the junction of the A287 and Bourne Firs. I had seen it in its vandalised state and reported it so that it could be reinstalled and filled, but someone beat the highways service to it.

Thanks!

Gravel Hill Speeding

2011-10-21T21:40:00.000+01:00

Motorists are still speeding down Gravel Hill in ever increasing numbers it seems. The local Community Speedwatch team is recording so many transgressors that evidently the police queried whether they were handling the equipment properly! (They were).

It's not just an academic matter: at school times, the bottom of the hill is filled with children and there are natural fears that a dreadful accident is waiting to happen.

What to do? I'm asking the police to step up their enforcement and put back the Vehicle Activated Signs that used to be there. And the white linings on the road have recently been refreshed. I've also asked highways to investigate putting down signs on the carriageway.

Longer term, a pedestrian crossing should do the trick in slowing vehicles down. It's my No 1 priority in South Farnham and I'm hopeful that the money can be found eventually. Must keep battling on!

Vocational College Tomlinscote School

2011-10-20T23:34:00.000+01:00

Had the honour of representing Surrey County Council at the formal opening (by HRH the Duke of Kent KG) of Tomlinscote's new Vocational College at its campus in Frimley. I was really impressed by what I saw - not so much by the building itself, which looked fantastic nevertheless, but by the enthusiasm and industry of the students who were demonstrating their skills.

Carpentry, hairdressing and beauty, football coaching, film animation, advanced IT graphics skills, catering: all giving young people aged 16-18 a proper grounding in skills that will be useful for life. Especially football I was told - the USA is crying out for English-speaking coaches to cater for the explosive growth in 'soccer' over there.

It may be just my imagination, and one can't extrapolate too much from one particular example, but the whole subject of 'vocational' as opposed to 'academic' education seems to be getting a higher profile. If so, surely that's a good thing. Tomlinscote, and I'm sure lots of other Surrey schools, appear to have thought long and hard about how to give all their pupils a tailored education that will last for life, and, judging from today, are achieving their vision triumphantly.

'Championing Parents' County Task Group

2011-10-18T22:57:00.003+01:00

At a meeting in County Hall today where one of the subjects was the setting up of a councillor task group to see how parents could be given a greater role in Surrey County Council's education set-up. An excellent idea and my contribution was to urge that the terms of reference of the group should be strengthened to see how parents could be more involved in actual decision-making - not easy procedurally, but the effort should surely be made.

As many parents and grand-parents in my division of Farnham South and indeed the rest of the area will attest to, admissions issues in this part of the world are becoming really contentious, with a rising birthrate, 'inward migration' and a very complex web of state, church, academy and private schools making life difficult for too many parents who rightly expect the very best for their offspring. I believe parents have considerable influence in the system already (but some may disagree with this statement) but we should see how this could be strengthened further.

Waverley Council Replaces Health Money

2011-10-17T22:45:00.000+01:00

I had the pleasurable task this morning of signing letters to about 20 local organisations telling them that they had just been awarded a total of £25,000 as a one-off to replace funds that had originally been promised by the local Primary Care Trust, NHS Surrey, and then withdrawn when the PCT decided to stop funding out of one particular pot at the end of November rather than the end of the financial year as had been originally promised.

Individual grants are in the hundreds and low thousands of pounds - not quite enough to replace all the money but hopefully of some use to allow these crucial health and social care-related bodies to carry on for a bit longer. When a small pot of gold became available earlier this year, I (as the Communities Executive Member at Waverley Council) wanted to show that we really cared about the communities sector and wanted to help.

No-one is immune from the current financial difficulties and Waverley for one is having to advise those we support that money will be extra-tight next year - but we try to give as much notice as possible and, at all costs, stick to our promises.

The bidding round for our 'Communities Fund' where we distribute hundreds of thousands of pounds to the communities sector has just opened and I look forward to receiving a host of excellent applications, not just from those we know well over the years, but from new applicants too.

On-Street Car-parking in Farnham

2011-10-13T23:23:00.002+01:00

The new Leader at Surrey County Council, David Hodge - best of luck to him by the way - has announced a change to the Council's policy to impose on-street parking charges throughout the county. It will now be up to local determination, the details to be announced later (no worries, I'm happy that the intent is clear but recognise that dismantling an existing county-wide policy needs careful processing which can't be done overnight).

For Farnham, this paves the way for everyone to get involved in formulating a sensible system to balance the needs of short-term shoppers (who need to dash in to go to the bank and so on), longer-term visitors to the town centre, and residents. No need to rush, any new system will need to be carefully formulated and then consulted on.

When the three county councillors representing Farnham divisions held a public meeting earlier this year to see what residents and traders thought, I must say that I was expecting some flak: not so - the principle of charging seemed to go down well. That may change of course once more residents get involved and the detailed options become clearer, but it contrasts (so far) with the violent opposition experienced in other parts of the county.

What will happen now is that parallel proposals for turning over some parts of Castle Street to residents-only parking will go out to formal consultation soon and then, depending on how that goes, we will put forward some options on how to manage other areas currently open to free parking.

This will be a long-running and controversial topic. Lots of different issues, needs and influences but I'll stop there for now.

FamilyLine Surrey

2011-10-10T23:05:00.002+01:00

Representing Surrey County Council at the AGM of FamilyLine Surrey last Thursday evening, I was able to meet a number of volunteers who man the helpline and give essential behind-the-scenes support. FamilyLine is unique in that it provides a non-judgemental and confidential telephone support service for 'any family member looking for help and emotional support'. It's been going for 17 years now and has provided a lifeline for thousands of families.

Surrey County Council gives an annual grant I'm glad to say and I was pleased to be able to record how appreciative we at County Hall are at their wonderful efforts.

FamilyLine is very special but the spirit that animates it is fortunately common throughout the county: volunteers just getting on with it to help their less fortunate fellow-residents. We live in a blessed part of the world.

The helpline number is 0808 800 5678 or help@familyline.org.uk.

BT Cabinet at Bourne Cross-Roads

2011-10-07T17:32:00.002+01:00

Further to my blog of 28 August, I've been pursuing the incorrect siting of the new broadband cabinet at the Bourne Cross-roads. Together with reps from the Bourne Conservation Group and other local councillors, we had a meeting with BT to ask them to move the cabinet as previously agreed - on safety and environmental grounds.

The meeting was positive, with the company saying they would look again but unfortunately I received a most unhelpful email afterwards saying they wouldn't reconsider. I have replied saying I'll take it further, which I certainly will. Next action is to talk to the local highways officer when he returns from leave on Monday to find out exactly what view highways had - there seems to be a dispute on that although, from the copies of emails I was copied in to, there was a firm highways objection on the grounds of impeded sightlines.

A disappointment, but only a temporary one I hope, and I (and I'm sure local residents) won't let it rest there.

Waverley Borough Council Grants

2011-10-04T23:04:00.000+01:00

Waverley's Executive tonight launched its bidding round for grants to community, arts and volunteer organisations tonight. Letters will be going out in the next day or so asking organisations such as Citizens' Advice Bureau, the borough's day centres and many others to apply for funding from the council. Last year we allocated over £700,000 and we expect to give substantial amounts again for the next financial year, although the amount may well be down a little since the grants we receive from central government look like reducing by some 12%.

