Update on Arthur's Bridge / Well Lane Junction

Since I last posted on this accident hotspot a few weeks ago there has been another accident and I received an answer to my question to Surrey's Local Committee.

In response to my question at the Local Committee I was told that the Safety Review I had asked for could only be done for new junctions. Despite the poor safety record at this junction it seems a Safety Review will not be considered. The County Council did agree to put the matter to another committee concerned with road safety. I haven't had any feedback from that meeting.

When I sought further action I was told that the County Council can't legislate for poor driving. I think this rather misses the point.

Whilst I was considering next steps to improve safety at this dangerous junction I drove right into an accident last Sunday. I was heading for Morrisons supermarket on Sunday afternoon. As I approached the top of Arthur's Bridge Road I became aware of a resident trying to pull out of his drive and another vehicle waiting to make the left turn towards Lockfield Drive. I drove around a parked car and edged into a space. It was then that I realised the traffic wasn't moving onto Lockfield Drive. In the middle of the junction, heading for a right turn onto Lockfield Drive there was a car with the driver's side badly dented. To the left of the junction was another car which I assume had hit the first car. Police were on the seen and directing traffic. Drivers coming out of Arthur's Bridge had to turn left onto Lockfield Drive.

I have seen no information about this accident since Sunday. I hope this means that no serious injury was suffered. This does pose the question as to how many non-injury accidents there may have been at the junction. I have written to the police to see if they have the answer.

Martyrs Lane recycling site is to close for redevelopment from 12 July. It will remain closed for 22 weeks. This means no local recycling site for Horsell residents until after Christmas.

Benefits of the redevelopment will be:

+ Easier, step free access to the recycling containers
+ Separate entrances for the public and HGVs to help reduce queuing
+ More parking – increasing from 20 to 45 spaces

Whilst the site is closed the alternatives are Slyfield in Guildford and Lyne, near Chertsey. Both alternative sites are a similar distance away from Horsell. Lyne is 4.5 miles away from Martyrs Lane, a total of 7 miles from the centre of Horsell village. Slyfield is 7 miles from Martrys Lane and 6 miles from Horsell Village.

In order to cope with the heaviest demand summer months the two alternative sites will stay open until 7.30pm every evening until the end of September.

The improvements sound very welcome. It is disappointing that the site has to be closed for such a long period. This redevelopment has been talked about for some time and it was originally thought that the site would be able to remain open during the work. I do hope that the redevelopment leaves to an improved system that reduces queues into and around the site. The last time the site was changed several years ago it led actually increased queues.

Horsell Way Mast Rears Its Ugly Head

Barely a month back into representing Horsell West and I came home to a letter I did not want to receive. The communication was from a company representing Vodafone. They were writing as a 'pre-consultation' on plans to share an existing phone mast in Horsell Way with 02. This would involve a larger mast, with antennae and more ground equipment.

Long-standing residents will recall the lengthy campaign fought by local people to reject Horsell Way as a mast site. There was a huge response from residents to an initial pre-application consultation, to the planning application (which was rejected by Woking Council) and to request that Vodafone’s appeal went to a public inquiry. The public case was very strongly put at public inquiry. Despite all of this the application was allowed on appeal. Now Vodafone are back and looking to add to resident' misery.

On receipt of the letter I immediately notified immediate neighbours, those involved in the previous application and Horsell Residents Association about the consultation. A local resident circulated details to those in the closest parts of High Street, including Cromar Court; Horsell Way and Nursery Close.

I have also spoken with the person from the Council who was very much involved in the previous application.

Our response points out to the mobile operators that there is an alternative site, provided by Horsell Common Preservation Society, in a location outside what is considered the 'danger zone' and urging Vodafone and 02 to use this site which can accommodate a number of operators.

I will continue to work with the Council to encourage operators to move to the new site. We must now be on the lookout for the inevitable planning application that is likely to follow this consultation. Going by previous mast appplications it is likely to be submitted in late July or in August. Operators like to wait until much of the population are away on holiday, presumably in the hope the application will not be noticed.

