Claygate Courier—issue 55—October 2024

Pages 1 and 3

NEW RULES POSE A THREAT TO GREEN BELT

One of the first acts of the incoming Labour government this summer was to issue a lengthy consultation document on revising the National Planning Policy Framework and associated policies to increase the supply of housing.

A key feature of the new proposals, of great concern to us in Claygate, is an attempt to provide a structured approach to the release for development of land currently designated as Green Belt.

Following much hard work by members of the Planning Committee, the Parish Council responded to the sections of the consultation most relevant to Claygate—those concerned with Green Belt, and design and density issues.

The new policy proposals were accompanied by a revised method of calculating housing need for local planning purposes which would see large increases in housing targets imposed on nearly all local authorities outside London.

Under the new proposals, it will be much more difficult for a planning authority to justify not meeting these targets than it has been during the past few years, when the targets were less strictly enforced.

The concept of Grey Belt has been introduced, broadly interpreted as Green Belt land which is not properly fulfilling the functions of the Green Belt, or which contains buildings or the remains of previous developments.

Some of the Parish Council's comments are aimed at tightening the definition of Grey Belt and "poorly performing" Green Belt to try to prevent developers claiming any unimproved pasture as Grey Belt.

A key Green Belt test site in Claygate will be the land north of Raleigh Drive, between the Claygate House site and Rythe Road.

A plan for a housing development there was rejected in September 2023 and, in May, an appeal by the developer was dismissed by a Planning Inspector. Your Parish Council will be keeping a close eye on any future proposals for this site.

DRAFT LOCAL PLAN

Elmbridge's Draft Local Plan began its Examination in Public in April. This is a quasi-judicial process with barristers involved, presided over by a Planning Inspector. The Draft Plan, adopted unanimously by Elmbridge Borough Council, is critically dependent on the borough being excused from fully meeting the previous government's housing targets in order to avoid building on the Green Belt—something that would be strongly opposed by most of the community.

On September 11, the Inspector wrote to Elmbridge, saying the Draft Plan had been found to be "unsound", meaning she could not approve it, mainly due to the shortfall in housing numbers (especially for affordable housing) as measured against the standard calculation.

The letter sets a target of six months to revise the Draft Plan. Elmbridge has replied that it believes 12 to 15 months would be a more realistic timetable. The Inspector indicates that the question of release of Green Belt land will have to be revisited. Fortunately, at this stage the housing target remains the one calculated under the existing method, not the increased numbers resulting from the government's proposed new method.

Faced with the changes in Green Belt policy, trying to maintain unconditional opposition to any release of Green Belt land is unlikely to achieve anything. What the Parish Council will need to do is to press for a rigorous approach to any release of Green Belt, based on tight definitions of "Grey Belt", "previously developed land" and "under-performing Green Belt", and giving a high priority to separation between settlements. This last point is very important for Claygate, as we only have a very narrow band of Green Belt between us and Hinchley Wood to the north and Hook and Chessington to the east.

Page 2

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Donna Holt, who chairs Claygate Parish Council, gives a welcome to four new councillors, to the re-establishment of basic services—and to taking on bigger projects

Welcome to the October 2024 issue of the Claygate Courier. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to any feedback from villagers.

First, I want to welcome our four new Parish Councillors who were elected in May—Sam Bingham, Debbie Coffey, Jenny French, and Anthony Sheppard (a former Parish Council chairman who has returned to become our very capable Chair of Planning). Also, a warm welcome to Dawn Lacey, our new Parish Clerk, a Claygate person through and through, having lived here all her life. All these people bring a fresh perspective, some good ideas and make a big contribution to the Parish Council that we all appreciate and celebrate.

Over the past 12 months the Parish Council has made progress in re-establishing many of its basic services. We have also started to add value in other areas which were not part of the council’s traditional remit, thanks to the establishment of an adequate budget able to cover the key basic services—see page 8—as well as the organisation and hard work by the newly formed council in working with Claygate residents and Elmbridge Borough Council on new initiatives.

I am the first to argue that the Council does much more than look after hanging baskets, troughs and tubs, and that it contributes to the village in many other ways, such as reviewing and feeding back to Elmbridge on planning applications and responding to local needs and services, including the recent concerns about the Claygate Centre—see page 12.

