This Tuesday’s meeting of the Local Committee was held especially to approve the plan and Programme for Woking that Surrey County Council has to submit to Cycling England to get hold of the £1.8M awarded to Woking, as one of ten towns emerging successful from bidding for the title ‘Cycling Town’.

Money

We don’t just get handed the money - it has to be matched by an equal amount raised from other sources. Given the general state of Surrey’s roads, the huge sums of money needed to repair them, and the cuts we are actually seeing Surrey County Council making in planned spending on Woking, it would be unwise to rely on County Hall handing over that sort of sum of money simply because this is a good, ecologically sound idea.

Contributions to matched funding will come from ’section 106 and section 27B’ money paid by developers and negotiated when planning permission is given; plus money squeezed from Woking’s ‘local allocation’, used for local road schemes - improvements such a controlled pedestrian crossings.

The paper to the committee says the ‘programme will need to be reviewed on an annual basis and the Local Committee for Woking decide on the priority given to the elements of work included within the Woking Cycling Town against other Integrated Transport schemes which are funded using the Local Transport Plan devolved budget.’

I think this message from the Local Highways Manager roughly translates as: ’Look, there’s a great two-for-one offer here but you guys on the Local Committee are going to have to fight out between you what gets dropped while we grab it.’ With the unspoken extra thought: ‘Unless you can get your Dad (ie County Hall) to stump up some more.’

(If you see the Developers as rich uncles, they’re less rich than they used to be … )   

But for the moment Surrey, in partnership with Woking, is going forward with a ’we’ll make it happen’ approach, which I find I have to applaud - this really is going to be a great improvement, and a practical contribution to reducing traffic congestion and sparing the environment.

The six essentials    

• Improving existing routes
• Making the Basingstoke Canal path a great route through the Borough with good links off it, including ways to and through the town centre, with a way of riding from the Canal to the station through the centre of the town.
• A better North / South route that will join up with National Cycle routes at Chertsey and Guildford.
• More bike parking, especially at stations. 
• Encouragement for people to cycle more.
• Links with schools

The Fancy Bits

There’ll be better signing. The trails will be named after planets and their moons. (Other towns have been looked at to see how they do things, and themes are common.) Lighting is currently not on the plans, but is recognised as being highly desirable, at least for the heavier use parts of the canal path near the centre of Woking.

I asked whether we mightn’t have some sculpture, as I’ve seen on some trails? This hasn’t been thought of yet, but the bridges will all be clearly named, so that they can be used as landmarks.

What it means for Knaphill and Goldsworth West

Although strictly only the stretch of towpath from Hermitage Bridge to Brookwood is in Knaphill, this is a significant route, as I saw when I bicycled it at the end of the school day last Monday. A number of children from the Winston Churchill school walk down along the Hermitage Road, cross fast-moving traffic, and then walk along the muddy and difficult path to the north of the canal, through the Country Park. Some primary school children also go in the opposite direction, from Brookwood school back towards Knaphill.

This route, on the same side as the Brookwood Hospital Estate, is broader than the towpath on the South side, but anyone using the Canal as a through route would have to cross the canal to change sides at the Hermitage Bridge, which has a very narrow path.  So the current intention is to provide an extra footbridge over the canal, so that pedestrians can avoid the crossing on the Hermitage Bridge, and then use the North side up to the bridge at Brookwood Crossroads.

Unfortunately that will make the rather splendid wheelchair-friendly ramp down to the southern path (itself currently impassable to wheelchairs) redundant. But I think it’s probably the right decision, given the number of people who will be able to access the northern path relatively easily.

As I understand it, the surface should be as good as the currently existing stretch from Woking Town Centre to Kiln Bridge. (The next section, to Hermitage Bridge, isn’t quite finished but should also come up to that standard.)

A good, safe pedestrian and cycling  route into St. Johns  or indeed all the way to Woking, will be a real benefit, for all ages.  One of the big problems for young or less well off people on the Hospital Estate is how to get off it - buses are expensive, parents not always available to drive.  And the more people who use the path, the safer even nervous people should feel it is to use.

(Which is not to guarantee there will be no problems - for example, motor cycles are going to have to be deterred from using the track, for everybody’s sake.)