The application process will be simplified so that it will hopefully be less of a burden on organisations. Although the final decisions on grants won't be made formally until the council's budget meeting in February, we're hoping to announce indicative awards before Christmas so that people can start planning their budgets in good time.

But an important aspect about the bidding round is to encourage other organsations not already on our books to apply, so we'll be publicising the launch as widely as we can.

Government Money for Weekly Waste Collections

2011-09-30T23:54:00.002+01:00

I am greeting the news that there is apparently £250m being allocated to bring back weekly waste collections with some reserve. My first thought was 'does the country really have this kind of money to splash around when we're being told on all sides how strapped for cash we are?'

Waverley already have an excellent waste collection service - weekly, in that recyclables and other rubbish is collected on alternate weeks - and we're about to make it even better by introducing a universal weekly food waste collection service plus letting householders put all their recyclables - tins, bottles, glass, plastics etc - in the same wheelie bin for subsequent sorting. I don't think we need to collect literally everything every week.

Details are vague at the moment but we're also hearing that the money (not sure how much to each council) will cover 2 1/2 years of operation but we have to sign up up for five years!

Of course, if we see the money just going elsewhere, then we'll have to bid for our fair share but, at first sight, this seems an offer that is best dealt with by a polite 'thanks, but no thanks.'

No 16 Bus through Farnham

2011-09-29T17:49:00.002+01:00

In the last few days I've been getting a number of complaints about the No 16 bus, mainly centred around unpunctuality. A new operator took over in the Summer and I'm hearing that the service has deteriorated.

I've asked Surrey County Council's bus department to look into this and report back. If anyone has their own experiences to add please let me know so I can add it to the 'dossier'.

Water Mains Works

2011-09-27T12:37:00.004+01:00

The closure of Tilford Road (see my post of 9 Sep) has now happened and I drove the route this morning. There have been understandable fears that the diversion route wouldn't be able to cope with the extra traffic, especially HGVs, and I asked for extra warning signs to be installed to try to keep the pressure off hot-spots like the Bourne Cross-roads, Lodge Hill Road and Clumps Road. All seemed to be well and I haven't had any complaints as at day 2.

But I'd welcome comments, either approving or otherwise. It's important that highways keep tabs on the situation and be prepared to react if there are continuing problems on the ground - bearing in mind that some disruption in this crowded and traffic-heavy part of the world is inevitable.

Creative Response

2011-09-26T22:27:00.003+01:00

Creative Response offer a therapeutic arts-based service for people who experience severe and enduring mental distress. Although each session is tailored to the individual needs of the service user, they share a common theme of using arts (not just painting but sculpture, music and other creative fields) as a healing and support process. My words, I am sure that they could express it better.

I went to visit them in Vernon House Farnham at their request: they are understandably worried that Surrey County Council, who are significant funders, will have to reduce their support in these stringent times. I couldn't offer any immediate assurance without knowing the facts, so promised to contact Surrey's 'link officer' to arrange a meeting where Creative Response could express their concerns direct and hopefully receive assurances.

I have now been in touch and am very pleased to say that my request has fallen on fertile ground. I'll be arranging a meeting for the near future.

New Leader for Surrey County Council

2011-09-23T20:39:00.003+01:00

Following Dr Andrew Povey's resignation as Leader, the Conservative Group has elected the former Deputy Leader, David Hodge, as his replacement as Group Leader. He was unopposed, and will be now be our nomination for Leader of the Council when we next meet on 11 October. As we Conservatives have a commanding majority in the Council, barring fate, he will assume that job then.

I am very pleased that David has agreed to accept the role (for which I made the formal proposal) and look forward to working with him. David comes from Tandridge, as far away from Farnham as a Surrey councillor can get, but I do not hold that against him!

Resignation of Surrey County Council's Leader

2011-09-21T22:37:00.003+01:00

Surrey County Council's press office this afternoon put out a press release saying that my county councillor colleague, Dr Andrew Povey, the Leader of the Council, intends to resign as Leader on 11 October, the date of the next full county council meeting. He wishes to 'develop [his] business interests.'

I have known Andrew for many years and can attest that, in the 2 1/2 years he has been Leader, he has presided over a much improved council. I think he has been a very good Leader and I hope he will still devote his talents to the service of Surrey's residents.

School Placements

2011-09-20T10:37:00.004+01:00

As so many parents in Farnham know to their cost, school places in the area are hard to come by. This is especially true if you arrive half-way through the year, too late to apply formally for a school place with everyone else.

I've had two distressing cases recently where 'late arrivals' have got nowhere with Surrey's education service so asked me as their local county councillor for help. I can't of course go into the details since they are private to me and the families concerned but suffice to say that my investigations found that it was procedures, not policies, that were to blame. Both cases have a happy outcome and I just hope that, now they seem to be settled, the children involved can forget the anxious weeks thy've gone through, and settle down to enjoy an excellent education.

There's a wider point about how councillors can help their residents: and sometimes alas they can't. Fundamentally, we cannot alter the consequences of general council policies that have been properly arrived at. But we can (and do) ensure that the policies - in this case school admissions - have been applied fairly to individual cases and that the service has followed the right procedures. In these two cases, they hadn't and it took a councillor to say: 'hang on, have we got it right?'

So it's always worthwhile contacting your local councillor. Sometimes they can't be of assistance but frequently they can. For my part, it's one of the joys of the role.

On-Street Parking in Farnham

2011-09-19T18:40:00.003+01:00

An update on last week's blog. Although some of the proposals weren't actually discussed at Friday's councillor committee meeting (they will appear later), the main ones as far as residents' concerns went were taken forward.

We decided to go out to formal consultation on making the top end of Castle street residents-only parking. This will now be advertised widely - see Surrey's web-site in due course for the details and I'm sure the Farnham Herald will carry the detailed scheme. There seems to be general agreement that this is a good move so I'm expecting the changes to go ahead without too much delay - after all, they've been around for over a decade to my personal knowledge and perhaps longer.

In South Farnham, the minor extensions of parking restrictions were approved, again for formal consultation. I'm particularly pleased that some very dangerous junctions are set to get yellow lines round them to prevent parking there.

Myself and other local councillors asked for, and received, an assurance that there will be another phase of the review to look, amongst other issues, at extending the Controlled Parking Zone to cover a wider area round the station. Surrey officers will now get this moving.

Army Driver Training in Farnham

2011-09-14T23:13:00.005+01:00

An update on my blog of 2 September. I have now asked our local MP, Jeremy Hunt, to add his weight to get a meeting with J Coates, the firm undertaking army driver training in South Farnham. To repeat: I'm not anti-services in any way but local residents are saying that they take an unfair share of the inevitable disruption that occurs. I'd like to discuss the situation with Coates to see if we can't find an equitable solution.

I have heard nothing from them but Mr Hunt has now written - hopefully a response will be forthcoming soon as this matter has dragged on for too long already.

Parking in Farnham

2011-09-12T17:48:00.003+01:00

Two very important issues to be discussed at the Waverley Local Committee on Friday: charging for on-street parking on some streets in central Farnham (notably Castle St) and some extensions of the Controlled Parking Zone throughout the town. The committee will be deciding whether to accept Surrey Highways Service's recommendations that their proposals should go out for full public consultation or whether they should be amended or even withdrawn.

