More RA internal conflict

It's now the turn of Ewell Village RA to express its disapproval of the way RA councillors are running our Borough.

The Winter edition of their newsletter criticises RA councillors for removing the first hour of free parking at Bourne Hall. It states they "got it very wrong and just do not understand the essential role this car park plays in Ewell Village affairs".

They promise to "harass" these councillors so as to regain the free hour.

So yet another RA learns that the RA group of councillors are less in tune with the needs of local residents than they previously banked on.

Other upset and jilted RAs are evidenced here and here.

Grit bins

Surrey County Council have produced a useful guide to their approach to grit bins after the recent snow.

The web page can be found here.

I have been informed that the recent snow means that a refill of bins will be carried out. If you feel a grit close to you has been missed or that a location near you would be well served by a bin and that we should make a request for one then please get in touch with me.

Lord Halifax rejected once again

The historic riding school at the Durdans

In early 2009 Lord Halifax, owner of the Durdans stables, failed in an attempt to get planning permission to convert the site from its historic equestrian use to a mixed residential and commercial use. We were told at the time of that application that the need to change use was because the site was no longer fit for equestrian purposes. His lordship produced thick, glossy and no doubt very expensive reports from "professional experts" backing up this contention which was bitterly contested by opponents of that application who included myself.

It was therefore ironic that rather soon after the application was rejected that the remarketing of the site produced a Mr. Buckman who has taken on a 125 lease for equestrian purposes namely race horse training and livery.

Yesterday evening two separate applications relating to the site came before the borough's planning committee. For the first time in my council career I was sitting as a member of that committee. The first application was from Mr. Buckman seeking permission for various changes that would allow him to operate a modern equestrian business on this historic site. This application was agreed with some enthusiasm as for the first time in a long time we can see the prospect of a successful equestrian use being made of the site.

The second application came from Lord Halifax. His lordship had excluded part of the site from the lease agreement with Mr. Buckman and last night proposed to demolish stables on it and build houses. I spoke and voted against this application. The Borough has planning policies protecting equestrian land and there seemed no good reason why that protection shouldn't apply in this case. In fact the only reason advanced for this application seemed to be to allow Lord Halifax to make more money than he otherwise would. Not a valid planning reason. This land is within the Chalk Lane conservation area and a change of use would clearly change the ambience of the area. Indeed the council in a planning document back in January this year described similar developments in the past as "regrettable". Moreover the proposed housing was unattractively close to neighbouring properties.

This land can still be used for equestrian purposes. The papers for last night's meeting suggest that there is increased demand partly due to the Olympics. Perhaps it would be best for Lord Halifax to put aside any thoughts of future residential development and concentrate on what is possible.

Pothole progress

There has been a noticeable improvement in the repair of potholes since May of this year. In particular it was fantastic to see Woodcote Green Road in my ward completely resurfaced.

Further good news arrives from the county council. As of the end of April next year the council's road maintenance contract will transfer from Ringway and Carillion to May Gurney. This involves a commendable £60 million investment over six years and importantly a stark improvement in service. May Gurney are committed under the contract to the repair of 30,000 potholes within 24 hours of their being reported. The current contractors achieve the repair of 19,000 potholes within a seven day deadline. Therefore we should hope to see yet another significant improvement.

Baby it's cold outside

Well it's been an interesting and difficult week in Epsom. Surrey was one of the worst hit places in the country when it came to snow and Epsom was one of the worst hit places in Surrey.

Reports of 5-9 hour journeys to cover relatively short commutes home have been common. The inconvenience and frustration caused has been huge. The burden on our emergency services and local authorities has been massive and their staff have performed commendably.

There is no doubt that the whole country needs to sharpen up its act in relation to extreme winter weather, but the improvements in response this year are to be applauded.

Surrey County Council managed to regularly salt a network of 4,000 miles of priority roads. In Epsom this involved not only those roads designated priority 1, but also those at priority 2. Some difficulty was encountered with grit trucks or snow ploughs struggling to get past abandoned vehicles and heavy traffic, but the routes were covered.

One problem was the sheer amount of snow that fell which meant that roads that had been gritted simply got completely covered giving people the impression that they had never been gritted in the first place.

Another difficulty arose when local sections of motorway were closed by the Highways Agency and Surrey Police because of multiple incidents. This, of course, then put intolerable pressure on smaller roads.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council had to cancel many services, but kept residents informed of disruption caused and will no doubt be working hard to catch up with services such as waste collection over the coming week.

If anyone in Woodcote and Langley Vale has any particular concerns about the way the snow was dealt with in their area then please let me know.