But I was well aware that we needed to re-establish our basic services before we could move on to broader topics, such as leading the Claygate: The Way Forward work in consultation with residents of the village. So it is good to see that services we used to run have been re-established, with a great full time Clerk, a new contract for maintenance of highway garden sites, the return of the Claygate Courier, restoring the Claygate village sign, planning for Remembrance Day—including soldier biographies attached to the silhouettes—and re-starting the successful Claygate litter picks.

With this in place, we can move forward, focusing on strategic topics such as the consultation on the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework proposed by the new government.

We also recently started a campaign regarding weeds and detritus on our roads and have written to Surrey County Council and presented on this subject at a recent Surrey Association of Local Clerks meeting—see page 6.

We will continue to defend our Green Belt and had an input to the Local Plan—a subject that is going to cause strain in Claygate and the wider borough, given the new national housing targets and proposed reclassification of some Green Belt land as “Grey Belt”, which would be subject to fewer building restrictions. This is in addition to the questions the inspectorate has raised regarding the current Draft Local Plan—see pages 1 and 3.

Also, thanks to having been entrusted by the Claygate Village Association with managing Claygate: The Way Forward, we will now be addressing such important topics as health, wellbeing, housing, environment, transport, parking, and shops and businesses with a new governance structure that involves many local volunteers in a set of working groups. These will drive forward our responses to our village needs and our work with Elmbridge and Surrey County Council. See the Way Forward article on pages 4 and 5.

Anyone keen to become involved in any of these areas should email Dawn Lacey, Parish Clerk, at clerk@claygateparishcouncil.gov.uk or visit the Parish Council website to subscribe to email updates via the Contact Form.

We face a busy two years and the focus needs to remain on core services while also adding value in more strategic ways through the Claygate: The Way Forward initiative and other important areas. Here’s to building a positive future for our village.

Finally, my thanks on behalf of the whole Council to Peter Whitehead for putting together this excellent edition of the Courier.

Pages 4 and 5b

ACTION PLAN TO BE BUILT ON ‘VILLAGE VISION’

A structure to drive real change in Claygate has been put in place by the Parish Council, the Village Association and other organisations. Here, those parties present their agreed explanation of what has been created, how it will operate, and how the views of the whole village will be taken into account:

As people may be aware the Parish Council has been entrusted to work with various organisations after the work carried out by the Claygate Village Association (CVA) to build on a report on Claygate: The Way Forward, which incorporated the findings of a survey of all Claygate residents from which 1,528 responded.

We first must thank the CVA for the very thorough and statistically rigorous survey with a very strong response rate. Most surveys get a 3-4% response rate but the Claygate one was approximately 25% of Claygate’s adult population. An enormous amount of effort went into the survey and finding out your views on a wide range of aspects of village life.

The report findings were presented at Holy Trinity Church in June together with the recommendations of each of the working groups—Health & Wellbeing, Leisure & Recreation, Transport & Parking, Shops & Businesses, Housing and Environment. The report identified the stakeholders who would be responsible for pursuing the recommendations such as Elmbridge Borough Council (EBC), Surrey County Council (SCC), National Rail and the Parish Council to name but a few.

There were many recommendations but some headline items were as follows:

• Encouragement of developers to build smaller units and affordable housing in key sites in Claygate
• A new community venue providing wellbeing services
• A one-hour free parking trial in EBC car parks in the village
• An outdoor trim trail or gym (or both)
• A community garden
• A survey of Claygate shops and businesses
• A village business initiative
• A Claygate market
• A village website promoting the village including shops and businesses
• Improvements to roads, cycle paths and bridleways in Claygate

The full report incorporating the survey results, analysis and recommendations is available at https://www.claygatevillageassociation.org/ctwf-report-download.

So where are we with all of this and where does it lead?

