Annual General Meeting for the Leatherhead Residents' Association

Agenda for AGM on 14 April 2014 in the Abraham Dixon Hall, Letherhead Institute.

Tea and/or coffee will be served from 7.00 to 7.20.

1. Apologies for absence.  

   

2. Minutes of the 2013 AGM, (on the LRA website and a few hard copies will be available).

3. Matters arising from them.    (Probably Forty Foot Road and Leach Grove woods).

           

4. Chairman’s Annual  Report.

.                                                                                                  

5. Treasurer’s Report and Statement of Accounts, which will appear as a written statement.*

   

6. Appointment of the auditor, Lindsey Thynne. 

7. Election of officers supervised by the Returning Officer, Councillor Tim Hall.

All/any nominations should be submitted to the Secretary no later than 3 days before the meeting.

            i. Chairman

            ii Vice Chairman

            iii Secretary

            iv Treasurer

            v Committee members 

                                                                                                

8. AOB:   All questions or topics must be notified before the start of the meeting.                     

(5 minute break).

9. Speaker 1,  John Howarth from “Towns Alive” (formerly  “Action for Market Towns”.  

10. Speaker 2,  Anne Haigh, Manager of the Dorking and Leatherhead Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

11. Speaker 3:  Jim Jones , Living Landscapes Officer from Surrey Wildlife Trust.

*Other reports will be displayed on a noticeboard in the hall and can be read during coffee/tea.

Online links here:   Planning Report for 2013-2014

                             Environment Report for 2013-2014

Leatherhead Flood Group Meeting

The Leatherhead Flood Group Meeting scheduled for Thursday 20th March at 7.30 will now be held at the Leatherhead Leisure Centre (in the Tylney Room) and NOT at the Methodist Church.

Forthcoming May Elections

Dear Sir/Madam

Please find attached (see below)  a press release about the forthcoming May elections that may be of interest to your residents and wider community.

Kind regards

Victoria

Victoria Foreman

Senior Democratic Services Officer

Mole Valley District Council

(01306) 879355

www.molevalley.gov.uk

-------------------

NEWS RELEASE

March 2014

Local and European Elections 2014

Make sure you are registered for your vote

Mole Valley District Council published the 2014 Register of Electors on 17^th February, ready for the upcoming Local and European Parliamentary Elections taking place on Thursday 22^nd May this year.

In order to vote at the elections on 22^nd May, it’s important that residents make sure they are registered to vote. Hundreds of people in Mole Valley District could miss their chance to vote in local elections this May if they don’t take action now, Yvonne Rees, Returning Officer for Mole Valley, has advised.

“Thursday 22 May is the chance for residents to have their say at Local and European Parliamentary elections”, explains Yvonne Rees.  “We want everyone eligible to vote to be able to do so. 

“Anyone who has moved house recently needs to register at their new address. “ 

“We’re also keen for anyone turning 18 on or before 22 May to make sure they are registered, so they can vote for the first time.”

Postal votes may be of particular benefit this year to those people whose living arrangements have been affected by flooding, and may have moved out of their homes whilst repair work is completed. Residents can of course return to their usual polling station, but a postal vote may be more convenient if they are unable to make it to the station on the day.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday 6^th May.  Call 01306 879198 for a registration form to be posted to you or download one from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is Wednesday 7^th May and for a proxy vote (someone who can vote on your behalf in person at the polling station) is, Wednesday 14^th May.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Democratic Services

01306 879198

Email electoral.registration@molevalley.gov.uk

Flood Forum Trailer

A Flood Forum Trailer is coming to Leatherhead on Friday, 14th March at the Leisure Centre Car Park from 10.00 till 19.00 with advice about Insurance, Flood Prevention etc.

A representative from the Environmental Aency (EA) will be present when the Flood Action Group meets again on 20 March at the Leatherhead Methodist Church at 7.30.

The EA is collating information and asking residents to fill in questionnaires.   The questionnaires should be available at either of these venues.

Second Date for Flood Recovery Trailer

Dear All

 

I am delighted to let you know that we have managed to secure the National Flood Forum's flood trailer for an extra day - allowing it to come to both Charlwood and Brockham on Monday 17 March as well as to Leatherhead Leisure Centre this Friday.

 

The details of the additional day are as follows:

 

Monday 17th March the trailer and staff will be located at:--

 

Charlwood Village Hall, open to the public from 10.00am till 1.30pm

 

It will then pack up and move location to :-

 

Brockham Village Hall, open to the public from 3.30pm till 7.00pm

 

This additional day has been secured through the hard work of MV staff working closely with SCC and the National Flood Forum. We are delighted to have the trailer for a second day as we know that the advice and information it provides will be invaluable to residents and businesses affected by flooding. Naturally we will be promoting this as widely as possible and would appreciate your support also.

