The public consultation for the proposed traffic adjustments has now begun, and will run until Monday 31st July . The visual display is available for all to see in the Vyne community centre on Broadway, but if you struggle to get there, then don’t worry as we’ve popped along already and taken photos of everything for you (keep scrolling down for those). If you do manage to visit the Vyne, then you will see all the planned layouts, and afterwards you can fill in a form to let Woking Borough Council know what you think. Or, you can click here to fill in your questionnaire online instead (although the plans are not available to view on WBC website). And we really recommend you have your say! This is WBC asking for your thoughts and input; you live in Knaphill, so your voice is important!

Back in March, Phil Stubbs posted a full synopsis of the draft proposals, and I strongly advise you to click here and take a few minutes to have a proper read through as it’s an excellent breakdown and easy to follow. Now that these official plans have been published they don’t differ from the draft plans significantly, however the changes that do exist are:

• Proposed an additional lane, so now three lanes leading into the crossing next to Sainsburys (Bagshot Road/Redding Way junction)
• Still investigating the possible addition of traffic lights at Oak Tree Road/Bagshot Road junction, and or at Sparvell Road/Bagshot Road junction
• The junction of Stafford Lake/Guildford Road no longer features, so it is assumed that those changes are no longer proposed
• Corner immediately outside the Vyne centre, next to the roundabout will be significantly realigned to improve traffic flow

WBC are also hosting public drop-in events at the Vyne centre so that you can meet the planners and ask any questions you may have. These will take place on Thursday 20 July from 4pm to 7pm and on Saturday 22 July from 10am to 12.30pm.

The KRA are yet to formally reply, but in the meantime, what do you think? We want to hear from you. There are no right or wrong points of view, so get in touch, by either commenting below or on Facebook, or you can email us (web@knaphill.org) directly if you’d rather your comments remain private.

At the Surrey County Council Joint Committee held on 22 March Woking Borough Council presented their proposals for changes in and around Knaphill and Brookwood. I must stress these are proposals and there will be a period of public consultation in June.

The proposals fall into three packages:

1. Brookwood Crossroads.
2. Roads off Bagshot Road (A322).
3. Vyne spur road.

Package 1 stands on its onw but I think 2 and 3 go together.

1. BROOKWOOD CROSSROADS

To explain the proposal I will take each road in turn as it approaches the Crossroads.

Bagshot Road (A322) from Knaphill – no change

Brookwood Lye Road (A324) – A third lane created so that there will be a left filter lane for traffic turning into Bagshot Road going towards Guildford. Middle lane for going straight across to Connaught Road and the third lane for turning right into Bagshot Road going towards Knaphill.

Bagshot Road 9A322)from Guildford – a new left filter into Connaught Road.

Connaught Road (A324) -creation of a second lane to give a left hand filter into Bagshot Road going towards Knaphill. The second lane is for traffic going straight ahead or turning right towards Guildford.

2. ROADS OFF BAGSHOT ROAD

a. Junction with Redding Way – improve and lengthen the left hand filter coming from Bisley turning into Redding Way.

b. Junction with the Broadway – no exit from Bagshot Road into Broadway from either direction. Traffic leaving the Broadway can only turn left.

c. Junction with Chobham Road – similar to junction with Broadway, no exit from Bagshot Road into Chobham Road and traffic leaving Chobham Road can only turn left (this restriction already applies).

d. Oak Tree Road and Sparvell Road – further investigation into feasibility of traffic signals required.

e. Junction with Limecraft Road – Direction from Bisley no change. Coming up the Bagshot Road from Brookwood Crossroads, extend two lanes beyond the junction with Stafford Lake to increase right turn lane storage capacity. This will mean changes to traffic entering or leaving Stafford Lake.

3. VYNE SPUR ROAD

The spur road is opened to all traffic. The traffic islands off the roundabout to be revised to increase deflection. The entrance to the car park opposite the Vyne to be closed. The two public car parks to be made into one with the entrance and exit being off Alexandra Gardens. The creation of a new pedestrian crossing using the island that currently houses the barriers.

As stated earlier these are at this stage only proposals and further work has to be carried out by Woking Borough Council before the plans go to public consultation. The Residents’ Association will discuss the plans at there next committee meeting and at a future date put forward their views. The KRA have asked the local Councillors to organise a residents public meeting to not only explain the reason for the proposals but to answer questions. In the meantime if you want to place comments on our website please feel free.

On the decision of Cllr. Cundy, chairman of Woking’s Planning Committee, approval was given to the building of a new house in Highclere Gardens. The new house wil be attached to No. 40.

The residents came away from the Planning meeting disappointed and angry. Angry because not one of the officers involved in working on this planning application had acknowledged the parking problems the residents face on a daily basis.

