Yes folks, the old library site in Knaphill High Street has been sold by SCC to WBC for… affordable housing!

According to Woking Borough Council this offers a new lease of life and an opportunity to meet targets for housing, and isn’t it fortunate that the planning has already been approved…

Yet again Knaphill is having a development forced upon them without due consideration of the residents; this isn’t to say that we don’t want it, merely that no consideration or communication was given. It appears that WBC are determined to place affordable housing absolutely anywhere they can as long as it’s not on the doorstep of Woking town centre itself and irrespective of any infrastructure deficiencies.

There is a good note however, in that there will be a memorial garden (although no free standing edifice) created as a part of the development, due to start in summer 2013 and be completed by 2014. WBC has also attempted to acquire the derelict land behind Co-Op, presumably for an access road or additional housing, but the sale has been refused by the owner. This means that any access will have to be off the High Street, almost opposite the development at the old Clifton’s building.

Both councillor Melanie Whitehand and councillor Saj Hussain have pledged to achieving the ‘best and most pleasing development’ on this site which is good news. We have requested that plans go on display in the library for comment but no promises can be made as to whether this will happen or not.

Although the early tone of this article is a tad frustrated, it should be noted that having a memorial garden in the village centre will be exceptionally pleasing to most if not all residents and a derelict site being developed can only be good for the High Street.

Full release by WBC is here.

After we published in Knaphill News, the rumours have been doing the rounds and today we have had a confirmation that it will be Tesco, not Sainsbury’s taking over the old Clifton’s site in Knaphill High Street.

After all the palaver they’re having in Chobham with this company, I wonder just how well we’ll get along?

Fuller story here – http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2122456_tesco_makes_move_for_knaphill_high_street_site

Some of you will recall a survey on the front page asking for your opinion on the KRA and activities. The survey ran for two months and ended on August 31st. The results have been presented to the committee and are now here for you, with some commentary from us. I should note that although given the option of leaving names for follow up communication, all respondents remained anonymous so we have had to ‘interpret’ a few replies!

Results

Overall there were 7 respondents. We accept this is low but it was not unexpected and had anticipated that in the main it would be critics that felt the need to have their say which we welcomed and gave us the opportunity to learn grievances. The survey had these 9 questions:

Below are the statistical replies (questions 1-4 and 7) followed by the written responses; not all respondents left written responses.

Q5. Having looked through the website, knaphill.org, what would you like to see added, removed or improved? Please be as specific as possible

Answer 1: more up to date
Answer 2: memory lane type posts, KRA must look forward
Answer 3: layout
Answer 4: It would be good to have a forum area

KRA response –

The look and feel of a website is very much a personal preference and the KRA website, we hope, strikes a good balance of being easily read and in being able to find information. There is little likelihood of a forum area due to maintenance in terms of time on the volunteers but we will constantly look at how to best present articles and the layout of the site.

With regard to Memory Lane and looking forward, we have found that these articles are especially well received and as we have so few submissions we will not be stopping them but would actively encourage people to read about the history of their area. History provides the basis of moving forward. With regard to moving forward we have created several projects which we hope will benefit the village once we have projects leads come forward.

Q6. What are we NOT doing that you would like us to do? Please be as specific as possible

Answer 1: We need visibility of the KRAs actions
Answer 2: Get the council to look after Knaphill, the roads are rubbish, the verges parks etc are either not cut or left with cut grass laying around. Pavements are shocking, the park has the most rubbish play area the woods have been vandalised It is really a travesty ! Our village should be pride of place
Answer 3: As a local paid up trade member I feel that a clique of businesses get first call on any business involvement.
Answer 4: Improving the appearance of the village
Answer 5: be inclusive

KRA response –

We’re always concerned to be doing as much as we can for the village. Whereas we are all volunteers, there are activities that we do and meetings that take place so we shall endeavour to place minutes of these meetings on the website in the near future.

We are unsure as to what the ‘be inclusive’ comment refers to. We are as inclusive as possible! We aren’t in the habit of press-ganging people into service but do always ask for people to become involved, be a part of the KRA and help the village.

Answer 3 above is of concern to some on the committee. We have no business clique that we’re aware of and will work with and promote any business in the village, for example through ‘Business Focus’ features in the magazine. Any business advertising is warmly received and allows the magazine to continue. We welcome the involvement of any and all businesses in the village and are more than happy to discuss this more if anyone wants to get in touch.

