Bakeham Lane Road Works

Apologies for the lack of blog postings over the past few weeks - things have all been rather quiet on the Council-front following the Borough Council elections. With the committee appointments for the 2008/9 year and Annual Council meeting taking place this week, things promise to be much busier over the coming days…!

I have, this morning, received an e-mail from Surrey County Council’s Highways Department alerting me to work that will be carried out on Bakeham Lane from 19th May for approximately four weeks.

Royal Holloway will be digging up parts of the road to lay down fibre optic cables in order to provide a communication link between the Royal Holloway Campus and the Huntersdale Campus.

Over the short length to the north of Prune Lane the cable will be installed in the verge. However, it will be necessary to use temporary 2-way traffic signals to maintain the required safe working zone. This element of the works will be restricted to off-peak periods.

At the point where the cable crosses the junction with Prune Lane it will be necessary to use temporary 3-way traffic lights and these works will take place over a weekend. I will confirm the dates as soon as I receive notification.

The remainder of the works will require the use of 2-way temporary traffic signals 24 hours a day since the cable is having to be installed in the carriageway.

Please click here to download a PDF outlining where the works will be taking place.

New Civic Offices

On Friday afternoon, I was delighted to attend a tour of the Borough Council’s new Civic Offices in Addlestone. Whilst construction problems have delayed the move to the new offices by several months, it was well worth the wait.

The present Civic Offices (which were constructed in 1968 with a shelf-life of only 25 years) are, to put it charitably, dark, dank, decrepit and depressing. The bright, airy, spacious and open plan new offices will undeniably prove to be a much better working environment for the Council’s staff.

The most impressive part of the building is undoubtedly the new Safer Runnymede Control Centre; a room whose careful design and use of state-of-the-art technology resembles both the deck of the Starship Enterprise and a Westend nightclub. In conjunction with EGVRA, I will be organising a visit to the facility in the next couple of months.

The atrium of the Civic Offices

I explore the yet-to-be-furnished first floor of the building!

Cllr Yvonna Lay tries out the furniture…

The new Runnymede Council Chamber.

The first Council meeting to be held in the new offices will be the Planning Committee on 14th May followed by Annual Council on 15th May where Cllr Jim Broadhead will be installed as Mayor with Cllr Paul Tuley as his Deputy.

Thanks to Cllr Elaine Gill for allowing me to post these photographs on this blog.

Thank you to Chris Clark

Whilst my last couple of weeks of blogging activity have been almost solely devoted to various ramblings about the Borough Council elections I wanted to write a short post paying tribute to the work of Chris Clark, the outgoing Head of External Relations at Royal Holloway.

When I was originally elected to the Borough Council, I had expected to be deluged with complaints from local residents about late-night noise and poor student behaviour. To date, I have only received two complaints; both regarding parking. Out on the doorsteps over the past few weeks, many residents have praised the University for initiatives such the ‘Big Spring Clean’ which has brought a new lease of life to areas of the village. Speaking to many people in the village, it appears that much of the good will demonstrated towards Royal Holloway has been generated over the past five or so years and in no small part because of the tenacity of Chris and his team in working with groups like the Englefield Green Residents’ Association to work constructively to find solutions to the problems of tensions between the student and resident population.

The Royal Holloway and Runnymede Consultative Group which was founded by Chris last year in order to bring together local councillors, representatives from the Egham and Englefield Green Residents’ Associations and the Students’ Union has already begun to make a difference locally and I am delighted that the group will continue to meet several times a year.

I know that I speak for all the councillors and community groups in Englefield Green and Egham when I say that we’ll hugely miss Chris. We all wish him the very best of luck for the future.

Runnymede Election Results 2007

The people have spoken. It has been a very long day so please do excuse me if I keep my comments on the election results today brief…

Both Marisa Heath and Hugh Meares were re-elected to the Borough Council with increased majorities from the 2007 result. Despite heavily targeting both Englefield Green wards, Labour were the real losers on the evening. In the East, Labour finished only 10 votes ahead of UKIP with around 9% of the vote whilst in the West the Green Party almost stole a march on the UK’s governing party! In numerical terms, the UKIP vote fell in both wards. I am delighted that Marisa and Hugh have been re-elected as Councillors.

