Notes from the Chairman
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INCORPORATING THE VILLAGES AND HAMLETS OF BROOK, ENTON, MILFORD, SANDHILLS, WITLEY & WORMLEY UPDATEUPDATE Autumn 2019 Contents Notes from the Chairman . 1 Notes from the Chairman An update on our land . 2 This has been such a busy six In September, the Clerk and I Would you like an allotment? months that we have had to attended the Mayor of Waverley’s Civic . .2 Finance and General Purposes increase the number of pages Service at St Nicolas Church in Committee in this newsletter to tell you Cranleigh. The event was held to . .3 St John’s Churchyard about it! welcome the new mayor of Waverley, . .3 Planning . Borough Council elections took place Cllr Mary Foryszewski. 4 in May and we now have four new Meanwhile, the normal business of Witley Station trees . .4 borough councillors for our area - Jack the Parish Council continues. The Dragonflies at Blackhill Pond . .5 Lee and Christine Baker representing playing fields are mowed, funding Volunteer Gardener at St John’s Milford; and Jan Floyd-Douglass and decisions are made and planning Churchyard . 5. Trevor Sadler representing Witley. applications are scrutinised. My fellow Witley Neighbourhood Plan David Else and Jenny Else were re- councillors share more about that 6 New trees and bulb planting elected for Elstead and Thursley and elsewhere in this newsletter. .7 Pick up after your dog continue to represent our Brook Overall, it’s an exciting time to be a . .7 residents. We have already begun Parish Councillor. We have two new Surrey Hills to South Downs Rail Partnership working with all six councillors to the councillors who are hopefully finding . .8 Milford level crossing benefit of our residents. exactly that! Read more about . .8 In May and June a six week Debby Flack and Francis Groves on Remembrance Day poppies . .8 consultation on the draft Witley Page 10. We still have vacancies for Milford Green Football Club . .9 Neighbourhood Plan took place. Thank councillors, so do get in touch if you Welcome to our two new you to everyone who attended an would like get involved in shaping Councillors . .10 exhibition or completed a feedback the place you live. Borough Councillor surgeries form. See Page 6 for more information Please visit our Facebook page .10 Witley Parish Councillors on that. (search for Witley Parish Council) . .11 County & Borough Councillors to find all the latest news 11 Diary dates about what the Parish . 12 Council is doing. Council office . .12 Councillor Gillian McCalden, Contacting Surrey Police . Chairman, 2019-2020 12 Thank you to our deliverers A big thank you to all our wonderful volunteer deliverers. This time they have a 12 page newsletter and a directory to get through your letterboxes! We are grateful that their Sarah Nash, Cllr Gillian McCalden and efforts enable us to communicate with you in this way. Cllr Christine Baker at the Civic Service Tel: 01483 422044 Website: www.witley- 1 UPDATE Autumn 2019 An update on our land As always there have been encouraging perhaps if you see anything on the ground, could you things and challenging things in the last pick it up? Use gloves, of course. It all helps keep the few months. area looking smart. One of the encouraging things was a litter pick in We’re getting closer to upgrading the play area at June, six councillors and the Clerk were joined by Witley Recreation Ground and are talking to about a dozen residents, adults and children. Between representatives of Chichester Hall, Witley Cricket Club us we picked up litter on Milford Heath, the Pleck and and playground suppliers, with a view to possibly Jubilee Field and filled quite a few bags. And actually it relocating it next to the hall. We will not, though, close was fun! Since then we’ve also been picking up a lot of the current one until the new one is in place. NoS canisters - that seems to be the latest trend. You will also soon see new chestnut posts at Milford We’re planning another litter pick morning in the Heath, similar to those on Jubilee Field but the ones at Milford Heath will not be so tall. We constantly have to replace the current ones which is costly and we hope the new ones will deter travellers. From October the Amberley Road play area will be managed by the Parish Council under a lease from Waverley Borough Council. That brings almost all the playgrounds in the parish under Parish Council control (the exception is the Middlemarch play area). It costs a significant amount to keep them in a good state of repair and regularly updated, but we know how much they are appreciated by our younger residents. In the next few months you will see new signs in all our areas – they’ve been looking sad for a while – and we are also about to publish