The full reports can be found on Surrey County Council's web-site - contact me if you can't find them.

On the first report, on-street parking, I'm hearing that the proposals as regards central Farnham are broadly acceptable. However, that may change as people see the full details of what might happen. Basically, all except residents of the streets involved will be charged to park during the day. I'm minded to vote for the proposals as they stand to be taken a stage further so that everyone can have their say before it's brought back to councillors for a formal 'go/no go' decision later this year.

The second report will be more controversial I think. While I can support some elements, particularly yellow lines to stop dangerous parking on road junctions, I have reservations about extending the zone significantly because it will just lead to people parking elsewhere (displacement parking). In addition, some people will be disappointed that the proposals don't go far enough.

I have asked residents' groups for a discussion as to what we should do so I can be guided as to the full extent of local opinion. But the decision rests with local councillors - that's why we were elected - and I think it will be a hard one.

Water Mains Works in Tilford Road South Farnham

2011-09-09T09:51:00.007+01:00

South East Water are putting in a new water mains in Tilford Road which means that, starting from 26 September, the road will be completely closed for three months. I've been working with highways officers to come up with a suitable diversion route. There's no ideal solution but the best one looks like Old Frensham Road then Lodge Hill Road (or vice-versa for southbound traffic). There are two major pinch-points, apart from any general congestion and they are the junction with Reeds Road (pictured) and the Bourne Cross-roads.

Highways have undertaken to refresh all signs and to watch carefully to see whether the extra traffic, especially HGVs, will be able to handle the diversion, and we will have to think again if this not so. In addition, all businesses likely to get HGVs visiting them will be asked to brief their drivers carefully on the implications.

In this crowded area, there are bound to be some problems but hopefully they can be minimised by this preliminary planning - we will see!

Expansion of St Peter's School Wrecclesham Farnham

2011-09-07T22:35:00.005+01:00

As a member of Surrey County Council's Planning Committee, this morning I voted in favour of the school's application to build more classrooms on its site so that it could expand significantly.

The need for more primary school places in South Farnham is clear but committee members, including myself as the county councillor representing local residents and potential parents, had to weigh up need against the problems caused in this crowded area of many more children, especially the disruption caused as they arrive and leave.

Some local residents have entirely understandably raised concerns about this, and I've already received a complaint from a householder just opposite the school saying she was blocked in by an inconsiderate parent parking across her driveway this morning (the first day of the new school year). She has quite rightly contacted the school to ask that this doesn't happen again, and I'm sure the school will take this up.

The key to making this expansion acceptable is St Peter's travel plan to minimise the number of children arriving by car and to cope with the extra traffic efficiently. The Travel Plan looks good on paper and I'm convinced (knowing the school as I do) that they will implement it as best they can. I still have some doubts however, and have asked Surrey to monitor it carefully as indeed I will - and so will local residents I'm sure.

But I must end by wishing the school the best of luck for this year and in the years to come. It serves children and parents in South Farnham well, and long may it continue to do so.

Army Driver Training in Farnham

2011-09-02T12:23:00.002+01:00

The problem of army driver training HGVs using unsuitable roads in South Farnham doesn't seem to have gone away - I'm still getting justifiable complaints from residents. I've written to the management of the company concerned, J Coates, to seek another meeting to discuss the issue but haven't had a reply.

So I've now asked our local MP, Jeremy Hunt, to see what he can do, perhaps for him to seek a meeting in the near future. The issue has rumbled on for too long now and it's time we got a resolution.

To repeat from my blog of 6 June, no-one I've talked to and certainly not myself is anti-forces in any way and recognise that drivers have to be trained somewhere. It's just that there's a feeling that Farnham is taking more than its fair share and we want to be able to talk this over with the company concerned.

Rubbish Collection in Waverley

2011-09-01T21:50:00.002+01:00

The fortune-teller who told me decades ago that (now aged 63) I would become excited about household rubbish collection has had to wait a long time for her prediction to come true, but her patience has borne fruit: at Waverley's council meeting on Tuesday we gave the stamp of approval for a much better way of collecting rubbish from residents' driveways, to start next April if final contract negotiations go OK.

Away go the three current recycling baskets (we'll take them off you or let you keep them, it's up to you) and instead everyone will get a new, blue bin for all their recyclables - bottles, paper, plastics, cardboard (at last) - which will be taken away, sorted and sold. As now, this will happen every other week and the alternate week will be for stuff destined for land-fill using the present wheelie-bin.

The other good news is that we'll be extending the weekly food-waste collection to all households, not just to flats as at present. Personally, I don't think I'll be taking this service up since I've got a Green Cone at the bottom of my garden which does the job of composting organic matter perfectly well, but a food waste service will be a boon for thousands of households.

And it will all be much cheaper too. Mystic Meg was right!

BT cabinet at the Bourne Cross-roads

2011-08-28T08:21:00.005+01:00

Back from holiday and dealing with the usual mountain of emails. A few local issues that will need attention on Tuesday after the bank holiday, but which I'm in the process of acknowledging.

One such is the siting of the BT cabinet on the Bourne cross-roads (see post of 9 November 2010). Celebrations that the cabinet was to be placed in a more sympathetic position than BT had at first proposed now seem premature. Over the break, a new cabinet has appeared which, although set back a little from the first proposal, hasn't been put at the back of the site, as agreed by BT.

The cabinet itself is good news as it will enable superfast broadband in the Bourne. But it needs resiting, and it'll be one of the first things on my Tuesday morning list.

Lodge Hill Road Farnham

2011-08-13T18:03:00.004+01:00

An update on my post of 21 June, when I reported on various traffic issues on this busy road. A meeting with highways attended also by local councillors duly took place. The main issue seems to be speeding, especially near the entrance and exit to the Bourne School. There could be a solution because county hold about £5000 of 'sec 106' money (given by a developer in the past in connection with a long-since-completed building project). That could be used to fund a 'Warning - School' flashing light or something similar.

First of all though, we have to go back to the developer to check that he's OK with this since the terms of the original grant in 2005 didn't specifically mention a light. Evidently the rules are very strict (too strict for me and lots of other people) so any change of use has to receive permission.

Highways have contacted the developer and we await their reply. I will be very disappointed if something can't be done and will chase in September if nothing heard.

Winter Preparations

2011-08-10T09:50:00.007+01:00

Good news on the winter preparations front. Surrey County Council has scraped together some more money for anti-snow and ice measures this winter.

Firstly, more roads in South Farnham are being put into the 'Priority One' category: those roads which are top priority for gritting vehicles and snow ploughs to keep clear at all costs. And the county has bought much more salt this year in preparation.

The particular roads which will now get better treatment (in addition to the main roads which have always been on the list) are the Boundstone Road and Sandrock Hill Road, Burnt Hill Road, the top half of Little Green Lane (where the school is), most of Greenfield Road and the top half of Green Lane. To my mind, this expanded network covers all the 'hot-spots' in the area - accepting the fact that there aren't the resources to cover literally every road in town.

Secondly, county have agreed to keep all the existing grit bins and refill them in time for the cold weather. As the local county councillor, I still have a small pot of money to install a few more bins where they are needed and would welcome suggestions where they should go.