With regard to answers 2 & 4, we have absolutely no influence over the council, either local or county. Whereas we agree that the infrastructure is in need of attention and are aghast at how bad it gets sometimes, in terms of actual ‘power’ to do anything it is minimal. Sad but true. What we can do and what we do do is raise issues to the borough and county councillors, MP Jonathon Lord and any official bodies either by meetings, photographic evidence, relating issues to regulatory governance and by trying to hold the officials to account. Knaphill is a big area and it is incumbent on all residents to raise issues to relevant bodies such as the council, we’re happy if you want to do it through us but if we don’t know about it we can’t do anything at all; we realise this is not what some people may want to hear but we can’t strongarm the council to do anything, as much as we may want to.

Q8. What ARE we doing that you would prefer we didn’t? Please be as specific as possible

Answer 1: Charging
Answer 2: As my previous statement regarding local business pointed towards a clique businesses should not be included in a residents organisation as businesses by there nature will always look for a pay-off for any involvment they make. cynical but true these days.
Answer 3: Stop being political and start looking after our village

KRA response –

I’m sure many will have heard this before – we’re not a political body. We do have to ‘play the game’ at times however due to the nature of people and bodies involved, in short, politicians. If you deal with anything council related you must be able to engage in their terms. That is the extent of our politics but we will make no apologies for getting down and dirty with the politicians if it helps the village out and improves the infrastructure.

With regard to charging we have little option but to charge a small amount for membership. It is a voluntary act to join the KRA and we appreciate every single one of you. The money allows us to have a start point for the village show and free magazine magazine, the remainder (a large percentage) being made up via advertising or generous donations. Don’t forget you don’t have to be a member to help out. With regard to the business involvement, the businesses ‘pay-off’ is any result from their investment in advertising. We have no influence over this but do greatly appreciate any business that chooses to support us in our activities in the village. Again, we are very welcoming of any further opinions on this!

Q9. Are there any other comments you wish to make regarding the Knaphill Residents’ Association?

Answer 1: Stop patting yourselves on the back and do what you set yourselves up to do….

KRA response –

Ouch. One answer and it was a shot across the bows indeed! We aren’t entirely sure of the intent of the comment but have tried to interpret it as best we can. The residents’ association was set up for the village, to represent the village when we can and more information can be seen here. On that page are a few achievements that we have a right to be proud of; the list is not exhaustive and much more has been achieved than has been reported. We do what we can with exceptionally limited resource and often invite people to join in and help with what’s important to them. Again, we do what we can and do it voluntarily and unpaid in our own spare time for the village where we live. We do it because we care about getting involved and doing something for Knaphill.

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That’s the end of the results folks, why not let us know your thoughts? We shall be running the survey annually to get your ongoing views of the Knaphill Residents’ Association. Thank you for your time.

UPDATE:

Wonders will never cease! Workmen have arrived to install a fix to the drains in the form of additional gulleys, approximately located outside 48 Broadway. Shame it was too wet early in the day for the workers to start, some might see this as ironic maybe… Temporary traffic lights are in place.

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Are the blocked drains in Broadway about to be fixed?!

We’ve contacted all the water companies in the area to find out exactly who has responsibility for the drainage (have you ever tried to get a direct answer to this? It’s easier getting someone on the moon!) and have been categorically told it is the responsibility of Thames Water.

They have raised the work request to inspect the site and a technician should be looking at the problem very soon indeed – they say within 8 hours! Not days or weeks but hours. I can only hope they see what we do every time it rains – they’re blocked!

Lets see if they are cleared and the problem of flooding in the road is sorted…

Some weeks ago we added an article to our web headed ‘From Hedgerows to Barbed Wire’. The article gave details of changes to the fields that lay between Chobham Road and Kiln Lane. The KRA received quite a bit of feedback following the publication of the article and one point that a number of residents raised was the future of ‘The Mound’. 

The Mound is the raised wooded area that lies between Chobham Road and The Priory. The KRA took the residents concerns seriously and wrote to the Council seeking a higher degree of protection for this area (click on the letter). Since writing to the Council we have taken two of our Councillors for a walk around the areapointing out the problem with the barbed wire and The Mound. We have also invited Woking’s Aboricultural Officer the visit the site with us.  We will keep you posted on any developments. Please continue to provide the KRA with feedback on what you think of the work that has taken place in what some call ‘The Priory fields’ and whether you believe that ‘The Mound’ should be saved.