Claygate Parish Council (CPC) has had two encouraging meetings with EBC over the summer to take this work forward and it breaks down into three main parts:

The first task is to formulate a draft vision for Claygate by working in partnership with EBC to identify the shared goals for our community. This will largely be informed by the CTWF report but also by EBC and CPC reviewing the existing vision for Claygate as set out in EBC’s Core Strategy. Together, we will determine what elements still ring true and what can be brought into a new vision for Claygate. This work is underway and EBC is aiming to consult on it in the first half of 2025.

The second part is the set of CTWF recommendations—these will be worked into an Action Plan for Claygate that will sit behind the vision and deliver certain elements of it. Some are quick wins, while other actions will take time to progress. CPC and EBC have taken time to review this in detail and have confirmed owners for all the recommendations (some owners have changed based on EBC's detailed understanding of how they work with SCC on various initiatives). There will be a meeting between CPC and EBC in early November to identify target dates for the plan and that plan will be communicated and consulted on, also currently planned for the first half of 2025.

The third takeaway is that while there were many great suggestions and recommendations for Claygate as a whole, the driver of the campaign—what to do with Torrington Lodge Car Park—was not fully addressed. The survey had revealed many suggestions for the mixed-use development including a fitness centre (45%), continued parking provision (45%), affordable housing (35%), a supermarket (31%), and small business units and pop-up shops, which were equally popular (26% each). Support for a supermarket development—the initial trigger for the CVA’s campaign and subsequent survey—was highest in the under 50s (42%) (who are underrepresented as against the national average in the village but from whom we had the highest response rate to the survey overall), compared to the 50-65 (30%) and over 65s (18%). Bearing this in mind the matter warrants further consideration although perhaps not the 8,000 sq. ft building that had originally been proposed.

Clearly this last topic is one of great interest to Claygate residents and we are keen to see the right decisions being made for the good of the village and the shops and businesses within it. CPC brought up this point in our second meeting with EBC this summer, as we feel that the issue of what to do with Torrington Lodge Car Park needs to be tackled. In the meeting it was clear to everyone that there was a positive groundswell of opinion for mixed use development on Torrington Lodge Car Park.

So, what is the way forward with Torrington Lodge Car Park?

EBC and CPC agreed that a positive way forward would be to look at a set of mixed-use options for the car park and do the financial and qualitative assessment to explore what could realistically be delivered. This would then be shared with the community and views sought on the options which might work. This is similar to the work which is currently being carried out for Elm Grove in Walton. Senior officers at EBC are committed to working with Claygate residents and CPC to bring it to a positive conclusion.

We look forward to working with EBC and consulting widely with the Claygate community on this topic and will continue to report back to residents as the work on this and other projects and initiatives progress.

Page 5a

HUGE EFFORT NEEDED TO SAVE WINNING HORSE

Much work has been going on to rescue the closed Winning Horse pub in Coverts Road, which is currently on the market for £595,000 plus VAT, with a further £500,000 needed to refurbish the building.

The newly formed Claygate Community Benefit Society submitted an application to the government's Community Ownership Fund for a grant to purchase the pub earlier this year and use it to benefit the community. But the general election prevented this when the Fund was withdrawn until further notice.

This has given the Claygate team more time to plan and develop the project, and work out how best to use the building. But a huge effort will be needed to raise the funds to make it happen.

An online survey by the team to gauge support for its proposal won a fantastic response, with nearly everyone in favour of saving The Winning Horse to provide a community venue for the village. There were some great words of encouragement from local people, many of whom had been regular customers at “The Winner”, together with many offers of practical help and interest in supporting the project financially.

The team will be following up all these offers and will certainly need practical help in refurbishing the building if it succeeds in purchasing it. The team is keen to hear from anyone who could help with social media and communications, as engaging with the local and wider community will be vital to the success of the project. Email claygatecbs@gmail.com if you can help. For further updates please follow the "Save The Winner" Facebook page.

Pages 6a and 7a

CONCERN OVER DAMAGE TO KERBS AND PAVEMENTS

Weeds growing in our kerb gullies and on pavements have continued to be the Environment, Highways and Transport Committee’s main focus in 2024. Surrey County Council has a policy of killing such weeds—defined as a plant in a location where it is not wanted—but they are growing apace all around Claygate.

