Free Bus travel from 9am for over-60s from April 1st

As of 1st April, Runnymede residents aged sixty or over will be able to travel for free on buses in the Borough from 9:00am.

The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 allows the disabled and those aged sixty or older to travel by bus free of charge anywhere in England from 9.30am to 11pm during the week and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays. Given that the 9:30am starting time was felt to be inconvenient by many local residents the Housing and Community Services Committee has approved additional funding to allow the free travel scheme to commence at 9:00am.

8,000 bus passes have already been sent out to qualifying residents but, if you are entitled to take part in the scheme but have not yet applied then please contact Donnalyn Dunn or Lorraine Ayres on 01932 425622 or buspass@runnymede.gov.uk for more information. Applications take around two weeks to process.

From speaking to Englefield Green residents, I know that many elderly people rely heavily upon local bus services and am proud that the Borough Council is playing an active role in supporting their use.

New Civic Offices completed!

After months of problems, Runnymede Borough Council’s Architects (Fielden Clegg Bradley) were able to issue a Certificate of Practical Completion on the new Civic Offices development at 4:15pm yesterday afternoon.

The Council’s officers were clear that they would not take possession of the building until all outstanding work had been completed and problems in construction had been resolved to satisfaction. As a result of this, residentrs can be assured as possible that the building is of the highest possible standard.

A timetable for moving into the offices is currently being worked on and will be confirmed shortly.

Having been on a tour of the building some months ago, I know it will be a fantastic place for both the Council’s staff to work and for the Council to meet. I hope to be able to post some photographs on this website in due course.

Trumps Farm: Interview

Peter Sims, the Borough Council’s Head of Technical Services, will be on Southern Counties Radio between 8:30 and 8:40am tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to discuss the outcome of this evening’s meeting of Surrey County Council’s Executive to decide upon an outline plan for a waste facility at Trumps Farm.

Peter will be addressing why Runnymede is against the plan, the sites that may be more appropriate for such a development, our likelihood of success in stopping the development and what we would like to see happen with the proposal.

You can listen at 104-104.8 FM, 95-95.3 FM, 1161 AM, 1368 AM and 1485 AM or online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties.

Waste facility at Trumps Farm, Longcross

If you have seen the local press over the past few days, you won’t possibly have missed the news of Surrey County Council’s Executive’s plans to submit a planning application to construct an “energy-from-waste” plan on land next to Trumps Farm at Kitsmead Lane, Longcross.

Whilst we are all going to have views on the desirability of the construction of 160,000 per year waste processing facility in our area, I am particularly concerned about the process by which the County Council has gone about lodging their application.

The process for the choosing of sites for waste disposal facilities is clearly defined under the Surrey Waste Plan which was drafted in December 2007 but has not yet been adopted by the Council as a result of the Executive’s disagreement with the comments of the Waste Inspector. Amongst the Inspector’s chief observations which the County Council took issue with was the unsuitability of the Longcross site as a result of its location inside the Green Belt and poor road access. Waste planning procedures demand that the County Council prove that there are no viable alternative sites available before seeking to construct such facilities in Green Belt areas.

When adopted, the Waste Plan can be laid open to legal challenges, leaving it very much open to change. As such, any application lodged before the implementation of the plan will not be subjected to the same rigorous planning processes. The County Council must, in order for this application to be viewed with any credibility, wait until the adoption of their own Waste Plan before seeking to construct a new facility at Longcross.

Potential improvements to the M25

I thought visitors may be interested to hear about reports the Council has received regarding potential capacity improvements to the M25 between Junctions 11 and 12.

The improvements, which would take place within the existing boundary of the motorway, have been outlined as follows:

- A double lane gain southbound at J12
- The provision of 5 lanes south of J12 with associated widening
- The provision of 4 lanes through J11 in both directions with associated widening,
- The replacement of J11 southbound gain with taper merger
- The provision of an extra lane northbound at J11 for approximately 500 metres

Before any plans are advanced, an environmental impact assessment impact will be carried out. If the scheme is given the go ahead, it is likely that work would commence in autumn next year, finishing in the spring of 2010.

If you have any views on the possible scheme, even at this very early stage, that you would like me to pass on to either the Council’s planning officers or the Department for Transport then please do let me know.

Crime drops across Surrey, is slashed in Runnymede

There is good news for Runnymede and Surrey in the latest set of figures showing the percentage change in crime rates based on rolling 12 months compared to 2003/4 baseline. Whilst actual crime across Surrey has fallen by 4.9%, the drop in Runnymede is even larger at 20.2%.

Congratulations to Surrey Police and our excellent crime reduction team here in Runnymede led by David Dodd for the excellent progress they are making in making our our communities even safer.

Councillor Resignations

The following Runnymede Borough Councillors have resigned this afternoon with immediate effect:

- Cllr Brian Relph - Independent (Thorpe)
- Cllr Becky Denby - Conservative (Egham Hythe)
- Cllr Dolsie Clarke - Conservative (Chertsey St Anns)

Due to the closeness of the Borough Council elections due to take place on 1st May, there will be no by-elections but rather two Councillors will be elected to in Thorpe, Egham Hythe and Chertsey St Anns: one to serve the four year term and another to serve the remainder of former Cllrs Relph, Denby and Clarke’s unexpired terms.