The Conservative group has four new faces: Chris Chapman and Louis Poyanne in Chertsey St Anns, Jon Wilson in Egham Hythe and Paul Francis in Foxhills. I have known Chris and Jon for a long while and know that both will be outstanding councillors. On the Independent benches, we welcome Margaret Harnden in Thorpe.

On that same note, whilst I am strongly of the opinion that age - young or old - should have no baring whatsoever on the ability of anyone to serve as a local Councillor, I am proud that Runnymede now has six representatives under the age of 30. We’re even being talked about over at the Daily Telegraph and on ConservativeHome.com.

Finally, congratulations to John Edwards and Chris Norman who are celebrating 25 years as members of the Borough Council today!

For the real political anoraks amongst you, the results for each ward are as follows:

Englefield Green East

UKIP 91
Con (Marisa Heath) 493
Lab 101
Lib 264

Englefield Green West

Green 109
Lib 77
Lab 129
*Con (Hugh Meares) 464
UKIP 264

Addlestone Bourneside

*Con (Peggy Broadhead) 975
Lab 230
Ind 141

Addlestone North

UKIP 77
*Con (Becky Denby) 731
Lab 185
Lib 132

Chertsey Meads

UKIP 294
*Con (Chris Norman) 826
Lab 247

Chertsey St Anns (2 vacancies)

UKIP 191
*Con (Chris Chapman) 755
Lab 395
Lab 461
UKIP 142
*Con (Louis Poyanne) 698

Chertsey South and Rowtown

*Con (John Edwards) 947
UKIP 262
Lab 201

Egham Hythe

Lab 299
Lab 281
Lib 187
*Con (Yvonna Lay) 659
UKIP 141
Lib 191
*Con (Jon Wilson) 600

Foxhills

*Con (Paul Francis) 975
Lab 227
UKIP 187

New Haw

Lib 339
*Con (Adrian Tollett) 895

Thorpe - 2 vacancies

*Ind (Elaine Gill) 1024
*Ind (Margaret Harnden) 935
Con (Geoff Roberts) 485
Con (Nick Wase-Rogers) 373

Woodham

Lab 272
*Con (Bob Jones) 1187

Virginia Water

UKIP 159
Lib 218
*Con (Margaret Roberts) 986

It’s Election Day! Get out and vote!

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The polls will be open from 7:00am until 10:00pm tonight, with results declared by around 1:00am on Friday morning. I urge you to support your two excellent Conservative candidates in Englefield Green.

I will be publishing a full round-up of the results on this blog early on Friday morning.

ENGLEFIELD GREEN EAST - Marisa Heath

If you live in Albert Road, Alder Close, Alderside Walk, Armstrong Road, Ashdene, Bakeham Lane, Barley Mow Road, Barnway, Bulkeley Close, Chestnut Drive, Clarence Drive, Coopers Hill Lane, Danehurst Close, Egham Hill, Englefield Close, Falaise, Falconwood, Furzedown Close, Greenacre Court, Harvest Road, Highfield Close, Highfield Road, Hollycombe, Kinburn Drive, Kingswood Close, Kingswood Rise, Lancaster Close, Lodge Close, Middle Hill, Oak Tree Drive, Parsonage Road, Prune Hill, Roberts Way, Savill Mews, South Road, Spencer Gardens, St Cuthbert’s Close, St Jude’s Road, The Retreat, Tite Hill, Victoria Street or Willow Walk you vote at:

Jurgens Centre
(Adjacent to the Catholic Church)
91 Harvest Road

Click here for a map.

If you are a Royal Holloway student (students living in Halls have been automatically registered to vote) that lives in Beeches, Butler, Chestnuts, Elm Lodge, Founders, Gower, Highfield Court, Kingswood, Penrose Court, Reid, Runnymede, Tuke, Wedderburn or Williamson you vote at:

Room G24
Ground Floor
Arts Building

ENGLEFIELD GREEN WEST - Hugh Meares

If you live in Englefield Green but do not live in one of the roads specified above, you vote at:

Englefield Green Youth Club
Corby Drive
Englefield Green

Click here for a map.

