Parish Council News Update – February 2024
Letter from the Chairman
Dear Villagers,
We ushered in the new year working on many of the issues from the prior year. January brought a host of meetings on Green Belt development problems with travellers and proposed large housing estates in Green Belt and AONB lands as well as the continued work of the speed watch team. We continue the call out for volunteers, with elections looming and at present fewer than needed volunteers for the number of Parish Council seats.
Parish Elections in May
We remind you that Woldingham Parish Council elections will be held in May, along with elections at the District level. At present, we believe volunteers are needed at all levels of local government. The Parish Council works on community activities and commemorative events, from Coronations and other festivals to our annual Christmas Carols in the Crescent event. We also work on village care and protection, from improvement projects on footpaths and working with other authorities on roads, to speed watch and police engagement, as well as supporting Neighbourhood Watch and Keeping Woldingham Safe. We engage with authorities on flight paths and a wide range of consultations at all levels of local and national government, representing village interests. And of course, we comment regularly on planning, working to protect the quality of life and the character of Woldingham and the countryside around us. If you may be interested in volunteering for the Parish Council, or wish to hear more about Council activities, please reach out to me at deborahwoldinghampc@outlook.com or our Clerk, Karen Newman, at parish.clerk@woldingham.com. The Parish Council meets the last Wednesday of every month (except August and December), and the public are always welcome.
If you are interested in serving on the Parish Council, nominations close at 4pm on the 5th of April, publication of persons nominated will be live at 4pm on the 8th of April and polling day is the 2nd of May.
Annual Parish Meeting and the Parish Council Annual General Meeting Thursday 9th May at 7pm
The Parish Council holds two meetings after the election: the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council. This year we will be combining both meetings in one evening. The Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council must take place within 14 days of the election and is the meeting at which the Councillors elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the next year. The Annual Parish Meeting is the meeting at which the Parish Council reports on the activities of the prior year and the village discusses issues and actions of import. We also occasionally host guest speakers. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or requests for the Annual Parish Meeting by emailing parish.clerk@woldingham.com.
Police Meeting 18.30 on the 26th of March 2024, Woldingham Village Hall
There will be a police meeting at the Woldingham Village Hall from 18:30 to 19:30 on the 26th of March. We will submit some questions, especially those that may require data for the response, to the police team in advance of the meeting. We would be happy to receive any questions from the community to share with the police team. Please send us your questions by Friday 4pm on the 15th of March (email:parish.clerk@woldingham.com). Of course, please feel free to also ask any questions on the evening. The meeting will be attended by Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend and Sergeant Wayne Stephens and their teams. at the Woldingham Village Hall. Topics will include car break-ins, thefts and house break-ins, apprehension and conviction rates and Q&A.
Quarry application update
You may recall, from these pages or other sources, that the Woldingham Parish Council on the 20th of October 2023 submitted a joint objection letter, along with the Oxted Parish Council, the Oxted and Limpsfield Residents Group and the Woldingham Association, to Surrey County Council regarding the Southern Gravel Chalkpit Quarry application to vary the minerals license and build seventy-five houses on this Green Belt and AONB land. We do not have a current timeline on the response date. And the Parish Council, like many others, including of course Tandridge District Council, do not believe that Surrey County Council has jurisdiction to determine the housing estate application. Tandridge District Council have initiated a judicial review of this process, and the hearing date is set for the 29th of February. The bar to get a matter accepted for judicial review is high, so there must be a strong point of law at issue in this instance given that the judicial review has been accepted. We will report back the outcome of the review and other next steps as this matter progresses.
The growing problem with traveller’s sites harming the Greenbelt
The Parish Council recently joined an initiative with Chelsham and Farleigh Parish Council, Tatsfield Parish Council and Warlingham Parish Council to address the growing number of transgressions on sites in the Green Belt around us, including a number of sites near the boundary of Woldingham. The Tandridge Chief Planning Officer, Helen Murch, and her team met with us and a number of District Councillors on the 17th Of January. The meeting was positive and the TDC team requested the list of issues be refined with prioritised actions. The TDC team also shared with us the difficulty addressing issues unless infractions are reported and pursued incredibly quickly. If you ever see such problems in or nearby Woldingham, please raise the issues to our attention with urgency.
CCTV
The Parish Council CCTV equipment on Church Road was deemed to be old, in poor repair and no longer fit for purpose. Accordingly, the WPC voted to replace the equipment and have selected a new supplier. The new equipment will shortly be installed.