Brian, Becky and Dolsie have all been hugely supportive over the course of my first year on the Council and I wish them all the very best in whatever they choose to do in the future.

The future for Post Offices in Runnymede

Given the problems Englefield Green residents are currently experiencing following the abrupt closure of the Victoria Street Post Office, I have taken a brief look at the Post Office’s ‘Network Change Area Plan Proposal for Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex’ in order to learn more about the future of these vital services in the Borough.

There are two Post Offices recommended for closure in the Borough - 20 Little Green Lane, Chertsey and 17 Fordwater Road, Chertsey.

In comparison with many other local authority areas, however, Runnymede actually does rather well with Windsor & Maidenhead and Arun both facing the loss of six Post Offices as a result of “network change”. For what it’s worth, the former 60 Victoria Street Post Office in Englefield Green was amongst those which were earmarked to “remain in the network”.

I know I speak for all the residents of The Green when I say that I hope that the former Post Office in Bond Street will once again be able to provide residents with this vital service.

The plan can be downloaded by clicking here.

Englefield Green’s Victoria Street Post Office

I have heard from many residents who are deeply concerned about the abrupt closure of the post office in Victoria Street. Whilst we all knew that the Post Office was due to close in the next few months, it was certainly a surprise to visit the shop on Friday to find a note saying the shop would be closed from Monday onwards.

It appears that our surprise at the closure of the Victoria Street branch has also come as somewhat of a surprise to the national Post Office. My colleague, Cllr Mike Kusneraitis telephoned the Post Office’s national hotline to enquire as to details of the closure only to be told that they had also not been informed about the timetable for the closure of the branch!

A letter from an Englefield Green East constituent to Postwatch, the postal regulator, produced the following reply:

Your fears about Englefield Green Post Office have proved to be well founded. Post Office Ltd will be shortly making an announcement regarding this branch. It seems the branch has been under temporary management since the termination of the previous subpostmaster’s contract and the owner of the premises, now wants the Post Office removed.

This might provide the solution to your query as to why the store in Bond Street could not once more house the post office. If you believe the owners would be prospective candidates, why not suggest they contact Post Office Ltd’s Agency Recruitment team (telephone number: 0845 601 6260), who, I am assured, are already on the look out to replace the closing branch.

From what you say, Post Office Ltd will already know the people and premises in Bond Street and that may hasten a replacement.

Meanwhile, as you will certainly already know, the nearest branch is Egham Post Office, which is 1.2 miles from the closing branch. There is a direct bus service from the closing branch. Opening times are Monday to Friday 09:00-17:30 and Saturdays 09:00-13:00.

I hope a good resolution can be speedily found. Please contact Postwatch again if you believe we can help or you have further queries.

Clearly, it is unacceptable to expect Englefield Green residents - particularly the elderly and young families - to trudge down to Egham to use a Post Office.

Thankfully, it appears that a solution has already been found. The owner of the former Post Office on Bond Street has confirmed that he would be delighted to take on the franchise for the Post Office in the neat future.

Watch this space…

Runnymede calls for a referendum on the European Constitution

At a meeting of the Full Council this evening, I was delighted to receive the overwhelming support of my colleages for a motion I proposed calling on the Prime Minister to honour the Labour Party’s manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the European Constitution.

27 councillors voted in favour of the motion, with three abstentions and no votes against.

Whilst several of the Runnymede Independent councillors felt uneasy about bringing national politics into the council chamber, I personally take the view that as democratically-elected representatives of our constitutents and must use the platform available to us to make clear the views of local residents on important issues such as this.

The full text of the motion adopted is as follows:

“That this Council:

1. Is aware that the EU “Reform Treaty” signed by former Prime Minister Blair on 23rd June 2007 and ratified by Prime Minister Brown in Lisbon on 13th December 2007 is publicly acknowledged by the leaders of several EU nations and a growing body of MPs from all Parties, to be almost identical to the Constitutional Treaty that was rejected by the people of France and Holland in their referendums of 2005.

2. Notes the views of Prime Minister, namely “the manifesto is what we put to the public, we’ve got to honour that manifesto, that is an issue of trust that we have with the electorate…” (June 24 2007) and additionally welcomes the resolution of the Trade Union Congress on September 12, 2007 namely “the Labour Party should honour this pledge and hold a referendum on the ratification of this new Reform Treaty…”.

3. Expresses its concern that, if adopted into British law, the “Reform Treaty” will result in the surrender of sixty-one policy vetoes currently possessed by the British Government in the Council of Ministers and the creation of a permanent European Union President and Foreign Minister.

4. Commends the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge for his public declaration of support for a referendum.

5. On behalf of the people of Runnymede Borough, calls upon the Prime Minister, to ensure his Party honours its 2005 General Election promise in relation to the European Constitutional Treaty, as stated on page eighty four of their 2005 General Election Manfiesto “Britain: Forward Not Back”, namely “we will put it…[the Constitutional Treaty]…to the British people in a referendum”.

6. Requests that the Leader of the Council shall communicate, in writing, the view of the Borough Council to all relevant individuals and requests a written reply, the contents of which shall subsequently be shared with all members”