by admin | Nov 28, 2019 | Affordable Housing, Ancient Woodland, Cranleigh, Cranleigh Hospital, Cranleigh Primary School, KPI, Surrey County Council
Our fields are saved – so far! And even the trees ……
At the Waverley borough Council Joint Planning meeting on 27th November the councillors and all others spoke well and represented every view. On balance they voted to say no to HC-One & CVHT‘s planning application – the 60 bed Care Home Application with 20 community beds and health workers’ accommodation block – for reasons of “over-development & traffic & against the Local Plan” – in essence we don’t want the field filled up and the traffic increased, but we do feel upset that their isn’t a viable way to bring beds back to Cranleigh now.
They also voted to say no to the housing on the 2 Cranleigh Primary School sites – 91 dwellings and the loss of many trees – reasons – “over-development, loss of trees, loss of village look and feel (we think)”.
They voted for the Knowle Country Park and its lake – this will go ahead and is nothing but an asset all the while it has a vibrant and caring management team – how the future will go remains to be seen but we are lucky – so long as we understand that a body of wild water is a dangerous place! We will witness digging to provide the lake, then planting on a mass scale. The Ancient Woodland is to be preserved too – yippee.
All the councillors and visiting speakers did their best for Cranleigh. If you follow this link you can read all the agenda pack and additional documents – here and the minutes will be published there as well.
As for the replacement Primary School project – this is not over at all. Surrey County Council Cabinet has already approved building the new school with nursery on fields that are currently Glebelands school’s. On December 18th their Planning and Scrutiny committee will look at this again. see here for details and watch same space for the agenda items and agenda pack.
Surrey County Council –
Venue: Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN.
Wednesday, 18 December 2019 10.30 am, Planning and Regulatory Committee.
Our representative on this committee is Dr Andrew Povey – you can contact him here –
by Sue Dale | Nov 19, 2019 | Cranleigh, Cranleigh Hospital, Cranleigh Primary School, KPI, Waverley Borough Council
Waverley’s Joint Planning Committee will meet on 27th November to discuss 3 major plans –
WA/2018/1966 CRANLEIGH NURSING HOME – applied for by CVHT with HC-One – the Officers recommend refusal on planning grounds.
WA/2017/1389 resite and build new PRIMARY SCHOOL – the Officers recommend this is Granted! They believe all their planning issues have been addressed.
WA/2019/1168 & WA/2016/2207 Knowle Country Park details – the Officers recommend this is Granted.
If you want to go to the meeting you can, you can also ask to speak – see the web site for details.
for the AGENDA PACK – 150 pages – click here
by admin | Nov 17, 2019 | Cranleigh, Cranleigh Leisure Centre
On 30 Sept we asked Waverley BC what about Cranleigh Leisure Centre rebuild? Waverley BC committed to investing in Cranleigh’s Leisure centre – in July 2018 – using money raised by taxing new developments as they are built (across the borough)
They paid a consultancy company to produce a report. We don’t have the report but this is the company that produced it here
We asked what role can the public play in the future plans for Cranleigh Leisure centre; approval of the siting of the Cranleigh LC was again made a “published plan” item in September by the Executive…. but what consultation has there actually been apart from the presentation to Cranleigh Parish Councillors in the spring? We see no reference to the potential sites. What are the options for where it might be built? What consultations have taken place?
Waverley had little to say – Any future plans regarding the leisure centre will be shared with the public when the project progresses. Siting is largely led by land ownership and planning restrictions and the desire to keep the centre centrally located. At present potential options have been viewed through these restrictions in consultation with Cranleigh Parish Council leisure working group. You can see the documents and latest statement here
We went on to say – CCS would like to see consultation with the community – WBC replied that something will be published very soon – the executive will decide by Jan 2020.