EGHAM TOWN - Andrew Sheldon

If you live in Egham, you vote at:

Egham Town Band Hall
Waspe Farm Car Park
Station Road

Click here for a map.

HYTHE - Yvonna Lay and Jon Wilson

If you live the Hythe you vote at:

The Hythe Centre
Thorpe Road
Staines
TW18 3HD

Click here for a map.

If you do not live in Egham or Englefield Green, please click here to find out the location of your polling station.

All British, European Union and Commonwealth citizens over the age of eighteen are entitled to vote in this election.

If you are unsure as to whether or not you are registered to vote, please contact the Borough Council’s Election Office on 01932 425 650.

Latest Englefield Green ‘In Touch’ published

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The latest edition of ‘In Touch’, the newsletter of the Englefield Green Conservative Councillors is currently be distributed to more than 4,000 people across the village.

Topics covered in this edition include:

► Value for money local services
► Local crime falls by 20%
► What is the Englefield Green committee?
► Surrey County Council’s finances
► Youth Club update
► Extending the playground
► Englemede success
► Student volunteering

Please click here to download a copy in PDF format.

Labour smears: setting the record straight

Politics, people say, is a dirty game. When it comes to political discourse in Runnymede, however, nothing could usually be further from the truth. In the Council chamber, both Conservative and opposition councillors work together to move beyond petty point-scoring and deliver for local residents.

Sadly, Englefield Green Labour’s candidates Sebastian Michnowicz and Roxanne Mashari have violated this spirit by distributing two of the most outrageously inaccurate and misleading political leaflets I have ever come across.

Here’s are but a few of the inaccuracies contained in their leaflets…

► 1. Sebastian claims to be “at the back of the churchyard in Wick Lane” surveying what appears to be… a development on Blays Lane!

► 2. Sebastian pledges to work to “re-open the Queen Elizabeth Hospital”. I am not aware of the existence of a “Queen Elizabeth Hospital”. Does he mean the former day care centre, Queen Elizabeth House? Assuming he does, he speaks of his desire to turn the building into a “youth centre”. Sebastian is missing the fact that the Corby Drive Youth Centre is situated only a few hundred metres away and, following gutsy hard work by Cllrs Marisa Heath and Mike Kusneraitis, has recently secured a new three year lease and £5,000 grant for new ICT facilities.

► 3. Roxanne is severely critical of the Borough Council’s provision of lighting in the village, with Sebastian claiming that “Conservatives have done nothing to improve safety provisions in the area”. Pictured on Roxanne’s leaflet is a photograph of the footpath close to Ilex Close – the same footpath for which Cllr Marisa Heath has secured funding for the installation of improved lighting in the coming months. We work to improve the safety for all local residents at all hours of the day and night. In terms of improving student safety in the village, all six Englefield Green councillors attend regular meetings with members of Royal Holloway’s senior management team and Student Union President Joff Manning to discuss how we can better work together. The new Safer Runnymede Control Centre in the new Civic Offices complex (the construction of which is opposed by both Roxanne and Sebastian) will allow us to greatly expand our CCTV coverage in the village.

► 4. As a councillor, Sebastian wants to “appoint three Police Community Support Officers” in Englefield Green East ward. Quite apart from the fact the Borough Council has no power to implement such a plan, such a high number of PCSOs per head of population would mean that Englefield Green East would have more Police coverage than either Brixton or Peckham.

► 5. Sebastian alleges that your Conservative councillors were in some way negligent in taking “action to prevent the closure” of the Victoria Street Post Office. This is an area in which the Borough Council has no power whatsoever. That said, it is vital that the village has a Post Office and your six Conservative councillors Englefield Green are actively assisting Jan and Bunny, the owners of ‘Sohi’ on Bond Street in their application to take on the Post Office franchise.

