Woldingham Parish Council – December News Update
CAROLS IN THE CRESCENT
Woldingham Parish Council warmly invite you to our festive shindig – Carols in the Crescent – on Saturday 9th December at 6pm. Mulled wine, mince pies and Carol singing accompanied by the Salvation Army – what better way to get yourselves in the festive spirit! Villagers from all generations gather to share season’s greetings under the beautiful twinkling lights of the Crescent. Hearty voices booming out Christmas classics with shrieks of delight from children running around with their friends.
If you are a Carols in the Crescent regular, then we know we’ll see you there; if you are new to the village or have never tried it, then come along and be part of the community!
Looking forward to seeing you there.
CRESCENT REGENERATION MEETING
An objective within the Woldingham Neighbourhood Plan is the regeneration of the Crescent. The WPC held a public meeting on 19th October to:
– provide an update on 1,2 The Crescent
– gather in put on what regeneration of The Crescent looks like to villagers
– pull together volunteers to form a working party.
The meat of the meeting was a brainstorm around the future of The Crescent and potential Crescent workstreams. Workstreams generated include:
– a review of parking (to review parking spaces, road layout and enforcement)
– scout land (to review containers, recycling, landscaping)
– BT building
– speed campaign
– commercial opportunities – cafe! More pizza van type enterprises
– plus some smaller easy wins – dog ties, bike racks, notice boards, footpaths etc
A fine band of volunteers stepped up to be part of the working party. Thank you to all who volunteered. Our first workstreams meeting is on the 14th November. Please get in touch if you’d like to join! You can email me at reigaterushes@yahoo.com.
Cllr Becky Rush
WPC ANNUAL GRANTS
The WPC advertised our timeline for our annual grant applications in the Woldingham magazine and on the village website. We received a number of applications for grants that we reviewed at our October meeting. We make a variety of grants annually to support projects that benefit the community. We give priority to projects that have wide benefit and we support local and historic needs. We have awarded grants to 5 organisations.
We awarded £500 to the Woldingham and District Horticultural Society. Last year they deployed a similar grant to plant two columnar cherry trees and Colchicum Autumn flowering crocuses on the Crescent, 20 of Colchicums in the Station flower bed, a Camelia for St. Paul’s Church garden, for all to view who walk along Church Road, as well as Daffodils for the village centre. The Society will be continuing to plant around the village.
The WPC awarded the Parochial Church Council of St. Paul & St Agatha £1,650 towards the upkeep of St Agatha’s Churchyard. St. Agatha’s Churchyard is the parish burial ground and anyone living in the parish has the right to be buried there. The grant will be used towards the cost of regular grass mowing, hedge trimming, general garden maintenance and occasional tree work. The grant represents roughly half of the upkeep costs, the rest being met through church funds and volunteer help. The churchyard is a pleasant, peaceful place to visit for all the community.
We also awarded £1100 to the Garden Village Peace Centre Hall charity. The Garden Village Peace Centre Hall, located on Hilltop Walk, was donated to the community in 1948 by long-term former Woldingham residents the Lancaster family, in memory of their sons who perished in the war. It was the Officer’s Mess Hall for the army camps that were in the Garden Village during WWII and WWI. The Peace Centre Hall charity is upgrading parking space by clearing the concrete standing next to the Hall, enabling it to better serve the commuinity events and Hall hires. The grant will be used to defray costs for this work.
The WPC awarded the Woldingham History society £750. The Woldingham History Society is the repository for written history and artifacts for Woldingham. In addition to researching, recording and archiving Woldingham history, the Society runs educational talks and events. This grant will fund an a major all-day exhibition in 2018, to be held in the Village Hall and related to Woldingham Village history. This free exhibition will be open to all residents and the wider public, enabling residents to understand the heritage and development of our village.
And finally, the WPC awarded £1000 to the Woldingham Village Club. The Woldingham Village Club is our local social club, serving Woldingham and surrounds. It hosts daytime classes for the community and countless social evenings and events, as well as providing regular bar, food and drink facilities. The club loos needed serious upgrading, including installation of hot water, a disabled loo and a baby changing table and modern facilities. The grant defrays a very small portion of the costs.
We wish all of the organisations well and hope you all enjoy the facilities and services of our Woldingham institutions.
Cllr Deborah Sherry