DEBATE AND COMMENT ON LOCAL ISSUES
SURREY FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
For free smoke alarms and home fire risk checks, call Surrey Fire and Rescue Service on 0800 085 0767, or visit www.surrey-fire.gov.uk/besmartbesafe.
ELMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
ELMBRIDGE RESIDENTS GROUP
Hinchley Wood Residents Association is part of the Elmbridge Residents Group. The Group's website has information about the Group's purpose and aims, and links to the websites of the other residents associations which participate in the Group.
PHOTO GALLERY
See a selection of photographs of local scenes and events at www.flickr.com
HINCHLEY WOOD FROM OUTER SPACE
A satellite view of Hinchley Wood. Zoom in to see a close up of your house. Detailed enough to see the car on your drive!
Google maps image
CHECK A TRADE
A useful website for finding tradesmen whose work has been vetted and where feedback from previous customers can be seen
Check-a-Trade
FAMILY LINE SURREY
This registered and established charity provides a freephone helpline to families in Surrey who might be experiencing problems and need to talk them through with someone in confidence and without judgement. The freephone helpline number is 0808 800 5678. For more information please take a look at their website www.familyline.org.uk.
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Council tax and the future provision of adult social care in Surrey.
Surrey County Council will be hosting a debate on how your council tax is spent, with a special focus on the growing demand for adult social care. Many commentators are concerned about who will pick up the bill for social care, both in Surrey and nationally, in future years. The well-known and respected journalist Nicholas Owen, who has a keen interest in social care issues, will moderate this debate, which will be held on: Thursday 18 September at 7pm, at the University of Surrey, Guildford (Austin Pearce 3 Building). Places are limited so it is essential to book a place.
For more information, see the Surrey County Council website.
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PROPOSED REDUCTION IN STATION TICKET OFFICE HOURS. South West Trains are proposing to reduce the ticket office hours at many of their stations, including Hinchley Wood. Under these proposals our ticket office would close at 10.10 a.m. on weekdays, and would not open at all at weekends. Many station users are concerned about the effect of this, as are users of other affected stations.
The objections are well summed up in the following statement from Claygate Parish Council: 'Claygate ticket office is well-used well beyond the proposed closure time of 10.00. In particular, Super Return tickets to London are not usable until 11.34. Also people use the available opening hours to buy complex tickets, such as season tickets. Squeezing all this in before 10.00 will increase the queueing in the rush hour, and the risk of travelling without a ticket and suffering embarrassment and penalties. The ticket machine, although welcome, is not adequate, since it is confusing to many travellers, and it regularly has an unsatisfied queue which has to rush for a rush hour train. The reduced ticket office opening hours also reduce the availability of other facilities at the station, including the waiting room and toilets.' Most of this is equally applicable to Hinchley Wood: an additional consideration is the increased risk of vandalism and antisocial behaviour if the station is unstaffed for an even longer period.
Objections can be submitted to www.londontravelwatch.org.uk, or see the notices at the station and in the village about signing the local petition, copies of which are held at:
* Crossy's Home and Garden
* Il Forno Bakery, and
* Hinchley Wood News
The deadline for objections is Monday 4th August.
The campaign against the closure is supported by local M.P.s, who have , as indicated in Ian Taylor M.P.'s letter to the Chairman of HWRA, signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion on the subject.
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HINCHLEY WOOD SUMMER FUN DAY
This year's fun day will take place in the Memorial Gardens on Saturday 20th September. Anyone wanting a stall at this event, or who would like to help with the organisation or help on the day, is asked to contact Laurie Elliott at Crossy's (020 8398 2828) or Janet Turner (020 8398 1565).
..............also coming soon - launch of the new Babes in the Wood Cafe at St Christopher's Church. See news & events page.
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Calling all retired and semi-retired professional and business men: the Probus Club of Hinchley Wood and Thames Ditton is a newly-formed club which aims to provide good fellowship among its members. It is strictly non-political, non-sectarian and non-commercial, and completely focussed on leisure and pure enjoyment. The club meets every third Tuesday monthly at The Angel pub, Portsmouth Road at 10.30. a.m. sharp. The club will aim to have an interesting speaker at each meeting, and refreshments will be available. New members welcome - for further details please contact Ken Thomas on 020 8398 0526 or by e-mail.
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MAJOR PLANNING ISSUES
LATEST NEWS: At the planning commitee meeting on 21st July, the proposed redevelopment of the A309 government offices site was unanimously rejected by officers and committee.
