Open Committee Meeting Monday, 5th December Leatherhead Institute 7.30 pm – 9.00 pm

Agenda (7.30 pm - approx. 8.15 pm)

1. Apologies for absence.

2. Minutes of the 7th November.

3. Matters arising from Minutes (not covered later in the agenda)

4. Correspondence (None received so far)

5. To receive and consider reports from:

• Environment Subcommittee
• Highways Subcommittee
• Planning Subcommittee: Appeals, Decisions & Current Applications (except Cherkley Court)
• Planning Subcommittee: Cherkley Court Application
• LRA member Kristina Kenworthy: Cherkley Campaign

6. Any Other Business (None received so far)

The formal meeting will be followed by an informal session with mulled wine or soft drink, mince pies and other seasonal nibbles.
________________________________________

(The South Leatherhead Police Panel will be held in the same room earlier in the evening from 6.45 pm to 7.15 pm;
there is no North Leatherhead Police Panel this month)

Surrey County Council Bus Consultation

SCC will run a three-month public consultation from Tuesday 1 November 2011 to Tuesday 31 January 2012 for your comments on the proposals. Brochures listing the changes and including a feedback form will be available at libraries from 1 November. Alternatively email your feedback to busreview@surreycc.gov.uk

The proposals can also be seen on the SCC Website

Improvements to Leatherhead Community Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station

I am writing to let you know that improvements to Leatherhead Community Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station are due to begin in January 2012. The site will close on 9 January and the work will take around eight months. The nearest alternative community recycling centres are at Blenheim Road, Epsom, KT19 9DL and Ranmore Road, Dorking, RH4 1TL. The nearest waste transfer station is also at Blenheim Road. Both sites are around seven miles away from the Leatherhead waste facility. The site is being redeveloped to provide Leatherhead residents with a modern, accessible and user-friendly facility. The improvements will include:

· Improved parking and road layout to help site users to move around the site more easily and help to reduce queuing;
· Separate entrances for the public and site service vehicles to help reduce congestion at the site entrance;
· Drop off area for garden waste carried in trailers.

Other alterations planned also include:

· Redevelopment of the waste transfer station to include a fully enclosed building for household waste from borough councils;
· Improved traffic management with the complete separation of neighbouring Grundon and Thames Water vehicle access, as currently they pass through the site.

Yours sincerely,

Beverly Sheridan,
Project Manager
SITA Surrey

Cold Calls from G1 Security

We have received reports in connection with people receiving "cold calls" from a company called G1 Security, who are trying to persuade people to purchase home security systems.
The calls are usually from someone purporting to be from Crime Prevention UK and there is sometimes a suggestion that the company is responding to recent crimes in the area.  In particular, the company tends to target elderly and/or vulnerable people.  If the offer is accepted the company then progresses to using "hard sell" tactics to get people to sign up to monitoring systems.
Prices quoted vary from "free" to a small selection of addresses as an advertisement for the company to £5000 - £6000 or more.  If the system is offered "free", there is still an administration charge.
G! Security is not registered with any of the Security Industry Regulatory organisations.  Sometimes they provide a genuine police incident number to give the impression that they are authorised by the local police.  This is not the case as police never recommend specific companies as this would be totally unethical.
We would always advise people to research any system requirements for themselves and not respond to cold calling.  If a salesperson turns up at an address and refuses to leave at the residents' request, they are committing a criminal offence and police can be contacted.
If you would like totally impartial and free advice about your home security, you can always call 101 and ask to speak with our Crime Reduction Advisor, Mike Bessent.  Mike is happy to make home visits by appointment and to give a professionally qualified assessment of security needs that is cost-effective, appropriate and realistic to individual needs.
Thank you and please feel free to pass this information on to your friends, family and neighbours.
Mole Valley Safer Neighbourhood Team

If you need to contact us in the meantime, you can reach us on 

Email: Clarke13363@surrey.pnn.police.uk
Tel: 101

THE LETHERHEAD INSTITUTE CELEBRATES 120 YEARS SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY IN 2012

The Letherhead Institute at the top of the High Street was built in 1892 and given to the people of Leatherhead by local benefactor Abraham Dixon of Cherkley Court. Next year sees the commemoration of 120 years providing educational, social and recreational facilities within this beautiful Victorian building.

Amazingly the Institute had already been there for 5 years when Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee and it will be bedecked again next year to mark the Diamond Jubilee of our own Queen Elizabeth II.

The festivities on 19 May will include an invitation for all the Leatherhead Community to come and see what’s inside the building; a special feature will be an exhibition including pictures and artefacts from 1897 - Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Year.

Do you have any Victorian memorabilia or photographs which you would be prepared to lend for the exhibition? We’d be delighted to hear from you at LCA2 AT btconnect DOT com or please write to:

The Administrator
Leatherhead Community Association
The Institute 67 High Street
Leatherhead KT22 8AH

Parking Problems

Ray Ward's articles in the Autumn Newsletter "Parking inconsiderately" has a photograph of traffic parked on both sides of Kingscroft Avenue, making it difficult for larger vehicles to pass along the road, and impossible for fire engine to get through and causing problems for bin lorries. On at least one pccasion, I am told, "they sent a small vehicle on a Saturday morning and they threw all the refuse and paper/card in together!!"

This is hardly satisfactory. When restrictions were, quite rightly, imposed in Bypass Road some two years ago, could Surrey County Council (SCC) not work out that cars would simply shift into Kingscroft Avenue?

In response to the article, I have heard from a resident in Linden Road where - believe it not - when parking restrictions were introduced two years back in several roads (such as Bypass Road) "restrictions on parking in Linden Road were relaxed"! And guess what the resident went on to say? "... since then there have been no end of problems with inconsiderate parking." Was it really beyond the wit of SCC to foresee that would happen?

