The KRA had been told by Woking Borough Council that they along with Surrey County Council would present their plans for easing the congestion on the A322 between Brookwood Crossroads and the Bisley boundary. We have now received the agenda for the Joint Committee scheduled for 29 June and the A322 is not listed as an item for discussion. We have asked our local County Councillor for an explanation but none has been forthcoming.
Once you get out of the centre of the village Knaphill has some excellent footpaths and walks and it is important that we retain these. Woking Borough Council are currently reviewing their Greenbelt and the draft planning document did not consider any new development on the Greenbelt in Knaphill but of course residents in other parts of Woking have objected to draft plans for their area. It is important that if one objection is upheld that the Council do not try to raid what remains of our Greenbelt. The KRA will monitor developments.
The 150th anniversary events are now in full swing and this weekend 11 – 12 June the Church is hosting a flower festival. On the Saturday the church will be open from 9am to 6pm and on the Sunday from 11.30am to 3.30pm. After the close of the flower festival there will be a Songs of Praise service starting at 4pm.
The new houses on this estate continue to be built and occupied. The majority of residents will have seen the advertising boards for Cala Homes. Fewer people will be aware of the section of development that is classified as ‘affordable housing’. If you walk down Sparvell Road you will see the sign for Paragon Community Housing Group. This is a joint venture between Woking Borough Council and Paragon to create houses or apartments for rent or to buy on a shared ownership plan.
Staying with Brookwood Farm have you used the new footpath that goes from just off the Bagshot Road across the country park to the canal towpath close to Brookwood, if you have used it what do you think of the surface of the path, we would like to know.
KRA Minutes April 2016Attached are the minutes from the KRA Committee meeting held in April.
At the hustings meeting held on 28 April Cllr. Hussain announced that the Council had purchased land at the rear of the old library site. This is land, at the rear of the Co-op, was once the site of a bungalow. Cllr. Hussain stated that New Vision Homes will shortly submit revised plans on how they are going to link the two sites. We were assured that entrance to whatever they build will be off Englefield Road rather than the High Street.
The subject raised at the hustings because residents were disappointed that the Council had allowed the remains of the old library to stand for over 12 months since receiving planning permission to build. If the site had been owned by a private developer the Council would have insisted that once the roof had been removed the whole building should have been cleared and the site hidden behind hoardings.
Local Councillors will be available for discussion and advice on Saturday 27th February and Saturday 26th March at Steph’s Cafe on the High Street from 10 am to midday.
We recently reported that the County Council had planned for double yellow lines along both sides of Chobham Road from the Garibaldi to the Bagshot Road junction . After representation from residents the plans were modified.
The plans approved by Woking’s Joint Committee had double yellow lines at the Limecroft Road junction of Chobham Road to No2 Chobham Road. This is on the opposite side of the road to the Garibaldi.
No parking or loading at any time around the unction of Chobham Road and Trinity Road.
Double yellow lines in front of Holy Trinity Church and the church hall but with space left for two parking bays.
Double yellow lines at the unction of Chobham Road and Ivydene.
The plans will now be published for a formal period of consultation.
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.
There have been problems with anti-social behaviour in and around the lower part of Victoria Road and we have previously reported on a very vocal Police Panel meeting that was held a few weeks ago. I understand that this particular flair up has been dealt with and that normality has been restored to that part of Knaphill. If you know differently please contact the KRA.
Surrey police have just launched an awareness week on tackling anti-social behaviour. The purpose of this awareness week is to ensure that Surrey residents know which organisation deals with each type of ASB and what can be done to tackle so that local issues can be quickly resolved.
More details can be found on the Surrey Police website or facebook.com/Woking Police.
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