This development was discussed at the HWRA AGM on 27th March, when a representative of Taylor Wimpey spoke and answered questions. Concerns were expressed from the floor about issues such as access, drainage, closeness to the rear of Claygate Lane properties, height of buildings (some of which would be three-storey), capacity of local schools, and social implications of the proposed occupier mix. The Taylor Wimpey representative pointed out that on many of these issues both they and the planning authorities were governed by national policies. Surrey County Council highways and education services had been consulted and not raised objections to the plans.
Don Beardshall, Chair of the 'Save Hinchley Wood' Steering Commitee also addressed the meeting about the campaigns in relation to the A309 site, Grantchester House School, and the proposed redevelopment of 1 Heathside. It was important for residents who had concerns about these developments to put these to the planning authority, and they should not be deterred if the advertised closing date for objections had passed: objections would still be taken into account if they were received before the application came up for consideration.
The 'Save Hinchley Wood' campaign has become an umbrella for action on all these applications. Further details of the the applications and how to go about objecting can be found on the campaign's website www.savehinchleywood.co.uk .
The Chairman of HWRA has also written to the Planning Inspector about the Hinchley Way and Heathside developments. Copies of the letters can be viewed here.
For more on local planning issues, see the news and events page.
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HINCHLEY WOOD POLICE PANEL
The panel meets four times a year and attendance is open to all residents. It's your opportunity to meet the local police team and have your say about policing priorities in the local area. Discussion at the panel really does make a difference to local police activity, so it's well worth coming along if you can. See the news and events page for dates of forthcoming meetings.
Key points from the last meeting on Thursday 26th June:
PC Grapsas reported that in the last quater recorded crime in Hinchley Wood has remained at a low level. Noteworthy incidents have included:
* 5 burglaries, including three at local churches - St. Chritopher's twice and once at the Mormon church on Portsmouth Road
* 5 thefts from cars, as in the previous quarter, thefts of number plates. Residents who leave their vehicle outside may wish to consider attaching the number plates with security screws
* further incidents at the Shell station of making off without payment . The operators have been given advice on improving security.
Traffic enforcement has focussed on speeding on the Portsmouth Road in the Giggs Hill Green area.
In general crime levels in Hinchley Wood remain very low, and previously reported problems with graffiti and rowdy behaviour at and around the station and village centre have been much reduced. By continuing to take sensible precautions residents can help to ensure that Hinchley Wood remains a low-crime area - see the Surrey Police website for advice.
One important piece of advice is not to keep house and car keys too close to the door: thieves are adept at using implements such as pieces of wire or fishing rods to pick up keys and gain entry to houses and vehicles.
Whilst the situation with parking outside the schools has improved, it was agreed that this should remain a local priority.
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Newsletter No.2 of 2008 is now out, with news about the local elections, the summer fun day and poor maintenance by Surrey County Council of roads and grass verges, as well as updates on the planning matters mentioned in the previous newsletter.
Newsletter No.1 of 2008 is still available for download, with news about the AGM, and planning applications at the A309 government offices site, Heathside, Manor Road South, Grantchester House, Couchmore Avenue and the fruiterer's shop in Manor Road North. Other topics include parking, Surrey County Council works at the Scilly Isles junction, and the planned litter pick on Saturday 12th April (10 o'clock start at the Memorial Gardens).
More volunteers are still needed to help with Hinchley Wood Care. If you can help please give Ken Hibberd a call on 020 8398 7979. For more information please see clubs, societies and voluntary organisations.
See also the News & Events page for more about issues of current local concern.
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This website is brought to you by Hinchley Wood Residents Association. In conjunction with the weblog at hinchleywood.blogspot.com, it is intended as an interactive resource for the local community, where you can find information about local services, activities and events, and have your say on issues of current concern.
We plan to update the site regularly with local news, information and features, and welcome comments on the site and suggestions for improvements and new features. Please send us your feedback here.
Local traders, services, clubs and groups are listed free of charge on the website. If your organisation has not been listed please let us know the details and we will add it to the site. Local organisations can use the site free of charge to advertise forthcoming events, such as jumble sales, fetes etc.
Please contact us here to arrange for your organisation or event to be listed on the site.
Our Residents Association Councillors hold regular surgeries at which you can discuss problems directly with them. Please check the News & Events page for details.
Site last updated 20th August 2008
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Did you know that the LWT series 'The Charmer' (1986), set in the 1930s and starring Nigel Havers, Rosemary Leach and Bernard Hepton, was partly filmed in Hinchley Wood? You can see some pictures of the filming here. It is also available on DVD from Amazon, but note that you will need a multi-region player.
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