The majority of the. Councillors who make up the Planning Committee agreed that the proposed development was cramped and contrived in additional to which there was no room for any more cars parking in Highclere Gardens. The word cramped is used because the developer in trying to fit in this additional house had reduced the garden of both the new house and the existing house at No. 40 were below the minimum private garden size as laid down in the Council’s own planning guidelines.

During the debate the Officers warned the Councillors that if they rejected the application and the applicant when to appeal and won the Council may have to meet the developers costs. This swayed the Liberal Dems. and Labour members of the Committee. Cllr. Morales stated that she was not prepared to risk tax payers money in defending a rejection of the application. Cllr. Hussain pointed out that the residents of Highclere Gardens were tax payers.

Cllr. Hussain proposed that the application should be rejected and this was seconded by Cllr. Harlow. The chairman announced that he would take the unusual step of voting. The vote was 4 for and 4 against so the chairman got the casting vote, this meant that he voted twice, and Cllr. Cundy voted to approve the application.

Woking Council’s Planning Committee meets on Tuesday 7th March and on the agenda there are two planning applications affecting Knaphill.

The first is an application to build a new house in Highclere Gardens. This application is strongly opposed by the residents of Highclere Gardens and their fight is supported by the KRA. The Council’s Planning Department are recommending acceptance of the plans so we hope our local Councillors will put up strong opposition to the plans and  that members of the Planning Committee listen to the residents objections. The reference for this application is PLAN/2016/1366.

The second Knaphill application is from the owners of Ringlestone Farm off Warbury Lane. The owners are arguing that a former outbuilding has been used as a single dwelling house for more than four years and the owners are seeking a lawful development certificate for change of use. This building is in the greenbelt and therefore this is a legal argument. The Council are opposed to the application. The reference number is PLAN/2017/0104.

The Planning Committee is open to the public and it will also be shown live on the Council’s webcast.

From the start of the debate on the proposal to build over 200 new dwellings on Brookwood Farm the KRA has raised concern over the level of congestion on the A322 and specifically the problems around the Brookwood crossroads. Since the planning application for Brookwood Farm was agreed other developments have come forward and we can expect to see around 1,000 new dwellings along the A322 corridor between Brookwood crossroads and Gordons School in West End. With all these planning applications Surrey Highways Planning have failed to raise any objections to the level of development even in the knowledge that the road is trying to cope with far more traffic than the road was designed to carry.

In fact very little money has been spent on the A322 as it passes through Surrey whereas the same road, the A322, as it passes through Berkshire motorists have seen all the roundabouts in that county upgraded. In fact according to a report in last weeks Woking Advertiser Surrey has the slowest rush hour roads of any county in the country.

So it was good to see the A322 on the agenda for this weeks Joint Committee, unfortunately the Councils decided that the proposal to be discussed included confidential commercial points and so the debate took place in private and therefore we are unable to report on any progress in the Councils efforts to try and address the congestion issues in this part of the county.

The Residents’ Association has been informed by WBC that the planning application to demolish 11 garages and build 3 houses has been withdrawn. The only document on line is a letter from Fielding Architecture to the Planning Officer stating that they had withdrawn the planning application PLAN/2014/0895.

Further to our earlier statement, Woking Borough Council have been economical with the facts. A reporter at Woking Advertiser has been doing some digging and has been informed by someone at WBC that the withdrawn of the planning application is only a temporary move. WBC plan to carry out further survey work at the site and then submit another planning application. (21/01/2015)

An application from Sainsbury’s of Redding Way, for the installation of a single-story, standalone, dry-cleaning pod to the front of the store has been rejected by Woking’s Planning Dept. The main reason for this decision was that the proposal from Sainsbury’s, if given the go ahead, could have meant potential harm to the vitality and viability of independent businesses in the centre of Knaphill.

Waterers Rise we have just been informed that the Council has published an amendment to their plans to demolish 11 garages and build 3 houses. At the time of writing the details of these amendments are not yet available to the public but residents have only been given until 24 December to comment.

A new planning application has been submitted to build a two storey block of flats (4 x 2 bedroom units) at 1 Sussex Court, High Street 1 Sussex Court is the address of the block of flats opposite the junction of Sussex Road and the High Street. The application is to build this block of flats behind the current two blocks of flats.

The KRA have now been officially informed that New Vision Homes are appealing the decision of Woking’s Planning Committee to reject the plans to build a three storey block of flats on the site. Residents’ have until 15 December to contact the Planning Inspector if you think the Councillors were right to reject the plans. At this point in time we do not know the grounds of the appeal and I suspect the statement from New Vision Homes outlining their grounds for the appeal will be withheld until after the 15 December. There is nothing about transparency when it comes to planning and Woking.