So eventually, if we can get this section properly sorted out for Knaphill (including the new Hermitage Bridge) plus improvements and even some extensions to existing bike routes through Knaphill, I think we’ll be doing quite well. 

The improved routes into and out of Woking and will be good for Goldsworth West too, and its likely the whole of Goldsworth park will be targetted quite early on for ‘personalised travel planning’. What this’ll be I don’t know; I trust it will be a benefit and not a nuisance.

The launch will be this coming Monday, 22nd September, from 10.00am to 4.00pm at The Lightbox. I hope it doesn’t rain, so that I can get there comfortably by bike!

A: I asked questions about them at the special meeting of Surrey’s Woking Local Committee on Tuesday, since the meeting format allowed the usual quota of member and public written questions. 

The main meeting was about Woking’s ‘Cycling Town’ plan and programme. which I’ll put in a separate posting.

Alexandra Gardens

For years there has been a certain level of aggravation for residents from use of the Vyne car-park in Knaphill by youngsters to gather and socialise. This summer, for a variety of possible reasons, has seen this become more of a nuisance for residents. The local police held a meeting for residents, which was also attended by representatives from Woking Borough Council, but not from Surrey County Council, so I asked the following:

Is the Youth Development Service aware of the concerns residents and the local police tema have about the gatherings of young people that have taken place in the car park by Alexandra Gardens in Knaphill? Will the Youth Development Service provide support or outreach to these young people?  

Answer from Surrey County Council’s Youth Development Officer:

The Youth Development Service (YDS) are aware of the issues of young people gathering in the car park of Alexandra Gardens in Knaphill, this issue has been raised with community safety partners on the Joint Action Group.

Surrey Police colleagues are aware that a small number of individuals are to blame for incidents of anti-social behaviour and continue to work with this small group. The Police and YDS are confident that the majority of young people “hanging around” adjacent to Alexandra Gardens are not engaged in any anti-social and/or criminal activity. And as a result of consultation with young people, are working with partners to negotiate the possible lighting of the local MUGA during the evening for the benefit of the majority of young people in the area.

Currently our resources for Knaphill are devoted to the Youth Arts Centre which is running to full capacity at present, with the projects on offer being fully attended by over 100 young people each week. Nevertheless the YDS continue to look to ways to reach more young people, and are working with the voluntary organisation, “Outside Light”, to offer their volunteers basic youth work training to support engagement with young people in this area.

It would be a wholly positive step to see more local residents get involved with their community, something the YDS have successfully been doing with the youth for a number of years now. And to this end the YDS continues to offer help in training groups of volunteers, such as identified in Knaphill, to provide further opportunities to young people.

Real-time information

The last few times I’ve taken the ‘bus I’ve been disappointed by the lack of helpful ‘real-time’ information on the displays - they tend to show the timetable, with ‘real’ buses not showing up on the listings.  The new computer systems should have been working by now, so I asked the following:

Why is the ‘real-time’ information about bus arrivals still not working effectively? When will it reach its previous levels of usefulness? 

Answer from Surrey County Council’s Passenger Transport service:

 The present situation with the Real Time Passenger Information is: –    All Arriva/Safeguard & relevant Stagecoach/Countryliner buses are equipped and working on the system. There are a few ticket-machine issues that are in the process of being resolved, by either sourcing other ticket machines (Safeguard), or by development work being undertaken with regard to the interface configuration (Countryliner). –        On-street displays: high level of predictions shown, although a few problems still to be rectified. A few power issues to be resolved. (185 out of 207 displays operational)–        Training on Trapeze RTPI system still being given to some bus control room staff and Surrey staff to enable full monitoring of the system.–        SCC staff in regular communication with bus operators to encourage their drivers to log on correctly & for staff to report equipment faults.–        Forthcoming roadworks, particularly in the Guildford area, leading to diversions from the regular bus routes, are likely to cause some minor problems to the effectiveness of the RTPI system.

–        A few issues still to be “ironed out”, e.g. finding a total interchange solution at Guildford Bus Station.

Rather than be simply negative, since it looks as if at least part of the issue lies with the drivers, I asked in follow up whether they could please be told how much passengers appreciate it when the information is there on the boards.

