5 6 5 6 8 8 3 . Wish you were here? 8 8 http://www.leatherheadresidents.org.uk In this Issue P2 Chairman’s Message P5 Nower Wood Lottery Funding P2 Buses - 'All change please' P5 'Here Come the Cows' P3 Norbury Park Conservation P5 Leatherhead Art Club Exhibition P4 Transform Leatherhead P6 River Mole Nature Reserve P4 Planning & Development General P7 Sutton & East surrey Water P8 Vintage Buses & Open Gardens Chairman's Message Dear Member, I have decided to start this Newsletter with some of the history of and current status information regarding Leach Grove Wood. Just over 100 years ago, the whole area now occupied by The Beeches, Poplar and Highlands Avenue, Leatherhead Hospital, Woodlands School, and Beech Holt was quite thickly wooded. A Mr. Leach owned it. Gradually, parcels were sold off and finally in about 1935 he made a gift of the current hospital grounds (containing the area now known as Leach Grove Wood) to Leatherhead Urban District Council. The gift was believed to stipulate medical use in perpetuity. The exact size and details of Mr. Leach’s gift became lost to memory until efforts to ensure the remaining part of the wood was protected were made firstly in the 1980s when the then owners, SCC wanted to sell the land for housing, and then repeated in the last three years. Naturally, the current owners, NHS Property Services Ltd were keen to establish complete control over “their” land, whereas the surrounding population had got very used to the freedom and rusticity afforded by this unusual feature and did not want to lose their “rights” over it, accrued by time, so NHS Property Services Ltd. objected to the woods being registered as a village green. This objection resulted in a public enquiry being held in Kingston and in the Leatherhead theatre where many of residents living near the woods gave evidence about how they used the wood. SCC decided to reject the inspector’s decision that one criterion had not been met, and so awarded village green status to the wood. This ensured the woods remained an open space for anyone who wished to play, walk or generally relax in it. However, NHS Property Services Ltd did not agree and they instigated a full Judicial Review in the High Court last month. As I write now, I do not know what the result will be. What I would like to highlight to our members is the admirable effort and dogged determination shown by that small band of people, The Friends of Leach Grove Wood, who attended the various hearings (which lasted two to three days), who travelled both to Kingston and to London at their own expense in order to spend hours listening to the rather technical arguments adduced by the lawyers and who also took the trouble to organize money-raising events because barristers do not (sadly) live on fresh air alone. The Leatherhead Residents’ Association exists to help maintain the town as a small but active Surrey Hills community where we can all help in the solving of other people’s problems. Caroline Brown. BUSES (All change please!) A new Bus Service will be introduced from 3 September 2016 21 – From Epsom to Crawley via Leatherhead & Dorking; Monday to Saturday The route is Kiln Lane, Sainsbury’s – Epsom – Ashtead – Leatherhead – Headley – Boxhill – Betchworth Station – A25 – Dorking – South Holmwood – Beare Green – Newdigate – Charlwood – Ifield – Crawley • In general, it will run every two hours from Epsom to Crawley via Dorking. • Replaces current services 26 and 516. • Same route as 516 from Epsom to Boxhill and Dorking. • One journey each way to/from Dorking Mondays to Fridays will also serve Strood Green and Brockham to replace service 29. 2 Norbury Park Demonstration on Conservation Progress Ranger, Andrea Neal, has proven to be quite efficient in the care, maintenance and supervision of volunteers to Norbury Park. The Summer visit to the site by the Norbury Park Liaison Group was interesting and informative. WewereshownseverallocationsincludingPhoenixFields. Interestingly, this Summer a schedule of limited rental ofsomeofthegrasslandinPhoenixFieldswillbegin. Moneyreceived for the hire will be used to provide revenue for the management of the park. Only a small part of the field can be hired for activities, which include a meet for The Little Welly (an organisation designed to get children aged 4-10 out into the countryside) and a wedding later in the summer. The limits to the use will protect the hay that is grown there and the ground-nesting skylarks (nationally their numbers have halved since 1980). (Left) Andrea Neal points out the "living fence" that has been created by pleaching (cutting 3 fourths of the way through)andbendingandentwiningthelineof16yearold trees (mainly hawthorns) planted specifically for this purpose. They are then fixed into place with stakes and binders made from hazel limbs cut elsewhere in the park. The work was done by the Surrey Hedgelaying Group, trained and skilled