I am told that in response to complaints from residents in Linden Road, white 'aitch-bars' were painted in front of drives about six months ago; but as these things are not enforceable, "many drivers continue to park over them." More worrying still is the fact that this resident finds that when she tries to turn out of her drive "there is often ... insufficient field of vision to do so safely (quite a concern with my two young sons in the car). There has been one crash and numerous near misses as a result."

Three times in the past, "Fulvius", one of the Blog's contributors and a resident of Oaks Close, has blogged about the problems of that road. Incredibly, when restrictions were introduced on neighbouring rounds about two years ago, nothing was done about the road closest to the station! Surely even the dimmest person could work out that problems in Oaks Close would increase? It was either beyond SCC to work that out or it didn't care.

I will not go over the problems with delivery lorries that Fulvius has high-lighted in the past. The problems with bin collections have continued and now the only way Mole Valley District Council can ensure refuse is regularly collected in Oaks Close is to have one side of the road coned-off every Tuesday evening and the cones removed the following evening. So, if anyone in Oaks Close is going to have their house on fire, they had better make sure it's a Wednesday!

If it were not so serious, this would be farcical. And I think it likely there are other streets besides just these three that have experienced worsening problems over parking during the past two years.

It is not just that life is made difficult for delivery men, bin men and residents but people's lives are being put at risk, whether because fire service or ambulance will be held up or because of a fatal accident as some one turns out of their drive. Do we really have to wait until there is a fatality or serious injury before something is done about the parking problems in these (and other roads)?

We said at the time the restrictions were introduced two years back that it would only push the problem into other roads. How right we were! When are we going to have a proper comprehensive parking strategy for Leatherhead?

Help Surrey Police to reduce burglaries during the winter months

Surrey Police in partnership with Eagle Radio have launched a campaign aimed at helping the county’s homeowners avoid becoming victims of burglary during the winter months.
The county sees around a 33% increase in domestic burglaries between the months of October and December after the clocks have gone back and the evenings get darker.
The campaign, titled "Burglars take more than you think - Don’t make it easy for them", includes a short film and radio adverts urging the public to protect their homes and possessions and not to make life easy for burglars.
The film features a young man, played by an actor, in a property you believe to be his own home. He’s taking a drink from the fridge and sitting on the sofa as he works from his laptop. As he prepares to go out he places the laptop in its case, gathers his "belongings" - a gold watch, mobile phone and money - and heads for the kitchen draw to collect his car keys.
As he drives off the viewer sees how he came to be in the property in the first place as he is revealed as a burglar!
A radio advertising campaign will run alongside the film featuring the views of home owners after they discover they have been burgled. Actor’s voices will portray the emotion and upset involved in having both sentimental and valuable items taken.
This campaign follows on from Surrey Police and Crimestoppers coming together to launch "Cash for information" to encourage the public to pass on information anonymously about burglars and the handling of stolen goods in return for a financial reward if an arrest and charge is made.
Temporary Detective Superintendent Maria Woodall said "As the clocks go back and it starts to get darker earlier, the number of break-ins goes up. It is known that burglars often target properties that appear to be unoccupied and therefore making sure your home looks and feels like someone is at home can be all that is needed to keep your belongings safe.
"Simple crime prevention measures can really make all the difference, such as leaving a few lights on and not having valuables in view from a window. The majority of burglars are opportunists, and if they have to make a lot of noise, spend a lot of time, or risk being seen, they are likely to go elsewhere"
Surrey Police is giving the following advice to help residents avoid becoming a victim of burglary as the winter months rapidly approach:
· Light up your house – inside and outside. If you are out or away, use timer switches to turn internal lights on and off.
· Make sure your doors are securely locked at all times.
· Close and lock all windows – burglars can wiggle through any gap larger than a human head.
· Fit locks at the top and bottom of patio doors.
· A visible burglar alarm will make a burglar think twice. Make sure you set your alarm every time you leave your house.
· Never leave garages or sheds unlocked.
· Fit and lock gates across side and back entrances.
· Be alert to strangers loitering in the street, If you don’t recognise them and they are acting suspiciously, call the police.
· Don’t hide your keys under a mat or a flowerpot – it’s the first place a burglar will look
· Keep an inventory of your valuable property, either on paper or online with a company such as www.immobilise.com
· Use a property marking product to uniquely mark valuable possessions. For more information visit www.securedbydesign.com
· Beware of bogus callers. Use a door chain and check the callers identity carefully. If in doubt, keep them out.
· And finally, if a burglar does get into your home handbags, wallets and car keys are rich pickings so never leave these items in view.

Jamie Robinson Force Crime Reduction & Crime Prevention Design Advisor
Central Neighbourhood Team
Surrey Police
101 ext: 36527
robinson13404@surrey.pnn.police.uk
Surrey Police, PO Box 101, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 9PE
www.surrey.police.uk
Surrey Police – With You, Making Surrey Safer

Olympic Torch Relay

Hello,
 
Today, LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) has announced the journey of the Olympic Torch in the 70 days leading up to the start of the Games.
The Torch will travel through Surrey on a number of occasions:

10 July – Egham
17 July – Felbridge
20 July – Godstone, Bletchingley, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Westcott, Shere, Godalming and Guildford.

The Torch will stay in Guildford during the evening of 20 July for an evening of events at Stoke Park.

Surrey County Council will be working with District and Borough Councils, Surrey Police LOCOG to make the torch relay run as smoothly as possible. This will mostly involve ‘rolling road closures’ that will be reopened as promptly as possible after the torch has passed along a street.
More information about the impact on roads will be provided at a later date.

To find out more about the Torch Relay, visit http://www.gosurrey.info/torch-relay.

Many thanks

2012 Team