Blog Updates

You may have noticed a whole swathe of blog posts in the last day. I have been having intermittent problems with my wireless connection on my laptop for the last few weeks. This has meant that when I get time to use the computer it takes so long to tackle other matters such as resident emails and research for meetings I haven't been able to post blogs. I had them all written off-line but not loaded.

I am pleased to say that the problem with the connection is hopefully resolved and my blogs will immediately go online in future.

Concerns about key Horsell junction

I was very concerned to learn of a traffic accident at the junction of Arthurs’ Bridge Road / Well Lane and Lockfield Drive this week. Several people were injured when a car travelling along Lockfield Drive hit another car turning onto Lockfield Drive. The injured included a toddler who suffered serious facial injuries and was airlifted to St George’s Hospital at Tooting.

I experienced some bad driving at that junction just the other day. I came up Arthur’s Bridge to turn right onto Lockfield Drive with one car in front of me and another one behind. For some reason the driver in front of me slowed and put on his hazard lights as the lights changed. I followed slowly behind but was aware of the driver behind me getting impatient, even before the horn he sounded his horn. The car in front finally got moving and went through the pedestrian lights on Lockfield Drive just before they turned to amber. I got there just as the lights turned amber and stopped. The car behind me, which I think it is quite likely had turned right against a red light, raced up into the outer lane and straight through the pedestrian light that was by now turning red.

History

The junction of Arthurs’s Bridge Road with Well Lane and Lockfield Drive has long created local debate. Take a step back more than 10 years to 1998/9 when the closure of this junction was a big local issue. The police had decreed this was a dangerous junction and Woking, which at that time was responsible for highways in the borough, concurred and put up temporary barriers preventing right turns. At this time there were no lights controlling the junction but there were pedestrian crossing lights, as now, on Lockfield Drive.

The closure of the junction led to much protest, residents were concerned about longer journeys and particularly about having to go through the town centre at busy times to travel to the west, especially to Guildford. Others, primarily those living along Well Lane and Arthurs Bridge and roads off, thought the closure would reduce traffic down their roads, and welcomed the closure.

Despite resident’s protests Woking Council was unwilling to re-open the junction and installing traffic lights was seen as a costly solution. The temporary barriers which initially blocked the road, were made permanent and the debate continued.

Eventually funding was agreed for a light controlled junction. Further delays followed due to budgetary pressure but a light controlled junction was finally installed.

The new junction caused further issues. There were concerns about how the traffic and pedestrian lights synchronised. Parents taking their children to Goldsworth School were very worried about safety. Their concerns included the proximity of the two sets of lights and the short interchange between each phase of the lights.

Former county councillor John Doran worked with residents to review the light sequence. Residents petitioned to have the road narrowed to one lane. The light sequence was improved but no the road remained unchanged.

Moving Forward

This latest accident revives all the previous concerns. It is prescient that Surrey’s Local Committee for Woking meets next week. I have submitted a question to the meeting, requesting a safety review of the junction.

If you saw the accident please contact Surrey Police who are seeking witnesses

Budget Reaction

I don’t like the additional 2.5% on VAT. It’s pretty galling to think that a fifth of any purchase (with notable exceptions such as books, children’s clothes and cold food) is going straight to the government. Compared to an increase in tax, once we get an increase in VAT, its not likely to go down again. However apparently this level of VAT puts on a par with many of our European neighbours.

There are worrying cuts planned for the future, with talk of 25% cuts in key departments including the Home Office and Education. Only the health service and overseas aid are protected. These cuts threaten our schools and police service. Most of the costs in a school are the teachers. Could this mean a quarter fewer teachers. Maybe a reduction in teaching assistants? I am a governor at a local infant school which has been at the leading edge of high staffing levels, using teaching assistants to complement trained teachers. The teaching assistants are not used to replace teachers they are part of a team in each class. The loss of this valuable resource would have a significant impact on an ‘outstanding’ school.