► 6. Roxanne claims that your Englefield Green councillors “barely hold any surgeries that give local residents the opportunities to express their views or seek advice” and she will “hold regular surgeries once a month”. Well, if any resident wishes to come to our surgery on the second Saturday of the month at 11am at the Village Hall on Harvest Road, they are more than welcome!

► 7. Roxanne speaks of her desire to “campaign for more bicycle paths”. Firstly, the provision of cycle paths is an issue for the County Council. Secondly, the County Council has recently funded an excellent new cycle path leading alongside Egham Hill, easily connecting the village to local amenities in Egham.

► 8. Both Sebastian and Roxanne allege that the Borough Council has spent £23,000,000 on a new development to replace our existing dilapidated Civic Offices. I have no idea where this figure came from. Where too did the suggestion that the building is “£12,000,000 over budget” come from? The total building cost is £16,500,000 of which £3,500,000 will be met by Surrey County Constabulary with the remaining £13,000,000 by the Borough Council. The land the current Civic Offices is situated on will be sold for a new housing development (including a significant number of affordable homes) with a large majority of the £13,000,000 cost to the Borough Council of the new offices being recouped by the profits from the sale of this land.

The present offices were constructed in 1968 and were given a shelf-life of 25 years. They have now been in use for 40 years! The estimated cost of bringing the building up an acceptable standard as a place of work for our staff is estimated at up to £6,500,000! The new offices will not only be of minimal cost to taxpayers but will also conform to the highest possible environmental standards and incorporate the modern ICT infrastructure necessary to continue improving local services. Sebastian and Roxanne are correct to suggest that the opening of the building is behind schedule, yet have neglected to mention that the Borough Council’s contract with developers Willmot Dixon means that the Council has been compensated to the tune of £11,000 per week since the developers slipped behind their scheduled completion date of December 10th. In order to avoid any unnecessary costs to taxpayers, the Borough Council has refused to take possession of the buildings until all construction problems were eliminated, meaning that residents can expect the buildings to be of the very highest quality.

I apologise for taking a considerably more party political tone than I have traditionally taken on this Blog but I feel it is important that I set the record straight and respond to Labour’s misleading and dishonest smears.

Longcross Public Exhibition

Runnymede Borough Council - and all your Englefield Green councillors - are opposed to the installation of a waste-processing facility at Longcross.

A “public exhibition” on the plans will be held at Trumps Farm, Kitsmead Lane, Longcross on:

Thursday 1st May (2pm to 8pm)
Friday 2nd May (2pm to 8pm)
Saturday 3rd May (10am to 2pm)

An e-mail to all councillors from Peter Sims, the Council’s Head of Technical Services confirmed that Surrey Waste Management had not, until this morning, “seen fit to inform the Borough Council of the consultation, send us any information, nor consult over the timing”.

Please click here to view Surrey Waste Management’s invitation.

Election Leaflets

Please find, below, copies of both Marisa Heath and Hugh Meares’ election leaflets which are being distributed throughout the village during the coming days. Included also is the Borough-wide Conservative manifesto.

Please click on the images to download a PDF copy of the relevant document:

Englemad Appeal Dismissed!

I was delighted to hear this afternoon that a property developer’s appeal to overturn the Council’s decision to refuse planning application for the controversial Englemede development has been rejected by the Planning Inspectorate.

As the redoubtable ‘Englemad’ group of local residents, Cllr Pat Roberts, Cllr Marisa Heath and I argued, the Inspector (David Asher) concluded that the development was unsuitable as a result of its “effect on the character and appearance of the area” and impact of the “proposed houses at the rear of the site on the living conditions of people nearby”.

The Inspector’s report additionally argues that the “height and mass” of the development would be “at odds with the prevailing scale of the others houses” on the road, that the proposed car parking area would be in conflict with the “character and appearance of the area and harmful in itself”, would have an “unacceptable degree of overlooking of the closest gardens” and would be “cramped in contrast to the general spacing of houses in the road”.

I have contacted the Council’s planning department thanking them for their stoic efforts in fighting this proposal and requesting a PDF copy of the Inspector’s note that I can share online.