All this comes at a cost to the taxpayer but, if the next winter is as fierce as the preceding three ones, I am sure that people will think it's worth it.

Update on Highways Issues South Farnham

2011-08-09T09:15:00.005+01:00

On 5 March, I reported on 10 highways issues in my division of Farnham South. Here's an update on how they've progressed six months on.

1. 'Danger - Bend' sign on Ford Lane. The order to install it was duly made but it still hasn't been erected. I have chased.
2. Ponding Wrecclesham Hill outside Black Swan Garage. The area was resurfaced which has largely (but not completely) solved the problem. Wrecclesham Hill is due for complete resurfacing in the near future so that should provide a permanent fix.
3. Flooding Cherry Tree Lane Rowledge. Still there in rainy weather, see my blog of 4 August. I am chasing.
4. White lines at junction Weydon Lane/The Old Orchard (pictured), to discourage thoughtless parking by 'school run' drivers at the nearby Weydon School. I have asked this to be included in the review of all lines and parking bays being undertaken in Farnham and to be publicised soon.
5. Trees on bank at junction A287 Gravel Hill/Middle Bourne Lane. Has the recent cutting-back destabilised the bank? Highways thinks not but we're watching it.
6. Edges of Frensham Vale. A major task to reshape the road edges and no progress yet. Not sure if it's worth it and anyway there isn't any money. But will keep it on the list in case it gets worse.
7. Old Frensham Lane water leak. Finally fixed.
8. Gravel Hill white-lining. The centre lines still to be done and I'm assured that this will happen. The rest is OK and was refreshed recently, as were a number of lines in the area.
9. Sign at miniroundabout Echo Barn Lane/Manley Bridge Road. It had been twisted round but is now in the right position, albeit rather bent.
10. Damaged manhole cover Burnt Hill Road. Finally fixed after a great deal of nagging of the utilities company.

Since then of course, other issues have emerged and I'll report on progress with those too in a few days.

John Bale - Carers' Champion

2011-08-08T22:38:00.003+01:00

Very sorry to hear that John Bale has died after a long fight with cancer. As a long-standing former carer himself he made it his business to champion the cause of carers in Surrey and the increased attention that social services and other agencies now pay to their needs (and more to go, I can hear John saying) is very much due to his tireless advocacy as Chairman of Surrey's Action for Carers organisation. Naturally, lots of others helped but he was perhaps the most persistent - always in a courteous and friendly way, but nevertheless never taking no for an answer.

John was very well known in the social services community and helped to reshape services in the county. He will be much missed.

Flooding in Cherry Tree Road Rowledge

2011-08-04T18:02:00.002+01:00

Driving round South Farnham this afternoon with the local Community Highways Officer, we came across a problem that I thought had been solved a long time ago - a large puddle of water in Cherry Tree Road close by the pub. Apparently highways have been trying to find the source of the blockage for ages but (in view of the puddle that appeared after this morning's downpour) without success.

I am assured that they will keep trying, this time using more sophisticated locating devices to find the blockage but it's annoying that the problem has been around for at least a year now and we don't seem to be any further forward, despite highway's best efforts. I'm told that flooding is one of the more difficult highways' issues to solve and this one bears that out. Keep trying please!

Memorial to Major Matthew Bacon

2011-08-03T22:56:00.003+01:00

Major Matt Bacon would have been 40 on Monday had he not been killed by a roadside bomb in Basra, Iraq, in 2005. His gallantry, enthusiasm and determination was commemorated at a moving but uplifting service at Walton War Memorial on Monday, where a bench was dedicated to his name. As a teenager, Matt had been a member of the Walton detachment of the Army Cadet Force and they organised (very well it must be said) the ceremony in the middle of the town to honour his memory.

I was proud to represent Surrey County Council at this event. There was a very good turn-out including erstwhile colleagues, the Mayor of Elmbridge (who later gave an excellent speech) and Canon Nigel Nicholson, the ACF's Chaplain, who conducted an exemplary service. But the focus was rightly on Major Bacon's family: their dignity and courage were an example to us all. Matt would surely have been proud of them, as they are of him.

Encroaching Hedge Season

2011-07-29T16:29:00.002+01:00

It's the time of year when hedges encroaching on the highway become an issue. I suppose we should be glad that we have so much greenery around, but one can have too much of a good thing.

Most of the time, the hedge in question belongs to the adjoining landowner. Surrey highways have a well-tried (and usually successful) way of dealing with this. First off, a polite card is pushed through the letterbox reminding householders' obligation to keep both sides of their hedge (not just their garden side) trimmed. That nearly always works but, in the rare cases it's ignored, then the reminders get less and less polite. Ultimately, highways has the power to get contractors in to do the job and then send the offender a legally-enforceable bill - but I've never known it come to that. People are after all very reasonable, even if sometimes a little forgetful.

Occasionally, the hedge belongs to highways itself and I've got a couple of instances which I'm chasing. I hope the new system of commissioning minor works coming into force (which I'll report on once more details become clear) will allow highways to clear things up more quickly.

Hindhead Tunnel Opening

2011-07-28T21:50:00.003+01:00

Having spent the last few days in Northumberland, I missed the opening of the tunnel but am very pleased that at least one carriageway is now in business. I share the general view that the tunnel will have a greatly beneficial impact on traffic in the area and am also glad that it came in under budget and on time.

Parochially, as far as South Farnham is concerned, I hope that the tunnel will take a little pressure off the A325 through Wrecclesham and, looking to the longer term, that more money will gradually (very gradually I fear) become available for other road projects in the vicinity such as the Wrecclesham bypass and improvements to the Farnham bypass.

Surrey Credit Union - SurreySave

2011-07-21T18:04:00.002+01:00

I last posted about the formation of a Credit Union in Surrey on Christmas Eve. I was optimistic about the formation of a credit union in the county (justified, as we now have the go-ahead from the Financial Services Authority) and also about the timing - far too optimistic since we've only just had agreement in principle after months of toing and froing. But it looks as though we are finally there.

Although initially sceptical (see my post of 24 December) I'm now firmly convinced that credit unions are an excellent thing, giving a lifeline to people who would otherwise have to turn to the loan-sharks. Waverley Borough Council is very keen on the idea I'm glad to say and I represent the council on the 'Shadow' Board of Management.

We now need to get motoring to put formal governance arrangements in place and start preparing for a launch next Spring - there's a lot of work to do before then. Interviews were held for a Chief Executive earlier this week and I understand that an offer has been made, although we can't go public just yet.

Review of Grants at Waverley Borough Council

2011-07-19T22:40:00.003+01:00

Waverley awards nearly £1m of grants each year to a host of voluntary and community organisations, and are glad to do so - from community transport to Citizens Advice to arts organisations, older people's day centres and many other services, they benefit residents in a way that the council would struggle to achieve by itself.

But this comes at a cost and money is tighter than it's ever been. So we've initiated a review of how we do this and what the council wants to achieve. Initial thinking by a small group of councillors which I chair is that we want to set up 'Service Level Agreements' with more organisations whereby the outcomes they achieve with our money are specified more closely in return for a greater continuity of funding (three year contracts would be the ideal but have difficulties of their own).