My reaction to the budget led me to question what Liberal Democrats want from the coalition and how both the party and the country can gain from this form of governance? A detailed coalition agreement sets down what each party agreed to in order to form the coalition. The Liberal Democrats achieved government commitments for a referendum on a fairer voting system, taking those earning under £10,000 out of the tax system (the budget has at least made a start on this objective), a pupil premium to assist disadvantaged pupils and restoration of the link between pensions and earnings.

I can’t be totally happy with the budget. I have concerns about further cuts to come. I am reassured that with or without Liberal Democrat support the Conservatives were likely to have increased VAT. Being part of the coalition means the Liberal Democrats can get some policies through and can restrict or restrain some Conservative policies.

The end of free swimming?

It is a real disappointment that our new government has dropped the free swimming scheme that was due to run until March 2011. The scheme provided for free swimming for young and older people. My two children both benefitted from the scheme. Users had to sign up to the scheme and were issued with a card to show on each visit to the pool. Initially signing up was free of charge, but more recently a £2 charge was introduced (presumably to cover the cost of administration and the card itself). Until this scheme came in it was getting very expensive just to take two children swimming. I’m sure the actual cost can be quite prohibitive for those with bigger families. My older daughter can now head to the pool by herself and a free swim was a great way of keeping her occupied and exercised at weekends and in the holidays. She loves swimming and it was one more way of keeping her away from the computer.

I have to confess to having less knowledge of how useful the scheme was for older people but I can imagine it was of great benefit to those on a fixed income. One less thing to pay for is always welcome.

I’m particularly unhappy that the scheme is set to end in July, just as the school holidays begin. Several years ago, during a brief period of Lib Dem control of Woking Council, we were keen to provide free swimming, although just for school holiday periods. The scheme was trialled over an Easter holiday and was popular. Local police figures showed a drop in anti-social behaviour during that holiday period, Hardly conclusive I know but I do firmly believe that offering young people some positive activity to fill their time with, that is accessible to all, can play a part in reducing less desirable behaviour.

I note that Liberal Democrats in Three Rivers, Hertfordshire are keeping the free swimming scheme running, at least to the end of the school holidays. Wouldn’t it be great if Woking Council could do the same?

Fox Concerns

I was concerned to hear about the presumed fox attack on twin baby sisters in North London recently. We have a large fox population in Horsell. I frequently see foxes running into the woods near my home and late at night or early in the morning I see foxes all over the village.

A few years ago I was asked about the fox population by residents of Waldens Park Road. They had seen a number of foxes around and were concerned about the safety of their children. I contacted Woking Council and they provided a very useful booklet about foxes which I passed on to the residents and posted on my Window on Woking site. You can find the booklet here http://www.woking.gov.uk/planning/envhealthservice/pest/otherprotectedspeciesandfoxes/urbanfox

Fast forward to 2010 and I have been contacted by a concerned resident, worried about foxes living vey near to her home, in the light of the attacks on the baby twins. I have passed on the booklet details but I have also written to Woking Council asking what additional measures they are proposing in the light of the weekend’s events and actions being considered by both London boroughs and the Mayor of London.

Golden Farewell to Humfrey

I see our former MP Humfrey Malins has received a ‘resettlement grant’ of £54,000 after standing down as an MP at the general election.

I can understand that it is appropriate to pay a resettlement grant to those MPs who lose their seats at an election. It would seem particularly necessary for those who may have moved to, or lived in their constituency and who may now need to relocate in order to find alternative employment. This does not apply to Mr Malins. He never took it upon himself to live among the people he represented here in Woking and he stood down by choice. I believe he continued his ‘other job’ as a crown court recorder throughout his parliamentary career. On this basis I fail to understand why he should receive this huge amount of money. One assumes he his life will continue as before, he’ll just be doing one less job.

Maybe Humfrey would like to make a parting gift to Woking from his windfall – a donation to the local hospice would be a popular choice. Alternatively he could give the £50,000 to George Osborne to help plug the hole in the country’s finances.