 

Thank you

 

Kind regards

 

Louise

 

Louise Bircher
Customer Service and Communications Manager
Mole Valley District Council
Tel: 01306 879155
www.molevalley.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @molevalleydc

Surrey Police: Local Policing Board

You are invited to attend the Local Policing Board at B'free Youth Café, Kingston Road in Leatherhead KT22 7BT on Wednesday 12th March 2014. This is a great opportunity for you to have your say on how your streets are policed.

The evening starts at 7pm and we look forward to seeing you there.

Flood Support For Residents

Dear All

 

I am writing to ask for your assistance in publicising the arrival of the National Flood Forum's flood recovery trailer at Leatherhead Leisure Centre on Friday 14 March 10am to 7pm. The trailer provides specialist suport for flood victims in the form of advice and information in a 'neutral' environment. Where necessary the staff will act on a resident's behalf to move an issue on with the relevant organsiation - e.g. insurance and they can provide a wealth of knowledge on a wide range of practical matters relating to flooding including flood prevention measures. The Flood Trailer has been in other areas of Surrey this week and will be in Guildford on Tuesday.

 

I attach a poster which I would like to ask if you could display wherever suitable please. If you would like more detailed information about the National Flood Forum, please visit www.nationalfloodforum.org.uk.

 

 

In addition, MVDC has also produced a handy Flood Recovery Factsheet as attached. Again, I hope that you could send this on to anyone who may be interested or it can be downloaded from our website from the 'Flooding and Drainage' page. If you would like to receive a supply of hard copies of this factsheet, please let me know.

 

Many thanks for your assistance

 

Kind regards

 

Louise

Louise Bircher
Customer Service and Communications Manager
Mole Valley District Council
Tel: 01306 879155
www.molevalley.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @molevalleydc

Still time for late submission!

On the Mole Valley website it says:

Housing and Traveller Sites Plan Consultation *Closed* 

The consultation on the Housing and Traveller Sites Plan closed on Friday 7th March 2014, at 4pm. Comments can no longer be made through the online consultation portal, although you can still email the Planning Policy team at planning.policy@molevalley.gov.uk.

Also all the documents are still available online by clicking here.

If you know anyone who still has not submitted comments, ask them to email them to the address above.

If you have any queries you are invited to phone planning on 01306 879281.

It's the Last Day!

Consultation on Mole Valley's Housing & Traveller Sites proposals closes TODAY AT 4.00 PM!

Have you submitted your comments yet?

Sadly at the moment the comments show up only too well the North-South division in our town!  Literally hundreds of people do not want to see the Green Belt built on in the south which separates Leatherhead from what?  Givons Grove?     But there seems to be far less concern about any of the bits of Green Belt still left which separate Leatherhead from Ashtead and Fetcham.

If this goes, we shall have just one continuous strip of urbanization across the the north of Mole Valley.  Is that what we really want?

Housing and Traveller Sites Plan Consultation

We have only one week left.  Have you had your say yet?

Have you read about the proposals for Leatherhead and given your comments?   If not, click here.

Many have commented on the proposed sites south of Windmill Drive and south of Yarm Way.  But it is the integrity of the whole of Leatherhead that is threatened.   Do you want there to be continuous ribbon development from Ewell through to Effingham and beyond, with even more of Surrey in danger of being subsumed into Greater London?

One purpose of the Green Belt is to keep communities separate and prevent just such continuous urban development.   Our Green Belt has already been compromised by the M25, we need to hold on to what is remaining to us.

Also there is simply not the infrastructure to support any more development.  Our schools are barely coping with the existing population; there is, as Cllr Tim Hall told the meeting on 6th February, no more room in them.  Our roads cannot adequately cope with present demand at peak periods, and traffic is often at a standstill, with consequent increase in air pollution.  Any new development will inevitably worsen things.

Save Poors Allotment!  Support Lucy Quinnel and the Friends of Teazle Wood who have worked so hard to restore and protect this ancient woodland which is part of our inheritance!  Support your whole town!

And please, I beg, do not go wishing houses onto others that you do not want next to you.  That, in my opinion, would be very mean spirited.

Enough is enough! Leatherhead is full!

Mole Valley Green Belt Group Meeting 6th Feb.

A big thanks to all who turned up at this meeting - it packed Christ Church's large hall.  There were in excess of 100 present.

The size of the turn-out on such a horrid evening should have left no doubt to councillors present about the strength of feeling on this issue!