We won't be able to negotiate contracts for the 30+ grant organisations all at once so have invited three of them (Citizens Advice Bureaux, HOPPA community transport and the Maltings Arts Centre in Farnham) to come and see us to start talking.

All this at a speculative stage at the moment because it needs to go through the council's normal processes. If we get it right however, both sides will win - the council gets greater reassurance that taxpayer's money is well spent and the organisations themselves will be able to plan for longer-term council funding, something they've been asking for for years.

Building at the Bourne School

2011-07-16T15:28:00.004+01:00

The local Bourne Infants School has now merged with South Farnham Junior School to form South Farnham Community School - so that it is now a single school with two campuses.

The school has put in a planning application to extend the school hall at the Bourne site and produce better facilities for children there. I was approached by local residents who were initially worried that this heralded more children at the Bourne, with all the attendant traffic problems etc. But I think a meeting between residents and the head-teacher which I went to earlier this week, allayed those particular fears, with Mr Carter assuring the meeting that the purpose of the application was to have better facilities for existing children and that NO expansion of numbers were contemplated at the present time.

There were other concerns raised however: parking by staff members in School Lane, the rudeness of a minority of parents when asked politely not to block driveways and potential noise and disruption caused by the construction work. All these aspects the school promised to try to deal with although I sensed a mood of realism in the hall that some problems were endemic to having a school on the doorstep.

The application will be dealt with by Waverley Borough Council and the closing date for comments is 22 July. Everyone who has views are urged to submit them to the council (via their web-site is best) so that the planning committee making the eventual decision has all the information it needs from all parties.

For my part, while recognising the disruption that could be caused (and hopefully some conditions will be imposed to minimise them) I support the application - but it's up to my experienced planning colleagues who I know will consider all the issues very carefullyand come to the right decision.

Speeding outside More House School Farnham

2011-07-13T09:09:00.003+01:00

Met a local resident outside the school yesterday. The road is becoming the unofficial South-West Farnham bypass and, like so many others in the area, was never designed for the volume of traffic that it's now having to cope with.

The local police now have this stretch on their radar - literally, and thanks - and are doing speed surveys to see what can be done in the way of enforcement. This will continue in September once schools reopen. Hopefully something can be done to slow down motorists going down the hill.

The other issue is the crossroads at the bottom of the hill, which I know from personal experience can be very dangerous. I am not sure what can be done to make it safer as, to my inexpert eye, it really needs a complete remodelling to improve sight lines and reduce speeds on all four arms. In conjunction with my neighbouring county councillor (the site is on our joint border) I have asked the highways authority to examine it and come up with suggestions for improvement.

Footpaths by St Peter's School Wrecclesham Farnham

2011-07-08T22:07:00.006+01:00

Several complaints received about the standard of two Rights of Way at the back end of St Peter's School, so I went off to take a look. I quite agree that they are not up to scratch. Too many overhanging branches, a dodgy walking surface and far too much litter and debris at the verges.

I hope help is at hand however. I contacted the Council's excellent Rights of Way Officer (he seems to produce miracles with hardly any budget) and he will put it on the list for attention. I offered to give some funding from the small budgets I control as a county councillor - but if he can find the money from his own resources, then that leaves all the more for me to support other worthy causes.

Waverley Youth Services Reshaping

2011-07-07T21:41:00.004+01:00

Services for young people in the Waverley area are set for quite a shake-up from next April. County is having to slash its budgets radically and is therefore calling for a major change in what it provides. The key proposal is to involve voluntary groups much more in providing 'traditional' services while the county's trained youth workers concentrate on those who need skilled support most: those not in employment, education or training (NEET), young people in danger of entering the criminal justice system and so on.

I'm Chairman of a small county and borough members' task group charged with making recommendations to councillor colleagues this September on what we should be concentrating on and who we should contract to help us. A crucial step will be asking young people themselves and the many voluntary and community groups what they think, and then (not always the inevitable second step) in actually formulating our proposals to take account of their views.

A workshop is being set up for September and I hope that a wide range of people will attend so that we can get the views straight from the coal-face.

Waverley Borough Council's New Waste Contract

2011-07-05T20:09:00.003+01:00

One of Waverley's least glamorous but most important duties is to empty residents' rubbish bins. How much has changed in the last 10 years!: we used to collect one wheelie-bin every week with no questions asked: you put it out, we took it away - and dumped it all into a hole in the ground. Out of sight, out of mind.

These days, we only collect general rubbish once every two weeks (not universally popular but I believe it's the right policy on cost and environmental grounds) and a good variety of recyclables every other week plus a growing food waste service. Our doorstep recycling rate is one of the highest around - in the mid-40% - and far fewer tonnages go to landfill.

We aim to go further though and this was our main manifesto commitment in the recent local elections. Achieve a recycling rate of well over 50% by going 'commingled' - just have one bin for a greater range ofall recyclables so residents wouldn't have to sort stuff themselves, and extend the weekly food waste collection even more.

We're not quite there yet, contractually speaking, but at this evening's Council Executive, we gave the go-ahead to start negotiating in detail for our next waste contractor (whoever it is, it might be the one we have now) to produce proposals to make the council one of the best in the country. I hesitate to call waste collection 'exciting' but our plans could well be described as such.

Salt/Grit Bins in South Farnham

2011-07-04T13:22:00.005+01:00

Winter seems a long time away but the time to start planning for it is now. Part of this involves making a proper inventory of the 44 bins I've counted in my county division of Farnham South, working out which are really necessary (surely the vast majority otherwise they wouldn't have been installed in the first place), making sure they're in the right place, identifying any gaps and finally, ordering salt and grit for the autumn.

That's what's starting to happen now and I'm in communication with the local Community Highways Officer (CHO) to make sure that all bins have been recorded - sounds easy but I know there are several that have just 'appeared' over the years and aren't on anyone's list.

A (possibly) fun task for the next few weeks.

Music Lessons in Schools

2011-06-28T21:35:00.006+01:00

In my hat as Vice-Chairman of Surrey County Council, I visited Tillingbourne Junior School near Guildford to see how the county helps schools teach music, and was entertained by an unexpected treat - two bands of nine-year-olds playing brass and the clarinet. I found it delightful, as did the many parents who attended.

I came away with the firm conviction that giving every child access to learning to play a musical instrument is fundamental. Even if some (like myself) have no aptitude at all, it lets everyone have a go, and I was told that even children who show no interest at the time can sub-consciously remember the experience years later and come back to it.

Funding this sort of non-core activity will always be a problem but I certainly felt encouraged by what I was told happened at Tillingbourne: basically a tri-partite alliance of county, the school and individual parents. In particular, county administer a government scheme to loan out musical instruments (with safeguards to make sure that these fiendishly expensive objects don't come to any harm) to all that need it.

A very uplifting afternoon despite the rain.

Parking Review Meeting on Wednesday

2011-06-27T23:08:00.005+01:00

On-street parking is always a contentious issue: many residents (quite understandably) don't like people parking in the street outside their own houses but the number of cars that people possess and use far outstrips the places available. South Farnham is not immune to this conflict: the presence of the station, local schools and the town centre mean a constantly increasing demand for parking spaces on hitherto quiet residential streets. And there's a safety issue too, especially at busy junctions which need good sight lines which the presence of parked cars hinders.