Speed Watch
Speed Watch Leader Jeremy Worminginton continues to lead the team. You may have seen them out in the village, helping to keep our roads safe. Jeremy has provided the following January update:
“During the seven sessions conducted in January 2024, we recorded exactly 100 vehicles speeding through the village, which represents 14% of all traffic passing, while the highest recording was 57mph along Northdown Road.
We would like to conduct more sessions, but in order to do so we require more volunteers. If you are able to support for just one hour per week then please volunteer.”
A huge thank you to Jeremy and the whole team of volunteers for their work. If you have the time to volunteer, please email Parish.Clerk@woldingham.com.
And as always, please remember to check Woldingham.com for village updates and upcoming events.
Chairman Deborah Sherry
VILLAGE LITTERPICK 16th March 2024
The village litter pick, a long-standing community activity, takes place twice a year, normally in March/April and November, now operated from the Glebe. We provide all the equipment and bags needed. The next session is planned for March 16th. We always get great support from the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts as well as a good mix of those who turn up every time and some new recruits. The aim is to supplement the litter picking that many villagers do throughout the year to keep the roads and verges around their own streets litter free. We allocate people to parts of the village on the day and try to get good coverage. We do always end up with a pretty significant pile of bagged up rubbish, so together with what people do throughout the year, we know we are making a difference. After an hour or so everyone enjoys the traditional hot drinks and cake and its aways a good fun event for families, and volunteers of all ages. Why not see if you can get along to the next one.
Councillor Alex Foulds
Airspace Modernisation and Gatwick Airport Updates
To recap, Airspace modernisation is expected to support the Government’s objective to increase capacity, including through the development of a northwest runway at Heathrow as outlined in the Airports National Policy Statement, and other airports making best use of their existing runways subject to environmental issues being addressed – hence the second runway proposal at Gatwick Airport. It sets out the ends, ways and means of modernising airspace through 15 initiatives that will upgrade the design, technology and operations of airspace, initially focusing on the period until the end of 2024.
One of these 15 initiatives is Future Airspace Strategy Implementation – South (FASI – South), a complex airspace design programme that requires coordination between the different ‘sponsors’ of airspace. FASI – South consists of the following airport participants or ‘sponsors’ – Biggin Hill, Bournemouth, Farnborough, Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manston, RAF Northolt, Southampton, Southend and Stansted.
The first update is Gatwick Airport have now applied for an Order Granting Development Consent for the Gatwick Airport Northern Runway Project. A letter from the Examining Authority that has been published on the National Infrastructure Planning website for the above project can be found via:
https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/document/TR020005-001330
The letter provides information about the Preliminary Meeting to be held on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 10:00am at the Sandman Signature London Gatwick Hotel and virtually via Microsoft Teams. Outlined are an agenda for the meeting, a draft Examination Timetable, and other important matters including additional hearing dates, how to make a request to be heard and the procedure that will be followed. You can also view the above document under the ‘Documents’ tab on the project webpage of the National Infrastructure Planning website:
The Preliminary Meeting is held in public and concerns procedural matters only. The Procedural Decision, setting the timetable for the Examination including deadlines for receipt of detailed Written Representations and for comments on the Relevant Representations made by other Interested Parties, will be made after the Preliminary Meeting and will be published on this project page.
Councillors Holbrook and McEwan continue to be involved and will receive notifications about the Examination and a copy of the Secretary of State’s decision on the application once that are made.
In conjunction with the proposed Northern Runway and FASI –South, Gatwick Airport is preparing an Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) to redesign the arrival and departure routes that serve the airport’s operation. The ACP is following the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidance on the process for changing airspace design, known as CAP1616 (edition 4). On 17th October 2023, the Gatwick FASI ACP passed the CAA Stage 2 Gateway and progressed to Stage 3A in the process.
Step 3A is where the Preferred Proposal Options will undergo detailed design development ahead of the Stage 3 Full Options Appraisal. The Stage 3 Full Options Appraisal (FOA) is the second stage in a three-phase appraisal of airspace change options. It is required to provide more rigorous evidence, typically through quantitative evaluation, of the options compared against the ‘do nothing’ pre-implementation scenario.
Councillors Holbrook and McEwan attended an update from Gatwick Airport in mid-January where the Preferred Proposal Options were outlined. A number of objections were raised as to how the process had been carried out to date, how the preferred options had been qualified, the supporting information provided that was used to select the preferred options proposed being substandard and potentially misleading with regards to impact on local communities. This was noted, has gone back for review and we await a response along with more “open and honest” supporting information to be provided.
Councillors Holbrook and McEwan continue to be involved and will provide on-going updates about progress being made before this then opens for public consultation towards the end of Q1 2024.
Councillors Peter Holbrook and Leanna McEwan