Claygate Courier December 2012.Indd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IN THIS ISSUE Parish Council Committee Reports Dramatic Society Sport At Claygate Primary School Claygate Royals Surrey Cricket Champions Your Borough Councillors ISSUE 28 DECEMBER 2012 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Notes from your chairman Carols The Summer, such as it Turning on the Christmas Lights in The Parade was, ended abruptly and, and Carols on the Green are two more great On The Green before we knew it, the events on the Claygate calendar. The combination The Green, Claygate Remembrance Day Service of the decorated shops and the lights makes Sunday 9th December on the 11th November was The Parade an inviting placed to shop and is being held with members a reminder of how much our local shops and of the Claygate Scout and businesses rely on us for our support. It is hoped Guide Band providing a rousing performance the installation of a 24 hour ATM (hole in the wall Claygate Dramatic during the service. cash machine) outside Johnson’s Post Office will It was wonderful to see the Memorial Garden again encourage people to come to our village. Society opened up and the new gates installed. The This facility has been a great loss following the Wind in the Willows project team, headed by Francis Boff, are to closure of Barclays Bank. 17th, 18th and 19th January be congratulated. Their work has made a Let’s make this a really prosperous Christmas Claygate Village Hall tremendous difference and the Garden now looks by supporting our local shops and businesses! well cared for. Box Office Enquiries: The Parish Council was sorry to lose the services – Shirley Round, Chairman 020 8398 8660 of Sarah Whittaker, who resigned from the Council during the summer due to increased job responsibilities. We have now co-opted Mark Sugden and thank him for offering his services to Church Services the village. Mark is initially joining the Environment Details of Christmas Committee which is involved in the preservation Services to be held at and maintenance of the village greens, flower Holy Trinity Church and beds and highway garden sites, the management of trees and other environmental issues. Welcome Church of the Holy Name to the Parish Council, Mark! can be found on the An important responsibility of the Parish Council Claygate Parish Council is the consideration of grant applications. website Applications for grants of money, large and www.claygate.info small, towards projects initiated by Claygate organisations are always welcome. An application and the Church websites has to be proposed and seconded by a Councillor www.holytrinityclaygate.org.uk before it can be discussed. Anyone interested www.holynameesher.org.uk in applying for a grant can speak to a Parish Councillor or the Clerk. Parish Council Grants IS YOUR GROUP OR ORGANISATION PLANNING A PROJECT TO BENEFIT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY? IF SO THE PARISH COUNCIL MAY BE ABLE TO HELP BY OFFERING A SMALL GRANT. TO APPLY CONTACT THE PARISH CLERK Email [email protected] or telephone 01372 467000 Grant applications can only be considered by those organisations based in Claygate. NEWS FROM CLAYGATE PARISH COUNCIL Environment Committee Report Distributors Required Have you a little time to spare three or four times a year and would like to take a walk with a purpose? If so we would love to hear from you as we have some volunteer rounds available delivering Claygate Courier For further information The Flower bed at the corner of The Parade has been repaired and refurbished please contact Jehan Firstly, congratulations are due to Claygate cherry and a scented Clematis. in Bloom and all their supporters and volunteers for again winning a Silver Gilt Volunteers have also been involved in 01372 466073 Award in the Britain in Bloom competition. planting a number of Cyclamen in The Firs Verge. The Parish Council is very grateful to - Anthony Sheppard the Green Team and Claygate in Bloom volunteers for all their hard work around the village; without them we could achieve very little. Parish Council Welcomes Major developments in the past year have been the repair and refurbishment of the Mark Sugden flower bed at the corner of The Parade, and the appointment of a new maintenance Mark recently retired early after an community that Claygate is the only village contractor for the Highway Garden Sites international marketing career, latterly in Elmbridge with a Parish Council and he looked after by the Parish Council. with Kraft Foods for whom he worked has been impressed with the way that it for 20 years in both the UK, USA and uses its influence to the benefit of all. We are grateful to the local volunteers who Switzerland. He first moved to Claygate arranged to remove the soil and plants from in 2007 and after a brief time working He looks forward to collaborating with The Parade bed and for the hard work in in Switzerland