Surrey County Council is undertaking a review of on-street parking to see whether a better balance can be obtained. Officers are drawing up suggested plans which will be subject to full consultation in the Autumn. In advance of that however, I have arranged a meeting between residents and the local conservation group in an area particularly affected (the Great Austins Conservation Area) on Wednesay (10.00 at the junction Great Austins/Little Austins - everyone welcome) on 29 June, so that officers can get a better feel for the issues on the ground.

I'm warning everyone that I don't see an easy solution. Yes, it's easy to move parking away from a particular street by chucking down double yellow lines, but then it just moves somewhere else. But it's right that the residents I represent get a fair hearing and I'll make sure they do.

Pilgrims Way School Farnham Extra Class-room

2011-06-23T23:21:00.004+01:00

Surrey County Council's Planning Committee gave the go-ahead yesterday for an extra classroom at the Pilgrims Way School in South Farnham. That paves the way for the school to take on more pupils in September - a controversial policy but one which now looks set to happen.

I am a member of the planning committee but absented myself from the room while the item was going through as I consider I could not be perceived as impartial. But, given that Surrey County Council is not going to press for an extra class-room at the nearby Bourne School, a PW expansion is the next best thing.

I won't rehearse the passionate arguments for and against the PW 'issue' but I hope that, now it's a done deal, all will rally behind the school and give its head-teacher, staff, parents and children their 100% support to ensure that both current and impending children on roll get the best education going.

Speeding Traffic Lodge Hill Road Farnham

2011-06-21T23:01:00.003+01:00

I've had a few complaints recently about speeding along Lodge Hill Road, one of the main East-West arteries in the Bourne, South Farnham. It's a semi-rural road to the East (so motorists don't realise that the street lights mean that it's an automatic 30 mph zone) and has the Bourne School nearby on the Western stretch.

The complaints have been various - lack of white lines to delineate side-roads, no 'Warning- School' signs, speeding generally - so I've asked Highways to look at the road as a whole to see what can be done. As always, I caution against the chance of finding an instant solution, as identifying and then solving the conditions that cause speeding are not easy.

One ray of hope is that the recent developments in the area have attracted some 's 106' money (so called after the section in the Road Traffic Act that allows local authorities to obtain money from developers) and that might be enough to get something done. Over to Highways in the first instance to come up with measures that are feasible in engineering terms and then up to us to progress these.

Freedom Parade

2011-06-16T22:09:00.004+01:00

Attended The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment's freedom parade in Farnham yesterday. It was a fabulous occasion and very moving. It was so good to see our soldiers exercising the privilege of marching through Farnham and a joyous event. Lots of people lining the streets to show their appreciation for all their bravery - and through them, all our armed services.

Sometimes we forget how much we owe our service men and women, but not yesterday: the town did them proud.

Driver Training in Farnham

2011-06-13T22:59:00.003+01:00

Army driver training in Farnham on unsuitable roads is continuing to be a problem. No-one I have corresponded with thinks it should be curtailed completely - the town is very pro-forces as I am sure Wednesday's Freedom Parade in Farnham will demonstrate - but it appears that the promises that the training company, J C Coates, made when we met them last year haven't been 100% carried out.

The problem centres round several roads in South Farnham, including Shortheath Road and Green Lane, where the presence of HGVs, some articulated, is causing concern. This is particularly acute during school opening and closing hours when local streets are full of school-children. I have been told that some residents are fearful that there may be an accident.

Surrey County Council, as the highways authority, have again been in touch with the company to try to make them moderate the use of such roads and we will see what happens. I'm reluctant to stop being polite since I recognise that army drivers have to be trained somewhere, but I think Farnham is getting more than its fair share.

Community Speedwatch in the Bourne Farnham

2011-06-09T21:52:00.003+01:00

Met several members of the Bourne Community Speedwatch (CSW) team yesterday, together with the local police inspector, Tom Budd. We talked over a number of issues in the Bourne, mostly related to speeding along the A287 but also some other local roads.

For those who don't know, CSW is a group of police-trained volunteers who monitor motorists' speeds at selected sites and pass on the details of those exceeding the limit to the police, who can then send the offender a warning letter. Rightly, motorists can't be had up directly by CSW - that's reserved to the police themselves - but knowing that you've been speed-gunned and are liable to come to the police's notice has proved to be a very good deterrent.

A number of actions were identified: a need for more Vehicle Activated Signs on the A286 through the Bourne, me to contact the Headteacher of the new amalgamated South Farnham Primary School to see how traffic round the old Bourne School site could be best regulated, and a number of others, all of which the police and myself will follow up.

All in all, very positive. Speeding will never be eliminated completely but a coordinated approach is the best way to reduce it.

Hampshire County Council Objection to Housing Numbers

2011-06-06T23:20:00.000+01:00

I understand that Hampshire have objected to Waverley Borough Council's 'Local Development Plan Core Strategy' on the grounds that not sufficient provision has been made to accommodate the extra housing numbers being proposed in the draft plan.

So what, no doubt many people will say - isn't this just one of those inter-council spats that are of interest only to those who enjoy reading council documents, and of little relevance to real life.

Well, possibly, but if Waverley's plans for housing are derailed then there's a danger of either too few houses being built (so the waiting list for social housing will get even longer) or too many (so the council will have to consider commandeering Green Belt land). It's another complication that could have significant effects down the road.

But my first thought when I heard the news wasn't nearly so high-minded. 'What cheek' I thought, 'Here's Hampshire building massive developments near Farnham at Borden, Church Crookham and Aldershot - all bringing in large amounts of traffic to the area - and they have the nerve to object to small-scale developments well below that recommended by many independent housing experts.' And Hampshire have consistently opposed the Wrecclesham Relief Road which would, at a stroke, make life so much easier for thousands of residents in South West Farnham.

Not a good demonstration of partnership between neighbouring councils, and we must do better. For a start, the two councils, and others in the area, should get together to hammer out a more sensible approach (if possible) and that's what I'll be advocating.

New Citizens

2011-06-02T18:54:00.001+01:00

I had the privilege of officiating at the regular new citizen's naturalisation ceremony at County Hall yesterday. It was another happy occasion, with about 30 people (of all ages) now becoming British citizens. From the brief records I could see on their certificate of naturalisation, they came from all four corners of the globe: India, Singapore, New Zealand, Bulgaria and many other countries.

But they are all British citizens now and my speech of welcome stressed that we wanted them to play a full part in British life, as am sure they will. I also asked them to make sure they voted at every election possible!

South Farnham Primary School Gets Money from Surrey County Council

2011-05-29T18:05:00.001+01:00

The expected outcome at Surrey's Cabinet Member meeting on Friday - that 'a capital sum [be provided] to South Farnham Primary School to enable the school to admit an additional class into the Junior department in September 2012' - went through no problem.

I'd like to report more details but am prevented from doing so by the fact that the report itself is Confidential, so all I can do is set out the title of the agenda item, as above. While there is normally a good reason for keeping things confidential, for instance if personal details are involved or if there are contractual considerations, I don't think they apply in this case (Surrey may disagree). Consequently, I've asked formally that the report be put into the public domain. In particular, while I know (as a Surrey councillor) how much we're talking about, I'm not allowed to tell you. Since it's public money funded by the taxpayer, I don't think that's right in this case.