Surrey County Council have published a list of projects under the heading ‘Travel Smart Delivery- Proposed Programme for Woking 2012/13’. One project is to create bus/cycle interchange with shelter and storage.  The enhanced bus stop will have CCTV, RTPI display, audio bus information, wayfinder information and solar power. The site chosen by SCC for a pilot project is close to the junction of Redding Way at the Vyne Health Centre.

There is no argument with the idea but the KRA question the proposed location. The roundabout at the Vyne Health Centre must be one of the worst for buses as they manoeuvre their way from Redding Way into the Broadway. The corners are so tight two buses cannot pass each other at the junction. There is also a proposed development on the corner of the Broadway at the Vyne, a developer has been granted permission to build 10 houses on the site and there is an application from the Alpha hospital group to build a new unit on the Redding Way with vehicle access via Barton Close. Both these devlopments will add to the traffic flow in that area of the village.

The report from SCC states that the exact location and specification is now being finalised in consultation with key stakeholders. The question is who are the ‘key stakeholders’?  Clearly not the local Councillors as they know no more than what has been published in the report quoted above.  The term ‘key stakeholders’ does not appear to include the residents who live close to the Broadway/Redding Way junction, so who does it include? We are trying to find out.

A related item, as reported elsewhere on the KRA web the extension to Sainsbury’s in Redding Way has now been given the go ahead. One of the conditions imposed on Sainsbury’s is the relocation of the bus stop that sits in the middle of the car park. The conditions require Sainsbury’s to provide a bus shelter incorporating poles, flags and timetable cases; Seating and an area for passengers in wheelchairs to wait; Lighting and CCTV cameras; Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) shelter display. Sainsbury’s have also to provide additional cycle parking.

The above sounds like a bus/cycle hub, is there a requirement for two such hubs in Knaphill?

Phil Stubbs

Residents nearby the forthcoming demolition work at 15 High Street and the associated property are already highlighting problems with the work.

Workmen have been accessing the site via Fosters Lane which is in contravention of conditions placed on the work. Access to the High Street is blocked while workers vans or trucks are parked which is further exacerbated by the moving of a fence into the roadway. Naturally, the Fosters Lane Residents Association is furious and rightly so – they campaigned long and hard and finally clubbed together to fund a road resurfacing. As they pointed out – it’s not for contractors use!

As the comments come in, they have said –

“…This is only the second day of work on the site and already we are having problems as predicted. Parking is going to be a real issue… “

There are a number of further concerns which relate to the opening hours and just what assurances WBC are willing to give, if any.

Phil Stubbs has also contacted the council –

“This site is in the centre of the village and very close to residential dwellings in Fosters Lane and from day one we have breaches in the conditions that were attached to the  planning decision. This plan has been contentious from day one and we have always said that there would be problems with the demolition and building and then problems with customers parking and deliveries to the store. We believe that it is important that from the start of any work all conditions should be applied in full.”

We will investigate any breaches of conditions that were attached to the planning decision with a view to obtaining a thorough response from WBC.

It was in December last year that the Woking Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved the application from Sainsbury’s to expand their store in Redding Way.  It has taken until late August this year for Sainsbury’s and Woking Council to complete the legal paperwork and for Woking Borough Council to issue their decision notice granting planning permission. The decision notice contains 43 conditions and 19 instructions and it will take time for us to go through the decision notice in detail to check that the points the KRA won during the planning process are contained in the final document.

This application and decision notice is the last in a long struggle by Sainsbury’s to gain permission to extend. Those who have followed the saga will know that the previous application was rejected by Woking Borough Council and was scheduled to be the subject of a public enquiry. That public enquiry was put on hold at the request of Woking Borough Council whilst they worked with Sainsbury’s put together an acceptable package. Sainsbury’s have now withdrawn their objections to previous rejections by Woking Borough Council so there are no grounds for a public enquiry.

Even after the latest proposal was published last October with the Council recommending acceptance the KRA fought hard to have more social and environmental conditions built into the plan. We will update our information once we have studied the full text of the planning decision.

Finally just to remind the readers of the outline plan that has been agreed.

PLAN/2011/0160 Proposed extensions to Sainsbury’s store to south-west and south-east of the existing store, part increase in height of the existing building  by up to 1.9m, alterations to layout and formation of new parking are to north-east of Homebase, enclosure of service yard and altered pedestrian access onto Bagshot Road.