CCS has however been advised that the sites being reviewed are
- remodel of current site
- redevelop and enlarge current site
- new build in the adjacent car park
By the way – At a meeting of WBC on 5 November they agreed to a new The Communications and Engagement Strategy – this “seeks to improve and modernise the Communications and Engagement service at the Council. It will require a significant shift in terms of operations, expectations, prioritisation and culture. When executed, it will not only provide better value for money for the Council, but will also help to improve relations with stakeholders by ensuring their views are heard and it will be vital in supporting the delivery and success of important council initiatives and priorities”.
Great to see that the current administration knows the Communications and Engagement isn’t good enough – but is deciding to ensure our views are heard enough? We really need to have ways to show that local knowledge and views are genuinely understood, taken into account and explained back to the public – especially to show where our views have a positive impact on decision making that meets with the public’s approval. If the aims include cutting the expensive delays and problems caused by people not understanding the council’s ways – there is a lot of work to be done!!
by admin | Nov 17, 2019 | Cranleigh
WBC have meetings called Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Environment – the one on Monday 18 Nov at 7pm will look at Parking across the borough.
On September 30th we asked Waverley BC about CAR PARKING in Cranleigh – we pointed out that residential roads are being used for parking for some longer periods – what does WBC think about this? We stated that their CAR PARKS are prohibitively expensive for those at work all day/week/month on top of other costs for low paid workers. But the tiny roads around the garage (such as Overford Drive) aren’t the answer – they are clogged. Ideas?
Waverley BC answered – The Council has commissioned a Strategic Review of off-street parking which is about to start. The brief for this includes a review of how the Council can support local economies in the four main settlements and how it can be tailored to the individual needs of each of those settlements. A proposal has been received from the Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce suggesting how parking charges can be modified to address the parking issues for local employees and this proposal will be fed into the review. Managing on-street parking is the responsibility of Surrey County Council (SCC) and we would wish to discuss with SCC how on- and off-street parking may complement each other better in future.
WBC asked Cranleigh Society if Cranleigh people would want yellow lines or parking metres etc? How would Cranleigh residents feel if their “rates” went up to pay for cheaper or free parking? Do let us know.
They are also looking at enforcement across all problems including parking, dog fouling, litter etc. Liz Townsend mentioned that Snoxhall car park (beside the park and Youth Centre) is cheaper yet under-used. We think people may not realise it’s there or again, don’t want to pay – on principle even.
We have the following ideas to put forward to WBC and SCC
CRANLEIGH VILLAGE CENTRE – PARKING PROPOSALS
- A Full Cranleigh Parish Council Meeting on 18 April 2019 considered whether the Council should support the Business Improvement District (BID) Feasibility Report prepared by The Mosaic Partnership which was commissioned by Waverley Borough Council. This provides a framework for tackling the regeneration of the commercial centres of Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere and Cranleigh.
- Cranleigh Parish Council agreed to organise a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the BID.
- The Feasibility Study identified a specific issue related to parking in Cranleigh. The Study states ‘The majority of businesses expressed concern about the availability of parking for workers, particularly those in the retail sector and are unable to afford the current charges’
- Cranleigh Civic Society has received many complaints from residents who have reported long term parking in local residential roads near the village centre. These cars are likely to be owned by people working in the village centre who either object to paying or who cannot afford the car parking charges for a whole day period. The congestion caused by such parking severely affects the lives of residents in these roads and often inhibits deliveries and visitors to their properties. They create hazardous blocks to sight lines.
- Having assessed the situation the Civic Society would like to propose the following possible solution.
- A survey of Village Way and Stocklund Square car parks has established that while both are well used by shoppers there are quite a number of parking spaces in both car parks which remain vacant all day. If these spaces were to be occupied by local workers on week days and Saturdays it would hopefully reduce the numbers of cars parking in residential streets or on Cranleigh Common. A full WBC day’s parking in either car park would cost £6.40 so we would suggest that a significant reduction on this amount should be considered. Permits to be displayed in car windows might be issued by the Parish Council as sanctioned by the Chamber of Commerce.
- We also propose that both car parks should be free at schools drop off and pick up times to enable wise parking by those needing to get to the Primary Schools.