Finally, road closures in the town centre, which also tend to play havoc with the buses, which in its turn can seriously affect the disabled and elderly:

Does the Local Highways Manager anticipate that there will be any need for road closures in the centre of Woking during the next three years that would necessitate the re-routing of buses, as happened with the building and repair to the station approach canopy?

Answer from Surrey County Council’s Local Highways Manager:

I am aware that the A320 Victoria Way will be closed to through traffic for highway resurfacing works. For eastbound vehicles from Century Court to the Roundabout (at junction with Chertsey Road) on 29/30 September between 2000 to 0600hr and for westbound vehicles between A3046 Chobham Road to A324 Lockfield Drive from 1 to 5 October, again between 2000 and 0600hr The bus companies have been informed of this closure.

At the time of responding, I am not aware of any other closures within the town centre area, however in the future the County Council may receive funding to carry out highway works that necessitate a road closure, the utilities may serve a Notice on the County Council indicating that they wish to carry out works to their apparatus or install apparatus that would need a road closure to carry out the works safely.
Development related works might also require sections of road to be closed. In an emergency the highway network within the town centre could be closed for a number of reasons, including utilities such as gas or water leaks, major highway defect, or a police incident.

This seemed to me a little cautious, but I could get no further reassurance, and only a fairly general undertaking to take into account the difficulties of the disabled and elderly, with a reminder that Surrey had not expected the long delays over the Canopy outside the station.

Summer seems to have had all too short a date with us this year, and I’m a know-nothing when it comes to jazz - but hey, it’s a title, and a way to say hallo again after a few weeks away, before we get down to serious political business in September.

The picture - me tuning my lever harp, with other harps from the Surrey County Harp Ensemble in the background - will be explained in the second part of this posting, but first:

Knaphill Rocks

Thanks to the organisation and determination of Eileen Martin, from the Knaphill Residents Association, there were three Wednesday music events for under-18s in Knaphill in August: Rockband @ Wyac ; Battle of the Bands; and Rock on the Hill. Some financial support had been drawn in from SCC,  while Woking Youth Arts Centre, the Scouts and Guides, the Winston Churchill School, and other interested individuals gave time, space, and the loan of equipment. These were augmented by generous gifts and sponsorship from local firms, so that the winners and runners up in ‘Battle of the Bands’ came away with worthwhile prizes, and there were tasty pizzas readily available for the young people taking part.

I got into Battle of the Bands and Rock on the Hill by being ’crew’, with a badge to prove it. In fact both events ran so smoothly I had plenty of time to appreciate the way rock music vibrates through the feet just about as nicely as through the ears. (Actually, it didn’t seem seriously loud, unless I’ve got very much deafer in the last quarter century.)  

Both were well-run events with audiences enjoying themselves and behaving well - and that included incidental oldies like me. The only fly in the ointment was that the audiences were quite low in number. There was a risk with Rock on the Hill that the adults would outnumber the youngsters. But every festival starts small and has to build up support. Well done Eileen and team! Let’s do it again next year and triple the numbers! 

‘Magic of a Thousand Strings’

The Harp Ensemble, led by Surrey harpist Maria-Luisa Ovett, went ‘on tour’ to Albi (Near Toulouse, in France) for a week this summer. 

 Although I was one of the founder members, this is only the second time I’ve gone abroad with the Ensemble - and very smoothly organised and enjoyable it was. (In case anyone is wondering, I paid my own way - it wasn’t out of taxes.)

Our major concert out of a series of three was in Albi cathedral, a magnificent medieval gothic building that looks a bit like a fortress on the outside, but is stunningly ornate inside. With advance publicity in the local press and on TV, we played to over five hundred people, and many more were turned away.

Thanks to Surrey Youth, Music and Performing Arts, which has allowed the Harp Ensemble to take part in its amazing concerts alongside the Youth Orchestra and Choir at some wonderful venues in London, I’m in a position to say first-hand that the accoustic was reminiscent of  playing in the Albert Hall. Both spaces are so big that the sound got sucked away as if we were out of doors, but then reverberated around the huge, hard ceilings and walls and in Albi came back as a mix which really suits the sound of the instrument.

Unlike the Albert Hall concert, we didn’t get balloons coming down from the ceiling at the end (one of the most surprisingly exciting moments in my life!)  but we did play numerous encores, and felt very priviledged to be there.