byelaws, which will enable the Parish Council and the police to protect our valuable open spaces more easily. They are such an important part of our environment. The really good news is that a rare damselfly has been spotted at Blackhill Pond. See the article on page 5 And last but not least, looking to the future, the Clerk has walked each area of Parish Council land with the appropriate lead member in order to consider projects autumn around Wheeler Street and Sunnyhill - we’ll for the 2020-2021 budget. put notices on our boards when we have a date. Our litter bins are emptied twice a week but there is no Cllr Julie Grist, Chairman, Amenities and Environment doubt we need your help. In the meantime though, Committee, 2019-2020 Would you like an allotment? Would you like to go on the waiting list for an allotment? Contact the Clerk for more information. Tel: 01483 422044 Website: www.witley-pc.gov.uk 2 UPDATE Autumn 2019 Finance and General Purposes Committee Six months into the financial year, the g Witley Village Fair – £400 (a one off payment Council’s expenditure has followed our to meet the sudden loss of sponsorship and the budget closely, although it is likely that need for first aid attendance) there will be some additional g Disability Challengers (Youth Summer expenditure on St John’s Churchyard Scheme) – £500 (see below). We expect this addition to be met in g part by savings elsewhere and partly from a small call Royal British Legion - purchase of lamp post on reserves. poppies – £210. For our Responsible Financial Officer, David Ralf, this We are always open to considering further projects is a busy time as the 2018-19 accounts are audited that local organisations might wish to bring forward. and we begin to contemplate the budget for 2020-21. Contact the Clerk for details of how to apply or see The F&GP Committee also makes grants and our website. donations available for community projects. Over the Cllr Graham Hewett, Chairman, Finance and General last six months, these have included: Purposes Committee, 2019-2020 Maintaining St John’s Churchyard The churchyard at St railings, the Parish Council and St a diseased oak in the centre of the John’s in Milford is an John’s undertook a review of the churchyard and cutting back trees important historic and churchyard. This has allowed us to overhanging properties to the rear visual feature for those put together a coordinated and of the church. Repairs to the stone entering the centre of the cost-effective work programme, wall along Church Road have now village from the south. elements of which have also been completed; this included The cemetery has extensive pointing and been closed for new anchoring part of the burials for many years wall where one of the and responsibility for its lime trees was causing maintenance rests with damage. Future tasks the Parish Council. This are the removal of a involves not only large leylandii growing routine groundwork close to the church but also dealing with building, and any potential risks to replacement of the users of the churchyard railings along Church and passers-by. Over Close. Finally, we are the last two years, the planning a planting safety aspect has programme designed become more important as required consultation with the to replace trees that have been lost evidenced by the sad loss to fungal Guildford Diocese and Waverley and to maintain the character of disease of two of the pollarded Borough Council officers the churchyard in the long term. lime trees lining Church Road. responsible for trees and historic With a number of additional buildings. Cllr David Ingram, Lead Member, issues arising, including the state of Some of this work has already Cemetery and St John’s Churchyard, other trees, border walls and been done, such as the removal of 2019-2020 Tel: 01483 422044 Website: www.witley-pc.gov.uk 3 UPDATE Autumn 2019 Planning In July the planning public consultation. There will ensure that this important application for the still be homes on the site, but we improvement does not get Reserved Matters for the now have a chance to engage with forgotten. development of up to 200 the developers as they re-design If you have any concerns about a houses on land opposite the scheme. planning issue near you, do come Milford Golf course was along to the next planning submitted. We reviewed the If you have any committee meeting and tell us huge pile of documents to find out concerns about a about it. Some residents in Wheeler how Cala Homes were dealing with planning issue near Street did that when a banner the detailed design of the you, do come along to advertising the new homes at development and whether they Wheeler Street Nursery was put were meeting the promises they the next planning up in The Star car park.