volunteers, who do this traditional form of management for the love of it. Andrea holds an example of Ash die back (below) No one knows how Norbury Park will be affected by ash dieback. Some of the more mature trees may be strong enough to survive. What is known is that 60% of the trees at the park are ash. Lost many years ago, the elm trees were victims of Dutch Elm Disease. Today some elm trees come up as seedlings but become diseased before reaching full maturity. There is nothing that can be done to protect the ash so it is a matter of wait and see what happens. Sycamores, a non-native tree, are often cut down to make space for the ash. Perhaps more sycamores will be left while other native species are found to take the place of the ash trees. We were shown two areas where coppicing had taken place six months ago (left) and 18 months ago (right) so that we could see how growth had been stimulated in the coppiced area increasing biodiversity. Note that a high net- like fence surrounds the area to protect the new growth from deer. Branches that have been cut are left to provide habitat for insects and other small animals. Of course, they will soon decay and rot away. In the meantime, the work of volunteers is of utmost importance. If you have a few hours to spend in the great outdoors,doingajobtopreserveawelllovedparkforthefuture please volunteer. Contact Andrea to volunteer. 07990 582 291 or email [email protected] Generally volunteers meet of the third Friday of the month. Cheryl Allen 3 Transform Leatherhead – The Journey - 'End of the Beginning' Progress-InourSpringIssuewewroteaboutprogresstoStageTwoofthedevelopmentandconsultationprocess. Nodoubt most of our readers will have taken part in some or all the consultation stages and the level of consultation has been significantly high. Now we know the final outcome of these deliberations and the Planners and Officers have produced their Final Report for approval by Mole Valley District Council Executive. Significant Purchases - As well as purchasing Claire& James Houses down bytheriver,MVDC havebeen activein purchasing the majority of the Swan Centre. Both these positive moves should unlock potential for realizing part of the Transform aims. Involvement - The Leatherhead Residents’ Association has been involved in discussions throughout this process, not only through representation on the Community Reference Group but also at Resident Association meetings with senior executives of MVDC. We have expressed our approval of much of the work and direction of the planning process and are much heartened by the financial commitment that changes for the better will happen. However we naturally still do have some reservations and concerns. Finance - With the uncertain outcome from the ‘Brexit’ decision in the country we wonder if the finance for these developments will be forthcoming from the government for the infrastructure alterations and from potential developers. That said, MVDC is already deeply committed as demonstrated by its two significant purchases. Strategic Objectives – To enable Leatherhead to ‘raise its game’ to attract residents, commuters and visitors, we see four key strategic objectives which are in the hands of MVDC and SCC. Image. We consider that while the Transform process will inevitably expand the town, it should do so in a manner that, in scale and architectural form, is consistent with a small market-town. Roads. It is universally acknowledged that the Town has a major problem with both the capacity and the complexity of its road network. We believe that vehicular accessibility needs to be addressed very quickly before development options become too fixed. Parking. Parking is accepted as an existing major weakness, which will only be exacerbated by new development. Leatherhead is an important commuter town, which needs a substantial amount of convenient commuter parking. If, as planned, it has more shops and more central-area flats it is essential that there is adequate parking for the people who wish to use them. Infrastructure. Finally, if the town is to grow as proposed, it is essential that all of its infrastructure facilities are assessed as being adequate or are upgraded to be made adequate. This includes sewers; water supply; medical services; education facilities; flood control etc. etc. These are fundamentals, which needtobeuptostandardbeforeabrickofdevelopment is laid. We have been assured by the Officers of MVDC that all these keys to success are being actively addressed - Watch this space. John W Wilson Planning and Development in General. At the last meeting of the local Residents’ Associations and Mole Valley officers, Chief Planning Officer Jack Straw gave a long talk on the pressures that the Government is putting on the Local Authorities. The push for new homes is influencing the government agenda. Last December came the ruling that starter homes must come in with a 20% discount.