News from the Residents' Association
Elmbridge Council Elections on 3 May
Our thanks to residents who again supported the pragmatic, hard-working and non-party-political stance of your Association and voted for two high quality candidates in Thames Ditton and Weston Green:
- Thames Ditton
KAREN RANDOLPH (RA) 1196 Elected - Belma Still (Conservative) 294
- Rebecca Darling (Liberal Democrat) 116
- Roger Hughes (Labour) 62
- Weston Green
TANNIA SHIPLEY (RA) 772 Elected - Mark Ashley-Hacker (Conservative) 433
Many tireless workers made this success possible - the manifesto deliverers, the tellers, those who put up posters and our agent, Peter Hickman. They deserve our gratitude. Elsewhere results were mixed, with the Residents Group losing two seats to the Conservative Party in Walton and Hersham, and gaining one from them in Molesey. The Council now comprises 28 Conservatives, 24 Residents and Independents (Residents Group) and 8 Liberal Democrats. At the Annual Meeting of the Council the Liberal Democrats again rejected an offer to join with the Residents in a joint administration, even though in the past we worked very successfully together, and supported the Conservatives who therefore dominate the administration though they failed to attain the absolute majority for which they were aiming in the elections.
Tribute to Edward Rowe
Edward Rowe stepped down as one of our Thames Ditton councillors in May. A former London manager of Norwich Union, past chairman of the Residents' Association, chairman of the Vera Fletcher Hall Association and a governor of Esher College, he has done an excellent job as one of our Thames Ditton councillors for seven years. Among many achievements for the community during this time, he led the successful campaign to persuade Thames Water to invest in the new pumping station and sewer work in Speer Road and expand capacity at the Esher treatment plant. He worked with the Council and local businesses to ensure the success of the Christmas Fayre through arranging street closures, insurance and other details. He was for 4 years the Council Cabinet member responsible for finance and resources - most onerous of jobs- during which time the Council was awarded "Excellent" status by the Government for its efficiency. We are delighted that he's agreed to become our Vice-President so that we can continue to benefit from his experience, wise counsel, and deadpan Irish humour.New Chairman
Libby MacIntyre, to date our unflappable Hon. Sec., has been elected as the new Chairman to succeed Martin Wilberforce, who has astutely and with great tact and charm guided Residents' Association proceedings for the past few years and will, in his new capacity as Vice-Chairman, continue to deploy his experience to our advantage. Libby, a graduate in Law, trained and worked in retail and personnel management with Marks and Spencer and is now a freelance consultant commuting to London four days a week as a specialist in change management. The Association intends to make the most of her expertise in this area. Libby and husband Andy, latterly Production Manager for the Financial Times and a keen fisherman as well as one of this magazine's stalwart distributors, have lived in the High Street for ten years. She was persuaded to join the RA in 2002 because, she says: "Although it's a hectic life and it is easier not to be involved, I felt I should do it rather than stay on the sidelines and moan about things not getting done." Libby's successor as Hon Secretary is Lorraine Sharp of Weston Green, whom we will introduce to you in a forthcoming issue.
Planning (March - May)
Following very substantial public objection and major interventions in the East Area Planning Subcommittee by our Weston Green Councillors the Planning Officer's recommendation to allow Cranstoun House to admit active drugs users to the hostel at 5 Ember Lane was rejected. We supported the Planning Officer's recommendation to refuse the application to replace the Harrow with a massive block of 14 flats, and understand that the developer's architects have been in discussion concerning a fresh application, presumably scaled down, which may be expected in the near future. In the cases of 16-18 Embercourt Road and 13 Queens Drive The developers are appealing to the Planning Inspectorate against the rejection of their plans to build, respectively, a block of six flats in a back garden development, and a block of 6 three-story terraced houses. 16-18 Embercourt Road is subject to a written submission process and Queens Drive to a public hearing. The appeal against Elmbridge Council's refusal to permit the substitution of one detached house by a pair of semi-detached houses at White Gates, 7 and 8 Giggs Hill Road, enlarging the development from four houses to five, was turned down. The Inspector's reasons included that the cramped appearance of the buildings would harm the character and appearance of the Giggs Hill Green Conservation Area. The Inspector turned down the developer's appeal to build two rows of four terraced town houses, one fronting Ember Lane and one fronting Carlton Close, after the demolition of two houses at 29-31 Ember Lane, considering that the terrace of four houses fronting Carleton Close would be harmful and out of keeping with the character and appearance of the surrounding area, cause harm to neighbours' living conditions and would lead to loss of trees on the site. In all these cases your Residents' Association councillors played a major part in the outcomes to date. Meanwhile, following many objections including a stiff letter from the Association's Planning Convener, an application to convert 29 High Street into one small office plus a block of five flats on three floors, with no parking provision, was withdrawn. A further application may be expected.
Thames Ditton Health
The Surrey Primary Care Trust (which funds and/or runs most of the NHS services which we normally use) is in dire straits. Its outturn for 2006/7 was an overspend of £16.3 million and it is striving to balance the books in the current financial year. The PCT is no longer placing any NHS patients in the four designated rehabilitation beds at Emberbrook. This is in addition to the apparent withdrawal of any inpatient respite care services and a vastly reduced number of beds available for non-acute services at any alternative community hospitals serving the larger area. Effectively this means that at present, the NHS in this area is now no longer capable of providing inpatient services to cater for those requiring short term 'step up' or 'step down' beds invariably resulting in more admissions to more expensive (and less appropriate) acute hospital beds. Residents' Association Cllr. Karen Randolph, the Chairman of the Friends of Thames Ditton Hospital (at Emberbrook) tells us that the Friends, with funds from generous contributions from residents in this area over a number of years, are providing ultrasound equipment to be available for local GPs in the MEDICS group. This will drastically cut waiting times for scans to a couple of weeks as well as being more convenient for local patients. Home of CompassionBy the time this magazine is distributed, rumbling rumours that alien development of the Home of Compassion was in the air should be allayed by the news that legal arrangements are in train for the Home to be sold to a private company, Caring Homes Ltd. They will continue to run it as a going concern to offer respite for the aged and infirm, and will be in a financial position strong enough to carry out the approved changes that will enable the Home to meet modern care standards and accommodation regulations. Lacking sufficient means despite fund-raising and donations, the existing institution was unable to put such plans into effect when Surrey CC withdrew promised capital support, and Social Services funding of patient care was insufficient to cover the real cost. The proceeds of the sale will be used to set up a charitable trust for the relief and care of the dying.
Crime
Apart from an armed robbery in Tiger Joe's car park, an attempted ram-raid of the off-licence in Thorkill Road and an altercation between youths on Watts Road that led to one of them being glassed, it has been a relatively quiet period in the area. Our PCSOs are now patrolling at night as well as during daylight hours. In March, three youths from the Longmead area were arrested for burglary following an observant resident's phone-call to police. They remain on bail awaiting trial. During the weeks prior to their arrest, there had been a spate of burglaries and petty theft in Thames Ditton that almost doubled the average reported crime in the ward. During the four weeks after the arrests, crime subsided to the 'normal' levels and reported house burglaries dropped from 16 to a more customary 3 (and less in the succeeding four weeks). In addition to the youths mentioned, there are five youths in our wards who are currently subject to ASBOs. All live in the same area. Meanwhile, following information from alert residents that pointed to drug-related activities by the riverside Kingston Grammar sports ground, half a dozen youths were caught with substantial amounts of cannabis and cautioned.