The traffic lights at the top of Anchor Hill were switched on today. The point of the whole operation is to provide an all-green phase for pedestrians. A green phase which,  unfortunately, is not working.

I’m sure it will be made to work, but probably not until next Tuesday. I do not know what the reason for this problem is, but on recent evidence I suspect many people in Knaphill will think it typical of the way Surrey manages our roads.

I feel a great deal of sympathy for Woking’s Local Transport Team, whose knowledge of local roads and concern to keep them running well seems to me all too often let down by the organisational structures they have to work with, often depending on a chain of contractors and sub-contractors.

Once the lights are working properly in terms of providing the all green phase for pedestrians, I hope we will find that the restored sensors in the roads will still allow traffic through in the most efficient way. If there are specific problems with this, it will be worth noting them, then letting me know and/or contacting Surrey County Council directly either through their website (www.surreycc.gov.uk ) or on 08456 009009, asking for the information to be given to the Local HIghways Manager at Woking. I am told it should be possible to ‘tweak’ the settings. 

Since my earlier web-posting on the unlit light and unfinished Controlled Crossings at Knaphill, which you can read in my earlier posting, I have felt rather like Alice in Wonderland, trying to understand this perverse situation.

A broad view, formed after discussion with SCC Officers, and put forward in my regular monthly column for GPCA News:

‘Big fleas have little fleas, Upon their backs to bite ‘em; And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum’

Trying to understand the delays and problems of road repairs and improvements under Surrey’s Highways Department reminds me of that rhyme. Surrey County Council doesn’t do the work on the ground itself, but contracts out to other companies. They sub-contract further. It’s all supposed to be more efficient. 

Consider, for example, the construction of the controlled crossing in the Broadway at Knaphill. This was approved in principle in November 2006. It was good news for Knaphill earlier this year that other schemes falling behind meant construction was advanced, with the idea of fitting it into the 2007/8 financial year. 

As I write, the crossing is largely complete but does not work. There is no electricity to run the lights.  Part of the pavement has to be blocked off to make sure pedestrians don’t step out trustingly onto a crossing that drivers rightly ignore. Only EDF can supply the electricity. I was told the delivery time was supposed to be within 6 weeks. I asked at Full Council in early May what Surrey could do about this failure, and was told Surrey’s powers were very limited. EDF is a monopoly, set up in the Mrs. Thatcher’s privatising spree during the 80s, and

You could ask, given the known problems with EDF, why Surrey didn’t wait until the electricity supply was on site before painting the lines on the road? This is where the fleas come in, metaphorically speaking.

 Meanwhile, something like three other companies were involved in trying to improve the drainage in the Broadway to make the path to the crossing more usable in wet weather.   This is just one of four schemes in Woking that have been held up severely by EDF. A while ago a much-needed controlled crossing was approved in principle for Denton Way , near Waitrose. When eventually the money is found to construct that crossing, there’s not much we can do except hope EDF will supply power to it.

Feedback from members of the public:

A member of the public who has been keeping me on my toes in pursuing this issue said that when he contacted EDF directly, they told him that they had now arranged a date for power to be supplied to Redding Way, but in the Broadway they were waiting for a specific piece of documentation ‘from the Council’. EDF had also maintained their blamelessness through the local press, suggesting that they had not been properly informed.

Another member of the public suggested that it would be worth checking whether there was a problem with Surrey’s payments to EDF. This did not seem implausible, since a question to Council last July showed that Surrey has had problems making  payments in the past, but I have no indication this is the case.

Someone else suggested to me that Surrey needed a much better grasp of  ‘process management’, as opposed to the ‘project management’ which it has handed over to contractors.

Most people are simply incredulous at the situation.

Further developments at the Transportation Select Committee today, Tuesday 3rd June

I am not a member of this committee, but was standing in for a colleague who was unable to be there.At their meeting on the 9^th of April the Committee had met representatives from EDF. Points I found interesting from the minutes included:

• Standards to work to have only recently been put in place by Ofgem, which has given them a year to get systems in place. At the end of the second year if the standards aren’t met fines can be imposed.
• EDF hopes to meet the standards by September.
• ‘Fixing the majority of faults in the north of Surrey is sub-contracted’ and ‘the representatives of EDF were not aware of any agreement between EDF and the sub-contractor on performance standards …’ 

 EDF said it would report  back to the Committee on a number of issues.