Next steps

So, after all the hard work of the campaign, I am delighted to be Horsell West's new representative on Woking Borough Council. Now the real work starts ...

There are three main strands that I will focus on in the coming weeks

Getting Informed
I need to be up to data on current Council issues, my role as a councillor and the issues that my predecessor (Richard Sanderson) has been dealing with in Horsell. I was a councillor between 2004 and 2008 so this gives me some advantage over a 'virgin' councillor but I am sure I still have much to learn over the coming weeks and months. We have an informal meeting of Lib Dem councillors this weekend, I am attending an induction for all new councillors early next week and Richard and I will get together for a briefing session later in the week.

Finding my role on the Council
All councillors attend full council meetings and need to work with the rest of the group to decide which committees they should sit on. For the group running the Council several members need to serve on the Executive which runs the Council and sets policy direction. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee casts a critical eye over Council decisions. Then there are two essential committees with regulatory powers - Planning and Licensing. Planning is the committee that residents are most likely to have encountered. Planning applications go before the committee for everything from a household extension to a major new development. Licensing looks after all licensed premises, pubs and bars, late night opening of restaurants and cafes. Finally the Standards Committee is responsible for ensuring high standards of conduct among councillors and looks at any legislation involving standards, as they relate to the borough council and the Appeals committee deals with appeals on homelessness.

I need to find my role, one that will best represent Horsell and use my existing knowledge and experience. I was Vice-Chair of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee (there used to be several) and Chair of Licensing Committee during my previous time on the Council. However, planning matters are important and I should maybe consider this committee. Richard Sanderson was on the committte in the past.

Listening to residents and setting priorities
The previous two strands are important and necessary, but most important of all is taking forward your priorities. I would like to work with the County Council to improve road safety. I will push again for real, effective traffic calming in Brewery Road; measure to slow traffc in South Road, tackling parking in the village centre, dealing with commuter parking. I will follow closely plans for a WWF HQ on Brewery Road car park and raise resident's serious concerns. I'd like to see more youth provision in the village.

But what about you? What are your priorities? What do you think I should be doing in the coming weeks and months. Please comment on here or send me an email, drop me a line or telephone. All my details are available from the Council but for now use my personal email annmarie.barker@gmail.com as it will take a while for me to be set up on council systems.

Once I have all your ideas I will post on here, letting you know what I will be working on, in the short, medium and long term. I will then report back on progress. I look foward to hearing from you.

Elected - Thank you very much everybody

I was honoured and delighted to be elected the new councillor for Horsell West in the early hours of Friday morning. As ever Horsell was very close between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Just 47 votes separated me from the Conservative candidate. UKIP came in a whisker ahead of Labour. The final results was

Ann-Marie Barker 1852
Conservative 1805
UKIP 245
Labour 217

Thank you to everybody for all your votes. Of course the General Election pushed up the turnout but I do feel very humbled that more than 1800 Horsell residents gave me their support.

A huge thank you to my team, particularly Richard Sanderson and his wife Sarah. Richard has represented Horsell as a councillor for more than a quarter of a century and Sarah has been behind him all the way. I hope I can carry on Richard's good work over the coming four years. I wish Richard well in his 'retirement' . Big thanks are also due to John Doran, former Horsell county councillor, who has been a stalwart of Horsell campaigns over a number of years. Rob Payne, as ever, did a wonderful job getting our poster boards up, and promptly down again. Margot and John Craig were always there to lend a hand. Many others played their part, helping us to deliver literature, canvass and prepare material. Thank you to everybody. It couldn't have been done without you.

Would you vote Labservative?

As support for the Lib Dems increases in this election it is interesting to see the reaction of the two old parties "Labservative".

Here in Woking the Tory and Labour candidates have been agreeing with each other at the hustings. They agree to such an extent that the Conservatives quoted the Labour candidate, extensively, in a recent piece of literature.