In response to requests to have presentations online, the following are now online and you can access them by clicking on the links below:

• Address by Tim Murphy, Chairman of Surrey CPRE (33 KB)
• Address by Chris Smith on accessing and commenting on the MV site (6.9 MB)
• Address by Caroline Brown, Secretary of the LRA (70 KB)
• Address by Roland McKinney on general implications of the undertaking (5.5 MB)
• Leatherhead Green Belt Photos: Hubert Carr, Chairman of the LRA (3.4 MB)

Note: Chris Smith's and Roland McKinney's files are PowerPoint presentations.

It has been brought to our notice that Mole Valley residents are receiving telephone calls from a person stating to be from a company called National Security, or The Crime Prevention agency asking questions about home security.  Apparently they know the name of the person they are calling and sound very convincing.  Sometimes an appointment is made for the security advisor to call at the address to carry out a survey of security.

So far there have not been any crimes linked to these calls but I would ask everyone to be vigilant if you receive calls from companies asking about your home security or offering to install alarm systems.  Do not give them any personal information over the telephone and take as many details as possible about the person, or company and do some homework.  Have a look on the internet for details of the company and if possible speak to Trading Standards.  If you are interested in having an alarm installed contact one of the reputable companies.  If you feel that you would like some security advice for your home I would be pleased to do this for you in the first instance. 

DO NOT make any appointments for people to visit your home unless you are completely sure of the company and who you are talking to.

Regards,

Robert Apperley

12774@surrey.pnn.police.uk

Surrey Police: District Crime Summit 3rd March 2014

Residents of Mole Valley area are warmly invited to the District's Crime Summit which takes place on 3rd March 2014 at Dorking Halls.  The event will run from 5.30pm to 9pm.

During the event there will be two sessions where residents can have the opportunity to hear from Mole Valley District Council, Surrey Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner, Kevin Hurley, and have a chance to ask questions.  These sessions will run from 6pm to 7pm and from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.  In addition, there will be information stands and a chance for residents of Mole Valley to talk to police officers and Mole Valley council staff about local issues.

Registration opens at the event at 5.30pm.  Refreshments will be provided.  
In order to register to attend this event please use the link below :


www.molevalleysummit.eventbrite.co.uk

Prudential RideLondon 2014 update meeting: 20/03/14

Good afternoon,

We would like to invite you to the next local Leatherhead meeting regarding RideLondon on Thursday 20 March at Leatherhead Theatre at 18:00.

The meeting is intended as an update to the meeting held in November and to confirm planning for Augusts’ event. If there are additional attendees that you feel would benefit from the meeting, please extend our invite or they are welcome to contact me.

Another invitation will be sent closer to the time. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you are unable to attend.

Yours sincerely,

James Taylor | Community Engagement Manager | Prudential RideLondon | www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk

Tel: 0207 902 0200 ext. 203 | jamest@ridelondon.co.uk
London & Surrey Cycling Partnership | 115 Southwark Street | London | SE1 0JF | United Kingdom

February Meetings

Agenda for LRA Open Meeting on Monday, 3rd Feb 2014

1. Apologies.

2. Minutes of last Open Meeting on 4^th December 2013.

3. Matters arising – the decision to hold a further meeting..

4. Correspondence:  The Sec. has heard from a number of people regarding the meeting on 16 Jan and also from the newspapers she contacted about the meeting on Thursday, 6^th.   If time allows, a description of what the Sec. sees happening at that meeting.

5. Meetings attended:

Police – (Hubert)

 Church Street discussion/meeting – (Norma)

 Barratt homes (Hubert)

Surrey Community Action (Hilary)

Elmer Treatment Plant, 2^nd visit, - (Cheryl)

Surrey Hills Community Radio - (Hilary)

6. Reports from our sub-committees

a. Planning (just local Leatherhead) (Fran)

b. Highways (Hubert)

c. Environmental (Cheryl)

d.  Membership and Publicity (Hilary).

7. Article for ALL

8. Newsletter, a call for articles.

9. AOB   1. Simon Ling and the sponsorship of an Independent Candidate

2. Evaluation of Help Shop

Surrey Police: Scam alerts

Dear all,

Firstly, can I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year.

I have just received an email from Trading Standards (although it's dated 3rd January), which includes details of a couple of scams going on at the moment, and I have attached a copy to this post for your information.

Trading Standards Report

I would be grateful if you could pass this information onto anyone that you feel would benefit from knowing about this type of thing.  If you are aware of any other scams which you feel people would benefit from knowing about please send them onto me and I will send out a generic email to everyone.