You probably read in last weeks local press that the new owners of the service station at the Brookwood Crossroads (Total garage) had sought a variation to their licence to sell alcohol 24 hours a day, seven days per week and sell hot food and drinks (late night refreshments) 10.00 pm to 05.00 am. The Council Licensing Committee met this morning to consider this application and I am sorry to say the licence was approved. This wasn’t a surprise as there were no objections from either the police or Environmental Services.

The Licensing Committee is very formal and is basically run by lawyers. The garage was represented by a lawyer who made sure that the objections were to specific points to do with the licensing regulations. For example complaints about the disturbance of having the forecourt lights on full 24 hours a day and the additional noise from cars parking on the forecourt during the night were ruled out of order.

We did get two conditions added to the licence and these are that entrance to the shop will be closed to customers between 11.00pm and 06.00am and all sales will be via the nights sales hatch during these hours. This is important because the garage plan to have only one staff member on duty late at night. Hot food sales at night will be limited to prepacked items.

We understand that the petrol station already has permission to sell fuel 24 hours a day, there are no conditions on the original garage. Therefore there is nothing to stop them going ahead with their plans. So much for the protection of such development in a conservation area.

It is important that if you hear complaints from people who live near the petrol station complaining about litter, anti social behaviour or other activities they should contact the police. Figures show that around Knaphill/Brookwood area there are an average of 50 police reports a month of anti social behaviour. Once the petrol station is open 24 hours day I would expect that such behaviour to be concentrated in that area. Residents are encouraged to attend the police forum that is held in Knaphill and for them to air their views.

Phil Stubbs

20/9/12

Fences going up around the cottage, prior to demolition

29/8/12 Work scheduled to start

The pavement outside the old shop has been marked out for the commencement of the demolition and when Phil asked about this at the Civic Centre he was told that work would be starting soon although no date was mentioned.

21/6/12 Full story here

20/6/12 Shafted again.

Bad news folks – Sainsbury’s have WON their appeal and the store destined for 15 High St has been granted opening hours from 07.00am to 10.00pm Monday to Saturday and 0800am to 10.00pm on Sundays. The Inspector also over ruled the Highways decision to ban customers parking behind the store. In her report the Inspector stated that she says that if customers are not allowed to park behind the store then they will park on the road and this would potentially be a road safety risk.

As is becomming par for the course, WBC could be seen to have let the village down – they supported the original condition 7 (opening hours) and failed to lodge an objection from their environmental officer.

24/4/12

We haven’t reported much on the Sainsbury’s front for a while so if you’re wondering why, it’s quite simple – there hasn’t been too much to report! We CAN however, say that the appeal is still underway and that the Planning Inspector is scheduled for a site visit during the first week of May…

3/2/12

Many people will think that this issue was resolved last year when Woking’s Planning Committee approved a trial for a variation to the opening times for the proposed Sainsbury’s shop on the site of Clifton’s Lawnmower shop and the bungalow at 6 Fosters Lane. At the turn of the year we in the KRA started to get concerned as the final decision notice had not been published and there were rumours that Sainsbury’s were to appeal.

Our concerns were well founded, we received a letter from Woking Borough Council dated 26 January stating that Commercial Development projects Ltd (whoever they are) have lodged an appeal on the grounds that Woking Borough Council has not determined the application within the requisite period. Not sure what that means as WBC has failed to place any additional papers on their web site.

All those who wrote into the Council when the application was first up for consideration should have received the letter dated 26 January. The letter also contained details how residents can write to the Planning Inspector with their views on the appeal.

Remember what the Development Company are seeking on behalf of Sainsbury’s, it is the right to open their shop from 07.00am to 10.00pm Mondays to Saturdays inclusive and 08.00am to 08.00pm Sundays and Bank Holidays. What the Planning Committee had offered was for the above times to be operated for a trial period of 12 months from when the shop opened.

It must be remembered that this new shop will not have any parking for customers and there are residential properties on two sides of the site.

If you want more details, when they become available, you can either go to Woking Borough Web site, their reference number is 12/00002/PLNCON or go to www.planningportal.gov.uk/pcs, find appeals search and the ref number is APP/A3655/A/11/2167625/NWF. The planning portal will also give details on how you can contact the Planning Inspector. Failing either of the above please feel free to come back to the KRA for more information.

Even if you didn’t write to WBC when the initial application was being considered you can still write to the Planning Inspector.