The County Council’s policy says weed growth can destroy paving surfaces, force kerbs apart and crack walls, causing safety issues and increasing maintenance costs. The policy refers to all pavements and kerbs in residential roads and says “most residential roads in Surrey are treated once a year, but there may be local variation”.

After the problem came to light in the second half of 2023, the Parish Council hoped to clean up Claygate’s roads using volunteers. But this was frustrated by red tape and so the committee has been looking for other ways of dealing with the weeds.

The Committee wrote in July to Councillor Matt Furniss, Surrey’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, asking him: What is meant by “Most residential roads” and how and why are any omitted? Why not say “All residential roads”? What is meant by “there may be local variation”? Are roads treated once a year, or not? Why are weeds only sprayed once per year?

The Parish Council submits that this is not often enough to achieve effective control over weeds.

Councillor Furniss did not reply in any meaningful manner, and so the Parish Council contacted Councillor Tim Oliver, Surrey Council Leader, in August. He has not replied and so Councillor Mark Sugden, the County Councillor for Claygate, tabled a question to Surrey’s October meeting. The Parish Council awaits answers.

THE WAY FORWARD

As the Parish Council has absorbed the Claygate: The Way Forward initiative from the Claygate Village Association, the Environment, Highways and Transport Committee has played its part and now has two Advisory Groups led by Claygate residents—the Environment and Sustainability group by Peter Stevenson, and the Transport and Parking group by Ben Full. These groups will be able to keep working with the same freedom they had while part of the CVA. The committee looks forward to these groups bringing forward and managing initiatives which the Committee will be able to support.

The Environment and Sustainability group is furthering its work by hosting a networking event on November 20 in Holy Trinity Church Hall—one of a series being organised by Green Elmbridge, a body that connects the borough’s community groups. It will be attended by representatives of each of the 13 environmental and sustainability initiatives from locations around the borough. Any resident who would like to be involved in such initiatives will, we believe, find this time well spent.

Other issues the Committee has dealt with include:

• Surrey County Council’s Community Highways Volunteering Scheme: any voluntary group of residents that wants to carry out works on or near the highway, which is Surrey’s responsibility, should either contact Surrey directly or the Parish Clerk for guidance.
• Church Road Crossing: Surrey County Councillor Mark Sugden has been instrumental in securing funding for such a crossing. Work is now taking place to determine its form and location.
• A new bench in The Parade. The Committee is discussing the best site for a new bench, which will feature seat levels slightly higher than normal to facilitate ease of use.
• Community Garden in Coverts Road. The Way Forward project came up with the idea of developing a community garden and approaches were made to The Crown Estate, the owner of two possible sites. Initial responses were positive. But with new government policies since the general election, it has become less encouraging. The Committee will continue to pursue the idea.
• Grit bins: Parish Councillor Hadleigh Moon is cleaning out the village’s grit bins, to make them easier for residents to use in a hard winter.
• Overhanging trees and shrubs: the Parish Council encourages all residents to bear in mind the needs of others for access to the full width of the pavements and to cut back overhanging trees, hedges and shrubs where they might cause obstruction or hindrance to fellow villagers.

Page 6b

SUSTAINABILITY IDEAS SHARED

As the need for people in the developed world to change their lifestyles becomes more obvious, Claygate is working out how best to play its part.

Other places in Surrey and elsewhere have established local environmental and sustainability initiatives aimed at making beneficial changes. These include:

• the Surrey Climate Commission,
• Guildford Zero,
• Oxshott Net Zero,
• Thames Ditton Vital Village,
• Molesey Clothing Exchange,
• Walton Eco Hub,
• Weybridge Repair Café,
• Oxshott Repair Café,
• Runnymede Draughtbusters (home insulation),
• Various Community Gardens and several more.

To learn about best practices and innovations, Claygate is to hold a networking event to bring together representatives from other towns and villages in Elmbridge who will share their experiences. The meeting will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday November 20 in Holy Trinity Church Hall. Everyone is welcome, especially if you are prepared to play an active role.

To assist the process, Claygate Parish Council will be offering encouragement, support and guidance to any Claygate individuals and groups who wish to set up environmental and sustainability initiatives.

For further details, email Peter Stevenson at ptrstvnsn@gmail.com.