Item 10 on today’s agenda was a letter from their Operations Account Manager, from which I picked out the following points:

• EDF energy has a strategic partnership agreement with Murphy Limited who undertake un-metered connection activities on our behalf in the South East of England  … unable to provide details of the agreement … we are currently reviewing contract scope and performance measures in the light of recent customer feedback.’
• EDF offer regular ‘workshop’ and ‘forum’ meetings as ‘an opportunity for us to work together to improve things … Details of your officers and key contacts to ensure the correct communications process would be most welcome as we have struggled in the past to engage with the appropriate staff.’

I asked Jenny Isaac, the Head of Surrey Highways, what she thought this comment could mean, but she could make no suggestion – she said the first she heard of it was in this letter … 

This suggests to me: the root of our problem in Knaphill could be a failure of communication, and that the concept of ‘process management’ is a useful one in this context.

Having said that, I would like to add that in my opinion it would be unfair to blame Jenny for this situation. In her previous post, she was the force behind significant improvement in Surrey’s Contact Centre, and has already grasped the nettle of trying to bring order to a number of rather chaotic groups of problems in Highways.

It’s planned that further report on EDF will be back on the Transportation Committee agenda in the Autumn, probably in October. I hope by then we’ll have our crossings – and maybe, if I’m very lucky, a working replacement light in the Chobham road for one that has been out since I was a new Councillor, just over four years ago!

If you want to read the minutes and letter from EDF quoted here, you can find them with the Transportation Committee Papers for 3.6.08 on the Surrey County Council website. 

A Silver Lining for Woking?

Item six at the meeting today was a report on the ‘financial outturn’ last financial year, 2007/8. Money is delegated to local budgets to be spent on schemes like our Controlled Crossings. In 2006/7 Highways had a serious under-spend (not good, because it means we don’t get the benefit of the money available.) So last year, efforts were made to make sure money was used. In Woking this included bringing forward road schemes that were ready for construction and scheduled for 2008 / 9, where other projects had problems.

As a result, Woking was one of the four overspending areas this year, nicely balancing three under-spending areas. The Redding Way scheme was part of this overspend. The bad news is that Surrey paid upfront for the not yet complete work. The costs are part of that overspend.

The silver lining for Woking is the recommendation of the Committee to the Executive is that 2007/8 (and only that year) overspends should be written off. So if Surrey’s Executive goes with this, you could in a cup-half-full-not-half-empty way say that we’ve gained the crossings for Woking ‘free’. And its still possible that they may be completed in 2008/9, the year initially envisaged. 

(ps - sorry about the changes of font - I got rid of most of the erratic line breaks but the font change defeated me again … )

Does noise from Farnborough Airport bother you? - The present flight path can bring aeroplanes in over parts of Knaphill. Would you be concerned if there were more flights, outside the present operating hours?

TAG Farnborough Airport are currently preparing an ‘Airport Master Plan’. For this, they have issued a preliminary consultation document and questionnaire asking, for example, how you would be affected if the airport’s operating hours, currently limited to the daytime, were extended. They make the points in the consultation document that their infrastructure is underused, and that as an important business (rather than commercial) airport they contribute to economic growth and local employment. Farnborough is also famous for its biennial airshow.

I would prefer not to see any increase in air traffic of any sort encouraged. This is on environmental grounds. I would like to see businessmen encouraged to use teleconferencing or travel by train, and rich people discouraged from owning and using private jets. OK, maybe I’m motivated partly by ideology and a pinch of jealousy.

You do not have to share my reasons get online at www.farnboroughairportconsultation.com  to complete the questionnaire and, among all the questions designed to elicit responses in favour of Farnborough airport’s expansion, tick the boxes that show you don’t think this is a good idea.

I don’t especially want to give UKIP ammunition, but EDF,  aka Electricite de France, is not giving Surrey, and in particular my corner of Surrey, Knaphill and Goldsworth West, the service that we should be able to expect. And it seems Surrey County Council cannot do anything about it. Privatisation, intended to increase competition and so reduce costs and improve services, has led to a monopoly situation in which control has been taken away from public services leaving them powerless - in this case literally! This is yet another of Mrs. Thatcher’s malign legacies.