But that's a side issue. The main thing is that the money will help to minimise the distortions in admissions that the 'Bourne bulge' would have caused

Long Service Awards to Surrey County Council Staff

2011-05-26T23:54:00.000+01:00

A joyous afternoon when I stood in for the Chairman of Surrey CC and gave out citations to 35 Surrey staff who had served 25 years with the authority. I learn something every day: today it was details of the vast range of skills and qualities that our staff have (and need) in serving residents of our county.

The presentations were in the Great Hall of County Hall in Kingston, a fitting setting for an awards ceremony that I found really moving and humbling. So much dedication, patient 'getting on with it', and (dare I say) mostly enjoyment in undertaking their jobs for a quarter of a century. We are blest for their work.

Rowledge Drop-in Meeting

2011-05-24T22:46:00.001+01:00

The Saturday morning before last was spent at Rowledge Village Hall at a drop-in session organised by the Rowledge Residents' Association hearing about their plans for canvassing village people on what they would like to happen to Rowledge in the future. The event was intended as an informal morning where people could just turn up and have their say. This would identify the main themes that needed to be covered in a more structured and detailed questionnaire to be pushed through everyone's letter-box.

I thought the event succeeded brilliantly: lots of residents came along (far more than I'm used to at similar events elsewhere) and had their say. I've just received a precis of the comments left at the hall and they cover pretty well the whole spectrum of village life.

I won't pre-empt what's going to happen next - suffice to say that I think there will be some quite knotty problems aired in the questionnaire. But I picked up two specific speed limit points: the need to extend the 30 mph limit down the hill in Lickfolds Road now that new development has gone there too, and the anomaly of Manley Bridge Road being completely unrestricted.

I have passed both issues to Surrey highways with a request that they examine them. This isn't an idle move since I was told only this week that the review of existing and new speed limits was being given a greater push at County Hall.

Bourne and South Farnham Schools Amalgamation

2011-05-20T21:48:00.001+01:00

It's now been decided: the two schools will amalgamate and I understand this will happen on 25 May, next Wednesday. Cllr Peter Martin, Surrey County Council's Cabinet Member for Schools, made the decision two days ago.

I think the outcome is a good one. It will lead to better education, directly and indirectly, for all children in South Farnham. The biggest problem was that this could have disadvantaged children who didn't go the Bourne as their infant school as fewer of them would have got into the junior (7 and upwards age group) intake at South Farnham because their places would already have been filled by the Bourne.

But I guess that this problem has been solved - or at least minimised. At a Cabinet Member meeting next Friday, 27 May, there's a very interesting item with the public description 'This report seeks approval to providing a capital sum, as specified in the report, to South Farnham Primary School to enable the school to admit an additional class into the Junior department in September 2012'. That's the outcome people who have objected to the amalgamation have been wanting.

The report itself is confidential because it relates to 'the financial or business affairs' of the parties involved. I have asked to speak as one of the local members and will be strongly urging the Cabinet Member to approve the report. It's been drawn up by Surrey officers and therefore can be presumed to have institutional support.

This issue is separate from the 'Pilgrims' Way' one - any extra class approved as above would be for 2012, not this September.

Review of Grants to Community Organisations

2011-05-19T21:02:00.000+01:00

Waverley Borough Council gives out about £1m in grants to community organisations every year. We had to cut grants slightly for the financial year just started but, in comparison with what you read is happening elsewhere, the Borough has escaped relatively (but not completely) unscathed.

But the financial situation in the years ahead still looks rocky which is why the new council has quickly launched a comprehensive review of its grants. Are we giving money to the right people? Can we afford it? Is the process fair to all? All those sorts of issues. The aim is to get it right for the next financial year starting April 2012 - it sounds a long way away but it will come up far quicker than we expect.

A crucial element will be consultation with the organisations affected. The review will stay within the council itself for a few weeks, with a good deal of work already underway. Then we'll go public, and see what everyone thinks.

Surrey Says No to Extra Classroom at Bourne School

2011-05-17T08:39:00.000+01:00

Attended a very dispiriting meeting last night at which parents who are angry and upset at being given a place at Pilgrims' Way School Farnham, instead of their preferred choice at the Bourne School, were told by a Surrey County Council officer that the option of building an extra classroom at the Bourne was definitely not going to be pursued.

Quite naturally, this came as a great disappointment to them and there were angry words spoken. I think it's the wrong decision because an extra classroom (which I recognise is not the perfect solution, especially because it stores up trouble for the long term) would at least mean that the school would remain accessible for the whole Bourne community. As it is, there are children who only live 500m from the school gates who weren't offered a place and, irrespective of the quality of education at other schools, that can't be right.

For Surrey, the focus now moves to improving Pilgrims' Way School as rapidly as possible so that children entering in September get an education equal to the best in other South Farnham schools. That remains a challenge but one that has to be met, and fast. The Headteacher and Board of Governors need all the support they can get and I'm confident that they will rise to the occasion. I just wish that we all had the luxury of more time.

Grants to Voluntary Organisations

2011-05-13T22:13:00.001+01:00

Back to work after the election campaign at Waverley Borough Council, and went to a meeting of voluntary organisations in receipt of grants from the Voluntary Grants Partnership. In brief, this is a body doling out funds from the NHS, Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council's social services. We pool a certain amount of funds and then distribute them every year - a very worthy enterprise.

In these strapped times, all contributors including Waverley have had to rein back their allocations and this has caused hardship - bathing services at our day centres are just one of many examples. But the worst problem is that NHS Surrey, after months of uncertainty, have announced that they are cutting back severely on their money and are also pulling out of the scheme after this November.

At least they are giving some cash (about half of what they provided last year) and I suppose we must be grateful for that. But it's not good enough, firstly to spend months in havering and then to announce cuts virtually out of the blue. We're making strong representations - as we have been doing for over a year now. Arguably more importantly, we are thinking seriously how to involve and persuade the emerging GP consortia to continue this scheme which has brought so many benefits to our local community.

Zebra Crossing at the Bourne Cross-roads

2011-05-11T21:11:00.000+01:00

While the proposed new development at the Bourne cross-roads in South Farnham may have its critics - such as myself as I think there's too many houses (14) and I have objected to the planning application - it does provide an opportunity to improve the life of pedestrians there.

The latest scheme is a zebra crossing across the A287 which is potentially fully-fundable from the development. I think this is preferable to a full Toucan which would also, because it's twice as expensive as a zebra, require matched funding which would be bound to delay matters.

However, I think we need to consult carefully in the neighbourhood: residents, traders, local amenity and residents' groups, to make sure that this is what local people want. I'm getting together a leaflet to explain what's proposed and asking for views.

It's important to stress that planning permission will be granted or refused on the merits of the application, not on any potential funding from the developer. If a suitable scheme (which I personally hope is smaller than currently proposed) is passed, then OK and developer money can be used for a crossing. If not, then that's too bad. It would be wrong to obtain a crossing on the back of an otherwise bad development.

Local Elections 5 May 2011

2011-05-06T20:52:00.001+01:00

I was pleased, naturally, on being re-elected as one of the two Waverley borough councillors for the Shortheath and Boundstone ward. John Ward, my running mate, and myself received approx 62% of the vote on a turn-out of some 45%. Many thanks to all who voted for us!