he returned to Claygate in other Parish Councillors to both protect putting everything back in again following 2010. and continue to enhance the quality of life completion of the work. for all residents of the village. On his return to Claygate he started to The Parish Council has just signed a contract become involved in local community with Green Gardens for the maintenance matters. In particular he was incensed of the Highway Garden sites, following a by the proposal to introduce on-street retendering exercise. parking charges which would have adversely impacted our local shops which Green Gardens are responsible for the are such a significant part of our thriving landscaping and maintenance work at the community. new prestige development, Princess Square, in Copsem Lane. As a resident Mark has been a regular attendee at Parish Council meetings and We are grateful to Elmbridge for planting he became a Claygate Recreation Ground two Amelanchier on the north edge of Trustee a year ago. the Torrington Lodge Car Park. We have improved The Green by some new drought Mark believes that it is a great credit to the Mark Sugden: Active role in Claygate matters. resistant evergreen planting, a columnar 2 CLAYGATE PARISH COUNCIL Highway & Transport Committee Report When The Parade was refurbished years ago by Elmbridge Borough Council, a planter was provided at the village sign. Recently, vehicles have damaged it, so it is welcome that Mike Bennison has arranged financing for Surrey County Council to rebuild it in a way that should avoid further damage. The style echoes the design of The Green. The bench has been moved to the end of the planter to improve the view for people using it. The Parish Council is planning another bench, facing down the Parade, which it is hoped will be installed shortly. We supported a local wheelchair user, who suggested that there should be a portable ramp on the UP platform to supplement the one already available on the down platform. We are grateful that South West Trains has provided this ramp, which will avoid the previous considerable delays when the guard had to cross over to the opposite platform to collect the only ramp then available. The committee has reported the need for more cycle parking at Claygate railway station. We are also looking at the parking issues in Hare Lane service road. – Ken Huddart Claygate Station has a new ramp for wheelchair users. Planning Committee Report Recently there has been a drop in the volume ELMBRIDGE LOCAL PLAN of planning applications, down to an average Elmbridge is currently developing a Local of three a week. Whether this is the recession Plan, for Consultation in March 2013 or the school holidays we will find out and this is expected to be through the soon. Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in examination process by sometime in retrospective planning applications. 2014. The Claygate Planning Committee, Claygate Borough Councillors, along with There are still ongoing enforcement issues representatives from developers and local which have been grinding on for a year, with businesses were invited to a Managing no end in view. One which was in the appeal Development Workshop for Claygate on system has recently been refused and the other 29th August. The topics under discussion is still ongoing. were: Planning Applications are posted on Parish Noticeboards PLANNING APPLICATIONS A comprehensive list of these items is Background Of late, there has been an increase available from the Parish Clerk. Here are - The Government’s Agenda in correspondence in connection with some of the more common considerations: - Elmbridge Local Plan representation on planning. To assist you, - Is the proposal suitable for the area? please bear the following point in mind when - Is the appearance and size in keeping, and The Local Context writing a Letter of Representation. in context to neighbouring properties and - Existing Designation and Uses surrounding area? - Future Development You have 21 days from the Elmbridge Issue - Will adjoining properties suffer date to look at the plans and to let EBC have overshadowing, overlooking or loss of Workshop Activities your written comments. privacy? - Important Uses and Areas of Concern - Are alterations to existing building done in - Opportunities for Development/ For your views to be considered they must be character? Improvement put in writing to the Head of Town Planning at - Is there a visual impact on the local - Priorities for Infrastructure EBC. This can be posted or done by e-mail. landscape of the road? Please also make a copy and send it to the - Is there sufficient amenity (garden) space? Elmbridge has been in discussion on Parish Clerk Freda Collins. these topics with all the settlement areas To be able to have a chance to speak as identified in their Core Strategy, and A weekly list of forthcoming applications at the East Area Planning Committee Design and Character SPD.