We have recently observed the installation of posts all along the Common which stops parking on it.
thanks for reading all the way down – do let us know your views please.
by admin | Nov 9, 2019 | Cranleigh
What’s the point of having a Civic society? Well your small group of representatives have attended many meetings and raised queries on your behalf – and as busy volunteers we share what we can. What is clear is that some topics are making people cross, but also the same questions go round in circles on social media, so it’s important to try to be measured and truthful too. Do watch out for misinformation…
IS CRANLEIGH A VILLAGE? Cranleigh Village is proud to remain a village in feel and look. Cranleigh is one of about 13 villages that are as large as “large towns” in population and is not the largest. Cranleigh Society would love to help to maintain this sense of popping to the village for great local shopping and friendly socialising venues. (It seems that holding a regular market is more of a Town credential.) As a village there is a Parish Council, a Village Green and a Common. People proudly support local clubs, arts and businesses, and say hello and smile too.
WHEN IS CRANLEIGH A LARGE TOWN? Because Cranleigh has a large population that is growing, when Cranleigh enters Britain in Bloom competitions they put Cranleigh into the Large Town category! Sad but true. However it’s exciting too as the results of the competition were published as SILVER GILT! CONGRATULATIONS ARE DUE ALL ROUND. It’s the first time that Cranleigh has entered the whole of England awards, as well as the South and South East awards.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BEING A LARGE TOWN? IF ANY! When Cranleigh grows in population and boundary it will eventually “benefit” from more representation at Waverley Borough Council. Might be a good thing? However Waverley’s other towns will always be larger.
IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE A NON POLITICAL SOCIETY? Cranleigh Society was started up with the express purpose of fighting planning permissions – to try to preserve life as we know it, and in that regard there have only been small tweaks made. This may feel like failure but the story continues. You might be content for Councillors and Parish Clerk to keep the good fight going on everyone’s behalf? You might prefer to not really know how they and Waverley Officers and Councillors have to comply with laws and settle on actions people find very difficult to tolerate? Maybe Councillors’ (they are volunteers) work is of no interest to you?
IS IT BEST TO LEAVE EVERYTHING TO OTHERS? There are three main ‘towns’ in Waverley Borough – they all have strong Societies – perhaps Cranleigh Village residents would like to look at the other Societies’ web sites and think about our Village as a place worth working together for. There are so many great things in Cranleigh such as the services we do receive at the Village Hospital, The Arts Centre and Charity Groups such as the Lions and Rotary clubs. There are about 200 groups including the U3A and the HIstory society. But a Civic Society can be there to work for and celebrate with all. Cranleigh Civic Society needs more people within it who will do research, attend meetings and report findings. Your current representatives are doing their best – can you help?
If you have something you want to work on such as investigating planning applications and recommending comments, fighting to get policies changed and observed such as about preserving trees etc. Cranleigh Society has the framework, it needs good people to speak within it – truthfully and with excellent research behind it. It can also be a forum to celebrate what’s great about our town. We need people other than councillors to work and fight for us all….. just saying…
Goldaming here
Farnham here
Haslemere here
NEXT SOCIAL = WEDNESDAY 13th NOVEMBER, FROM 6:30, AT THE THREE HORSESHOES PUB, come and air your views, and even offer written information for publication?
by admin | Nov 4, 2019 | Cranleigh, Cranleigh Hospital
Care Homes have nursing beds…. A Care Home near Cranleigh states that as well as residents’ rooms they have Nursing beds “For health issues that need the ongoing attention of nurses, we provide 24-hour personal specialised nursing care led by our own registered nurses chosen for their care compassion and experience.”
What has happened to CVHT’s planning application? When Cranleigh Society members met with your Waverley – 30 September – we asked about the progress of the planning application for the Care home with “community” beds plus the accommodation block for health related workers. The planning application is WA/2018/1966 . It was sent into Waverley last year and still has not been examined by Councillors – why? The people of Cranleigh and surroundings villages really need to know what is going on with the project.