To explain the situation further, here is the question I recently put at Full Council, with the answer given:

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR TRANSPORT

(12)     MRS DIANA SMITH (KNAPHILL) TO ASK:

 Light number 15 in Chobham Road, Knaphill, has not worked for at least four years, despite constant queries by myself and reassurances by Local Transport Officers. At the Woking Local Committee meeting in February Paul Fishwick, Local Highways Manager wrote in reply to my question on this subject: “This streetlight has somewhat of a potted history, in summary a new lamp column was installed after the original was found to have had power removed when the column had been vandalized. The original lamp column was in poor condition. EDF, the Regional Electricity Company were requested to connect an electric supply to the new lamp column from their low voltage mains. Unfortunately, EDF were initially unable to locate their mains cable, but found a cable that had been connected to the original lamp column, that was now deemed unsuitable by EDF.  EDF requested that the new lamp column needed to be relocated to the opposite side of the road where there was a suitable low voltage main. The County Council have relocated this column to the opposite side of the road, but are awaiting EDF to make the connection from their low voltage main.” The light remains unlit. Moreover I understand that the Toucan crossing of Redding Way in Knaphill has not been connected by EDF within the promised delivery time of six weeks, that this has put construction of the crossing on hold; also that four other facilities in the Borough of Woking face a similar delay. a) With regard to the Toucan crossing and other facilities, can the Executive Member confirm this is the case? b) What sanctions are available to Surrey County Council when delays by EDF prevent work being completed?  c) What action is the County proposing to take in response to this highly unsatisfactory situation? 

Reply:

 a) There are 4 schemes that have not been completed in Woking due to lack of electrical connections from EDF, these are at:-

• Brewery Road/Arthurs Bridge Road,
• A245 Sheerwater Road (Pedestrian Facilities)
• Redding Way J/W Tudor Way (Toucan Crossing)
• The Broadway, (Zebra crossing/beacons)

Ringway have placed the orders for these works with EDF and after much chasing were eventually given estimated dates for March, but nothing has happened since then.

 b) EDF is one of two Distribution Network Operators in Surrey and they cover the old Seeboard area  (the other DNO being Scottish and Southern Energy covering the Southern electricity board area) as a result of the Electricity Act 1989 which provided for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain.   The body set up to regulate these monopoly companies is Ofgem and they have set new performance standards in November 2007 that EDF have indicated that they intend to achieve.   Surrey County Council is a customer of the DNOs but has no flexibility to change DNO or seek alternative terms or conditions. c) In recognition of the poor performance of EDF, the Transportation Select Committee invited EDF to send a representative to their meeting of 9 April (Item 6).   The EDF representatives acknowledged that their performance had been poor and informed the Committee that Ofgem had set new performance standards that EDF were committed to achieve.   In the meantime officers are meeting with EDF to facilitate, as far as possible, improved performance. 

If performance does not improve significantly in the near future then we will need to consider at a Member and political level what this Council can do to spur EDF on.  As I have indicated, our legal powers are very limited, but we do have the option to publicise in a more aggressive way EDF’s shortcomings if the considerable efforts that the service is making to obtain a better service for our residents do not bear fruit in a very short time. 

I feel angry about this. Pedestrian crossings needed for children to get to school have been started but not finished, and there is a terrible sense of helplessness and muddle.

I’m not sure what the legal situation would be if I suggested sanctions that individual consumers might choose to bring to bear.  So I will play it safe and just say I really hope we get some better service soon. 

 (Diana Smith and Olly Wells in Beechwood Road. Olly lives on the border of St Johns and Knaphill, and is a Governor at St. Johns school, just up the road. See ‘34/35 assurance’ below)

 Lower Guildford Road

We approved the initial study for a Puffin crossing over Lower Guildford Road just below Northwood Avenue. It could not be placed any further up, because of problems with the road. A lot of people cross this road, including school children, and children going to the playground. 

Along with the crossing we’ll get a 30mph speed limit, and a number of Vehicle Activated Signs on the roads around the Hermitage Roundabout. 

