Nonsuc Residents'h Association n Bulletin AUTUMN 201 8 Extract from October 1938 Bulletin .... Ten years before the NHS! OFFICERS Interim Chairman: Keith Lugton, 49 Harefield Ave, Cheam. Tel: 020 8642 1303 Secretary: Linda Lau, 4 Castlemaine Avenue, Ewell. Tel: 020 8393 6728 Treasurer: Innes Tarran, 9a Beverley Close, Ewell. Tel: 07557 109289 Email for all officers: [email protected] Website: www.nonsuchra.org find us at facebook.com/NonsuchRA RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION COUNCILLORS John Beckett, 7 Walsingham Gardens, Stoneleigh. Tel: 020 8393 8208 Email: [email protected] Graham Dudley, 93 Chadacre Road, Stoneleigh. Tel: 020 8786 9096 Email: [email protected] Chris Frost, 8 Warren Hill, Epsom. Tel: 01372 720 430 Email: [email protected] Colin Keane, 2 Merrow Road, Cheam. Tel: 020 8393 7715 Email: [email protected] 1 Chairman’s Report – Colin Keane Welcome to the Autumn 2018 issue of the Bulletin and a change of role for me. Thanks to your fabulous support on 20 September in the by-election I was elected as a Borough Councillor in David Wood’s former seat. We secured 68% of the vote. I will do all I can to be a worthy successor to David and to be an effective Councillor for all the residents in Nonsuch Ward whether you voted for me or not. It was of course very sad for me to be standing as a result of David’s sudden death but I was content in the knowledge that David had encouraged me to put myself forward as a Borough Councillor a few months before his death. I was also delighted to be supported and encouraged in my campaign by David’s sister Barbara. I have now resigned as Chair of the Residents’ Association and would thank you all for the support and assistance you gave me during my tenure. We therefore have an immediate vacancy for a new Chair. My predecessor Keith Lugton has kindly agreed to be interim chair but he will not continue beyond the AGM in the Spring of 2019 so we urgently need a volunteer before then. I shall of course remain involved as I will be attending Nonsuch Ward RA and the Association of Ewell Downs Residents committee meetings as one of your Borough Councillors and shall remain as an Area Representative. We have a challenging six months ahead of us with the Epsom & Ewell Borough Council elections taking place in May 2019 when all Council seats, including the three in Nonsuch Ward are up for re-election. If you are interested in standing as a Councillor or wish to know what it involves please let us know. 2 Getting involved We are a very active and successful RA and have been since we began in 1937, 81 years ago, however this has only continued through the efforts and engagement of our residents. We do urgently need new volunteers to take up roles. You can do as much or as little as you like but the RA will only continue to be as successful if more residents are involved. The three area where you can make a difference are: Area Representatives Area Reps look after part of a road or a whole road or a few roads. They collect annual subscriptions once a year and deliver the twice- yearly Bulletin. At times of local elections, every 2 years, they deliver election material. They are encouraged to attend our monthly committee meetings but don’t have to and many of our most loyal Reps have never attended a meeting. Roles on the Committee We need a replacement Chair due to Colin’s election as a Councillor. We also need a Social Media Secretary and additional members of the Bulletin Editorial team. Councillors The last Bulletin in the Spring carried a two-page article on being a Councillor. We need the next generation of Councillors to come forward. Please contact us to discuss any roles you are interested in, we can explain what is involved, the support we can give and hopefully encourage you to join us. 3 Councillor David Wood It was with great sadness that we learned of the death in July of our long- serving RA Councillor, David Wood. David was an Epsom and Ewell man through and through. He lived in the Borough all his life. He was born in Ewell, was educated at Epsom College, and he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1969. He had a fulfilling career in the Profession and commerce. He continued to live in Ewell. Then many years ago he moved to Nonsuch Ward, to Queensmead Avenue and later to the corner of Hays Walk and Nonsuch Walk, which was such a wonderful location for displaying election posters. He lived all his life with his sister Barbara to whom we express our deep sympathy on her loss. David first became an Epsom & Ewell Borough Councillor in 1995 when he was elected to represent Stoneleigh Ward. In the following Borough Council election in 1999, he was elected to represent Nonsuch Ward, which he continued to serve until he passed away. He has served on most of the Council Committees and has been chairman of the Environment Committee and of the Group of Residents Association Councillors. David was also a Surrey County Councillor from June 2009 to May 2013, representing the division covering Nonsuch Ward and Ewell and Stoneleigh. In 2006 - 2007, David was Mayor of Epsom and Ewell with his sister Barbara as Mayoress. David has been active in the local Residents Associations for many years including a period of being Chairman of the Nonsuch Park and District Residents Association. He was a passionate supporter of the residents of Epsom and Ewell and especially of Nonsuch Ward. His lifelong interest in the local environment and history made him a leading advocate that all local developments should fit in with the surroundings. One of his fellow long-serving Councillors said, “David was a deep thinker and his local knowledge and background served him well. As a member of the planning committee for most of his 23 years on the Council, his contributions were carefully evaluated and most valuable. David was very supportive of his colleagues and his passing is a great loss to the Council and the community.” 4 Nonsuch Ward update – Chris Frost Epsom Hospital The Borough Council agreed a statement on the hospital at a recent meeting. In summary, it said: “This Council has previously confirmed its support for the option proposed by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust to have a new acute unit constructed on the current Epsom Hospital site. However, the Council views with concern the proposal to dispose of land forming part of the current Epsom Hospital site. This Council requests the Trust to halt any site disposal, enabling the site to remain available for the provision of future health and social care services for the residents of Epsom and Ewell and East Surrey. Given the housing pressures imposed on this Borough by central Government’s requirement of 579 housing units constructed per year for at least the next 20 years, the number of residents in our Borough could increase significantly, by an estimated 25,000 to 30,000. Residents of Epsom and Ewell require certainty with regard to their local hospital services and without the loss of service availability, and the disposal of land forming part of the Epsom Hospital site by ESHUH NHS Trust can only serve to reduce options for the future and threaten those locally delivered services.” Unauthorised encampments There were a number of groups of the travelling community in the area in August. One group, who were evicted from a Sutton location, ended up in Nonsuch Park. As it is a large space with multiple access points the Council does not have the resources to guard all these points 24/7. They had taken precautions to prevent an unauthorised encampment, including locking and securing the park gates and other measures, unfortunately these proved insufficient. 5 As is now becoming a regular process, a page was created on the news section of the Borough’s website, including a timeline and links to the process it has to follow. This meant that there was somewhere to direct residents to when they contacted the Council, whether it was by social media or the contact centre. The group in Nonsuch Park were served a Notice to Leave, and as they didn’t leave immediately a Court hearing had to be arranged, following which they left. All this costs us all a considerable sum of money, but we have to follow government regulation. Government re-think on negative RSG? Residents may have read about the council’s concerns about so called Negative Revenue Support Grant (RSG), which could see Epsom and Ewell Borough Council paying back over £600,000 of its retained business rate income to central government. This was grossly unfair and your RA-run council had made forceful representations that this decision should be reversed. There are some signs that the government might make some concessions. In a recent consultation about the 2019-20 financial settlement, the government has indicated that it will ensure that no council slips into ‘negative RSG’ by using its share of business rate income to offset the planned tariff charge. If confirmed this would be welcome news and would put EEBC in a better financial position for next year. But funding pressures remain intense and your Council will continue to adopt a mixture of efficiency savings and revenue generating measures, to protect services and keep local council tax levels amongst the lowest in Surrey.