Waverley explained “The planning application for the Care Home & Accommodation Block is presently being considered and is regarded as unacceptable in its present form. As a regular submission, it will be subject to the full range of policy requirements and planning obligations” –
We asked for clarification – WBC said The plans are being recommended for refusal because of many planning issues – access, parking, affordable housing…… So they are not ready to put it to Councillors yet.
It was agreed too that the Councillors – many of whom have little idea about the convoluted history so far – need to catch up and will need many things to be explained to them.
WBC councillors for Cranleigh West are – Cllrs Liz Townsend and Patricia Ellis. (for Cranleigh East it’s Richard Cole, Mary Foryszewski & Ruth Reed). Liz T is on the Joint Planning Committee and Patricia E is not, but can be called as a substitute and like anyone can request to speak at a JPC meeting. There is an expression – “call it in” which means that Councillors in a place (Ward) can ask for a public committee meeting – Joint Planing Committee (JPC) – to examine planning applications. Liz and Patricia would be representing the public of Cranleigh and villages, who raised so much money! if they were to call it in. But if the Officers explain that the application does not meet planning rules and regulations this might not happen – until the applicants provide further documents to make the application meet planning rules. OK so far?
Meanwhile – people in Cranleigh have been expressing their grave doubts about the morality of the scheme and about whether it would ever perform in the way envisaged and explained here – WBC planning application document provided by CVHT.
There are those who feel that a sum of money equal to that raised by the Charity should be found and given to the existing hospital somehow. The reasons include feeling that the money raised has been misused. Also that the proposed double building project is massive over -development of the Paddock especially now that there are so many other users on the same bit of road at Knowle Lane.
CVHT cannot publicly tell the public what is going on until the planning application has been viewed and passed, because they are in partnership with the business HC-One. This is seen as correct and reasonable apparently by WBC advisors.
In the meantime the NHS has reviewed its situation and decided that the A&E departments are over stretched by people who can walk in and need some minor injuries or illnesses looked at urgently. They want all of England to have Urgent Care Centres. You can read their report of 2017 here on NHS England’s web site. They say that our Clinical Commissioning Group must make decisions about where Urgent Care is sited by this Christmas. The press has recently reported that Haslemere Minor Injuries unit is not under threat of closure, and we understand it may be upgraded to an Urgent Care Centre. There are discreet differences – some problems can only be seen at the UCC. Urgent Care Centres have doctors present, Minor Injuries Units do not. If you have sickness & diarrhoea or a pregnancy related problem you need UCC.
To date the NHS has always said they would not support new local hospital beds in small places like Cranleigh. However the Royal Surrey stated recently that can’t handle any more A&E visits. Policy changes so often who knows what it will be next?
Did you know that in years past when Cranleigh Hospital was available to deal with sick and injured children and adults the service was not costing the NHS any extra? The nurses were there to look after people in the beds. The GPs were on call at the Practice so they popped into the hospital when called, for no extra charge to the NHS. So the NHS downgraded the services we could find in Cranleigh – but thanks to the League of Friends working tirelessly with the NHS some services are now in place in the old hospital – but no beds – ever.
A Guide to Funding the Cost of Care here
HC-One care homes link here
An HC-One care home states – “….Home Manager makes sure that all Residents receive the kindest possible care. Our extensively trained team will deliver all the nursing, specialist care and support services that your loved one requires. Personalised care plans consider not only medical, personal and dietary needs, but also the individual’s likes and dislikes, religious preferences, and suggestions from family members that might make their stay with us that little bit more enjoyable.”
If the planning application goes to the Joint Planning Committee (JPC) the Councillors will have to consider the Planning application, not the CVHT fund raising or the private nursing home company’s profits. The public can ask to speak at the meeting and can watch it on line on the day.
The next JPC is on 27th November at 6:30 in the Godalming WBC offices. The Agenda has not yet been publicised.
If you want to see the latest at the NHS decision making machine try here Guildford & Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group