One objection was a potential increase in the misuse of a small service road running past the entry to the Lansbury Estate. After this scheme was published, I went with the Local Transport Officer concerned to listen to some of the residents’ worries. Standing there for about half an hour, it was clear cars used it avoided coming out onto the lower Guildford Road before turning right into Northwood Avenue; and similarly in the other direction. Since this is part of the highway, this is ‘rat-running’ it wouldn’t usually come high in any list of priorities for road works. But the crossing may put residents in a much worse position if it means drivers can easily see they can avoid the crossing by nipping down parallel to the main road.  

So the Local Transport Office will be looking into possibilities for closing one end of the road and consulting with local residents. The report will come back to the Local Committee in June. 

Beechwood Road 

Beechwood Road is a steep and winding residential road which takes a lot of through traffic. The picture does here gives an idea, but does not show the whole picture because it was taken in the daytime and at half term, with not many parked cars and relatively low traffic. Residents have been concerned for years by the difficulty of negotiating it safely, and a worrying record of near-misses, minor incidents and damage.  This year each County

The good news is that ‘Knaphill Scheme A, Beechwood Road– Speed Reduction and accessibility improvements’ has come in with a ranking order of 25 out of 91 for cost effectiveness. It now has funding planned for an Initial Design in 2008/9. The bad news that is that construction wouldn’t be until 2010/2011, at best. But this was the highest ranked scheme of any put forward, and the only not entirely on the back burner with no dates for work. So I feel pleased. 

Scheme 2 – Barrs Lane I suggested a change of the speed limit to 30 mph by the houses and the construction of a footpath because of the clear ‘desire line’ where people actually walk down towards Mizens Railway. It was accepted as a scheme, but only came out ranked 74, which is not hopeful.  However I also suggested that such a scheme would have a pre-requisite better drainage, and also might need a controlled crossing of Anchor Hill to allow pedestrians from Goldsworth Park to reach it, not to mention that many residents would like to be able to cross lower down than the traffic lights to get to Waterer’s Park with their children, and … 

Anchor Hill – Pedestrian Crossing Facility … 

… is now at number 30 in the rankings, albeit without any proposals for when the funding would be made available for construction. We’ll need to keep gathering evidence and argument for this one.  Barrs Lane/ Anchor Hill Flooding About a year ago I put a motion to Council suggesting that flooding should be tackled much more systematically because with changes in weather patterns it is a problem affecting the whole of Surrey. At that time I was told by a senior Officer that moves to create a database of problem places for flooding in

34/35 Assurance

Olly Wells asked a formal public question about the 34 /35 bus service, which is losing its Section 106 money (popularly known locally as ‘The Sainsbury Money’ in April. We knew that there was money being assigned to section 106 replacement money in Surrey’s budget, but not that it would definitely go to maintain this service, particularly in the evenings and at weekends. Olly pretty well got this assurance in a written answer from Laurie James, Service Planning Team Manager, Transport for Surrey:

‘The supplementary funding announced in the Leader’s Budget Statement, to replace monies for bus services previously obntained through Section 106, is welcomed. Services 34 /35 are recognised as being important routes in the Woking area and have seen significant patrnage grownth since they were enhanced in 2002.’

‘At present there are no plans to fundamentally vary the level of service on routes 34/35. However, like all supported bus services, they are periodically reviewed to ensure that they continue to provide good value for money in terms of the investment being made as there will be an ongoing need to provide support to services across the county which is sustainable and within the funding allocated by the Executive.’

Olly asked a supplementary to try to get further reassurance. Laurie James (bus guru par excellence at SCC) was not present. My notes become a little unclear here, but I believe it was Iain Reeve, in charge of Transport for Surrey, who replied : ‘Supplementary funding will continue with that particular bus route for the time being’ and ‘I don’t see any particular reduction with that particular route.’

I feel this is genuinely good news, and that we have to continue to demonstrate our support for good local bus services by being very aware of any threat to them.  ‘  

 Less good bit – Raglan, Victoria, Inkerman crossroads  

Although improving this junction had a high ranking initially, the traffic engineers cannot see any effective and generally acceptable way to improve it beyond the traffic refuges and traffic calming measures already in place. So it’s now been dropped from the list. Please let me know if you feel strongly about this.