We local conservatives were expecting to win handsomely in South Farnham as the canvassing returns (and the surprising lack of opposition candidates) were indicating no problem in that direction. But, for Waverley anyway, we achieved a clean sweep in all Farnham wards with all our 18 candidates being elected and no other party or candidate getting a look-in. In numerical terms, that was fairly predictable too as the extensive canvassing I and many others have been carrying out since Christmas all pointed to a good result.

To me however, the surprise was in the sheer scale of the swing to conservative candidates - for instance in Castle ward where we increased our vote share from about 38% to 62%. Some of this was due to national issues (Tories did well over the whole of the South East), the fact that we worked all wards very hard with good candidates, had some very appealing campaign strap-lines (council tax freeze and improvements in recycling for instance), an extremely supportive and popular MP in Jeremy Hunt, produced good literature and had the most efficient GOTV (Get Out the Vote) effort on the day and evening that I have ever known.

But, while the above may explain why our campaign was good, it doesn't explain to my mind the totality of the massive and unexpected swings that we experienced. Turn-out (because of the AV vote?) was high at 50% so it couldn't just have been us managing to cherry-pick selected voters. What was the wow-factor that had us storming through: I'd like to know so it can be repeated next time!

Pilgrims Way School

2011-05-04T20:50:00.000+01:00

I have put down a public question to the Cabinet Member for Schools, Peter Martin, for next Tuesday's county council meeting as follows:

I have been contacted by parents in my division [of Farnham South] who have been allocated Pilgrim's Way School in Farnham for their child starting in September 2011. They are unhappy with this decision in view of that school's less than positive recent OFSTED report, and some have asked that extra provision be made at the Bourne Infants School so that their child can go there.

Could the Cabinet Member please give me detailed answers to two questions relating to this issue:

1. Can the Bourne Infants' School PAN [Published Admissions Number] for September 2011 be increased to accommodate those parents, and what are the implications of a 'yes' and a 'no' answer on parents and children throughout South Farnham?

2. What specific measures are in place or in train to improve learning at Pilgrims' Way so that parents can have confidence that their children will receive a first-class education there?

I hope that these answers (and I'm allowed a supplementary question) will start to give parents in the area some of the responses that they have been seeking and which, so far, are not forthcoming to anything like the degree that they rightly want.

Error in my Address

2011-05-03T21:48:00.000+01:00

All candidates for Farnham wards in the local elections on 5 May were invited to send in potted biographies for publication last Thursday in the journal. I duly sent in mine and it appeared, together with everyone else's.

Unfortunately, between the time of leaving my pen and appearing in print, an error was made: I'm down in black and white in the Herald as 'living in Farnham for the last 20 years'. Not so: I put 'living in the Farnham area' since I've been in Frensham (about 1 1/2 miles from the Farnham town border) since 1987.

I have asked the Herald to publish a letter from me explaining the error (not of my making) and we'll see what appears on Thursday.

Stepping Down from Surrey's Health Scrutiny Committee

2011-04-28T22:17:00.001+01:00

My last meeting as Chairman of Surrey County Council's Health Scrutiny Committee - a meeting with the South East Region Strategic Health Authority to discuss, amongst other matters, how the radical changes to the NHS in prospect could be scrutinised properly to the benefit of patients. I'm not sure we reached any definite conclusions but all agreed that we needed to be on the alert to ensure that any alterations were not 'sneaked through', and made subject to proper consultation.

I leave the post in 12 days' time after two years in the Chair, having had an enjoyable and, I think, productive time. The main themes were of course the NHS's lack of money and the consequent pressures to cut services and the 'Lansley' reforms: both these will I guess be the committee's focus for a long time to come.

Speeding in the Bourne, South Farnham

2011-04-26T22:26:00.000+01:00

I've recently received a number of comments about the age-old, and serious, problem of speeding on the A287 through the Bourne. Although there is a certain amount of enforcement by the police, and the splendid Community Speedwatch volunteers are out in force, there is still far too much speeding.

I am asking for a meeting with the relatively-new area Inspector, together with local residents' organisations, to see what more can be done. Suggestions include more Vehicle Activated Signs along the A287 and more support for Community Speedwatch to make them even more effective.

Pilgrims' Way School Places

2011-04-20T21:37:00.002+01:00

As the local county councillor for Farnham South, attended a meeting of very worried parents this afternoon. They had all put down their infant child for a place at the Bourne Infants School but were told that they were unsuccessful and instead given a place at Pilgrims' Way (PW) school for September.

PW has recently had a poor OFSTED report and, entirely understandably, some parents are not happy at all about their child going there. They not only feel that the school needs to improve significantly (no argument there) but that Surrey County Council's plans to expand the intake at PW to deal with the explosive growth of children seeking an infant place in the area would make matters worse. It would be all the more difficult for the new team at PW to raise standards sufficently quickly so that children entering this September would be given a good educational start in life.

I understand and sympathise with this view and am very sorry for parents who have suddenly been put into this situation. The difficulty is: what are the other practical options available? I am told that neighbouring schools such as the Bourne and St Peter's are completely full and cannot expand.

I have contacted Surrey County Council's education department to explore again the rationale for saying that other schools in the area can't expand, and have also asked Surrey's Cabinet Member for Schools to meet with parents to go through these difficult issues.

The ideal solution would be for PW to raise its standards quickly and substantially, and I hear that the new Headteacher is inspiring confidence to do just that - and we all wish her well. But some parents are - and who can blame them - very sceptical that this can be done in time.

Comments welcome and I'll pass all on to the education authority who are grappling with a very difficult task. Not so difficult as the situation that some parents face however, as they see that their carefully-laid plans for their child are gravely threatened.

My Three Worst Roads in South Farnham

2011-04-19T23:12:00.000+01:00

As county councillor for Farnham South, I have been invited to nominate my three worst roads in the division so that they get an extra leg-up in the bidding process for being put on the county's road maintenance programme. They will get awarded an extra 100 points (out of 1000 or so which are, rightly, awarded on engineering grounds).

The very worst roads in the division have now been done: for instance the A287 through the Bourne, Shortheath Road, the Long Road, but I still have a number of candidates!

I've made a provisional selection of:

- Tilford Road at the Eastern end of the Bourne.
- Sandrock Hill Road.
- North end of Gardener's Hill Road.

All are heavily-used and starting to break up. These are provisional selections only - happy to take any comments for other candidates.

New Street Lights in South Farnham

2011-04-15T21:39:00.004+01:00

Delivering election leaflets in the Middlefield Estate in Boundstone this morning and was very pleased to see that Skanska, Surrey County Council's lighting contractor, was busy installing new street lamps. 80% of all lamps in the county are being replaced and it seems they have now reached Farnham.

This is welcome news. The new lights are much more efficient in directing light where it's needed - onto pavements and dark alleyways - and not where it's unwelcome - residents' bedrooms for instance. They're also much more energy efficient so will cost far less in annual running costs. And can be automatically dimmed in the small hours.

The contractors told me that they are normally left lit 24 hours a day for the first day or so before they are synchronised with a central control. So, if anyone sees newly-installed lights left on during the day, that's normal provided it doesn't go on for more than a week.