Also, with the wet weather we are having at the moment it's possible that shed, or garage doors and windows may have expanded and may not close, or fit properly.  Please be aware that burglars do take advantage of open sheds etc., and will steal any items of value.  Sheds are also a good option to obtain items such as garden tools to use to break into houses.  Please check your outbuildings are secure with a suitable lock, and outside lighting if possible.  I am always happy to provide security advice should you feel you need it.

Kind regards,

Bob

12774@surrey.pnn.police.uk

Surrey Police: Theft from Motor Vehicles

Dear all,

I would inform you that there were some vehicles broken into overnight last night in the South Leatherhead area and we are in the process of investigating these.

I think this would be a timely reminder for everyone to ensure that you do not leave any valuables in your vehicles when parked, even on your own driveway.  This includes items such as SatNavs, bags, phones, parcels, expensive coats, and even any change that you may leave in the centre console.  You should not leave valuables in your glove compartment either as this is the first place thieves look if they access your vehicle.  SatNav cradles should be removed from your vehicle when not in use and the ring mark cleaned from your glass as this advertises to everyone that you have a SatNav and that it may be hidden somewhere in your vehicle.

Also, please ensure that your vehicle is locked even when parking on your driveway as your insurance company may not accept your claim if your vehicle is found to be insecure.

Please do not be too concerned as this type of crime, and crime as a whole is very low in Mole Valley at the present time.  I would be grateful if you could pass this message onto people that you may know even if they live outside of the area.


If you notice anything suspicious please call us on 101 or in an emergency 999.

12774@surrey.pnn.police.uk

Green Belt - Cherkley Court; Housing & Traveller Sites

We are now just six weeks away from the appeal over Cherkley court in the Court of Appeal in London.  All parties, I believe, have now submitted arguments to the court.   If you are a member of the Cherkley Campaign you should have received a copy of the latest Newsletter last week.  If, for some reason, you did not receive or you are not a member but would like to read the Newsletter please click here.

Also remember that the first of Mole valley's drop in sessions about "Green Belt, Housing & Traveller Sites" is taking place in Park House, in the Red house grounds, from 10.30 am till 3.00 pm today (January 27th).   The next session will be at same times on February 1st at 25-29 High Street.

Have your say on Housing and traveller Sites.

Real Consultation or a Public Relations Exercise?

This morning, I in common with other residents of Mole Valley received a letter headed "Your chance to help decided where new homes should be built."

This is all very well, and maybe the Council Officers will pay regard to public consultation.  But the final word rests with our elected councillors.  Not so long ago, without any similar prompting from the Council, more than three hundred people wrote to the Council with their views concerning an exclusive golf course and luxury hotel on the Cherkley estate.  Two thirds of those letters opposed the development.   The Council Officers no doubt took that into consideration when producing their report, praised by Justice Haddon-Cave, to reject Longshot's proposals.

Did our elected representative take note of public opinion?   No; the majority ignored public representation and thought they knew better than their officers.   What guarantee is there that elected councillors will not disregard public opinion again?

One councillor recently said he would be listening to the public.  But the evidence so far is not encouraging.  Despite widespread opposition to the Council going to the Court of Appeal over the recent Cherkley decision, the councillors voted to do so.   When the LRA held a packed meeting on 2nd December at which we had presentations by Mr Rowland McKinney concerning the Green Belt and by the Save South Leatherhead and the Poors' Allotment groups, our District Councillors were noticeable by their absence!  It is true, there were apologies received from two of them, but not the proverbial dicky bird from the others!

Besides, we poor members of the public do not have proper information. We read at the beginning of the second paragraph in the Council's letter: "The main objective is to prevent inappropriate development in the Green Belt ... ."

But, as I have pointed out before, the Secretary of State rejected the application for five traveller families having their temporary permission to occupy 4.7 hectares of Green Belt being made permanent because it would cause "substantial harm to the green belt."   If this is so, then I completely fail to see how Mr Pickles could allow any residential development of the Green Belt.

• We need to know by what criteria Mr Pickles deemed occupying 4.7 hectares of Green Belt would cause substantial damage.  
• We need to know, therefore, by what criteria any of the Green Belt can be deemed appropriate for residential development.

As we've have seen both with the Cherkley Court application and with the Randalls Road travellers' application, the elected councillors can override Officer's recommendations; and with regard to the latter application, we , we saw that the Secretary of State can call an application in at the request of our local MP.   So I ask two further questions:

• Why should those same councillors not similarly override whatever recommendations are produced as a result of this current consultation?
• How can the Council retain control of where development takes place if, at the request of our MP, the Secretary of State can call an application in?