I heard recently of a hustings in Hampshire, where, when asked which party they would support in a hung parliament the Labservative candidates said each other.

These two old parties really seem to be so concerned to preserve the old system, that's the one where they take it in turns to run the country and Lib Dems and other smaller parties get a few seats. Labservatives know it may be a few elections to wait, but eventually it will come around to their turn again. Neither of the old parties wants the Lib Dems to upset their cosy life.

May Fair on Wheatsheaf Common

Enjoyed a lovely afternoon out at Horsell Scouts and Guides May Fair today. Well, it was lovely when the sun was shining. When the clouds came over, an icy wind blew and it was seriously freezing out there.

As ever the scouts and guides put on a great show, from tug of war and it's a knockout for the children, through the brilliant Karen Clarke dancers, birds of prey, martial arts and a fire brigade rescue demonstration. My younger daughter was fascinated by the man being rescued from a car by the fire brigade. She also loved the big slide and mini-waltzers.

We walked around the fair with Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Rosie Sharpley who had some interesting chats with our Horsell neighbourhood police officer, the local fire brigade and local residents.

Horsell Residents signed up some new members, there was much interest in Horsell Common Preservation Society and I was pleased to see they now have postcards of the Pegasus sculpture on Broomhall Common.

A hot topic of conversation for me was what class our children would be in when they start at Horsell Village this September. Didn't find anyone else who'll be in the same class but did learn about somebody we know from a local toddler group.

Judge a man by the company he keeps ....?

Is there any truth in this old saying?

It certainly rang alarm bells for me when I saw that the Tory Euro MP who called the NHS "a 60 year mistake" had been in Woking supporting the Tory candidate.

It seems to run counter to the Tory candidate's claims to support the NHS.

In election literature our 'local' Tory talks about his role on the Surrey Health Scrutiny Committee. He says that he has been working to secure the future of Woking Community Hospital. Sounds good doesn't it? Rather a shame then, that when he had an opportunity to vote against the loss of beds at Cranleigh Community Hospital (in his county council division), he sat on his hands. Only one person on the committee voted to save beds at Cranleigh Community Hospital - Rosie Sharpley, Liberal Democrat candidate for Woking.

Parking Issues

Lots of road issues tonight, mainly on the subject of parking and cars driving too fast. This is in an area on the edge of current parking restrictions in Horsell. Whilst I don't like the idea of Horsell becoming one giant Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) something has to be done in certain roads.

Unlike our Conservative colleagues, who go ahead and make changes to the areas without asking or even telling residents, we Lib Dems like to consult first. Time to get out in the next few weeks and ask residents if they would like some parking restrictions. The option for a 9.30am to 11.30am parking restriction seems to work well for some roads. It removes all day commuter parking.

Residents may remember the dreadful situation in Arthur's Bridge Road a few years ago. Commuters and LA Fitness users parked all along the road and on every junction. Visibility for drivers, cyclists and pedstrians was terrible. The local Lib Dem team consulted residents on appropriate restrictions, including double yellow lines on junctions. We can all travel along and across the road now without fear.

Conservative Concerns

I hear news that the Conservatives in Woking are not happy with Lib Dem literature. A key issue for them seems to be us pointing out that Woking was the third choice for their candidate. It's absolutely true. He tried for Ann Widdecombe's old seat in Maidstone back in January 2008, and failed. Then he went up to Lancashire, trying for another safe seat, later the same year. He failed. Finally he settled on Woking in October last year and became parliamentary candidate. I make that three tries for a seat.

He had of course stood a number of years ago in a seat in Oldham, the area where he grew up. He lost. Similarly the Lib Dem candidate for Woking, and local Woking resident, Rosie Sharpley stood in another Surrey seat, Horsham in 2005. Rosie went to school in Horsham so when the Lib Dem candidate for that seat stood down, Rosie filled the gap, late in the day. She was up against Francis Maude, a senior Tory with a large majority. Rosie knew she couldn't win but flew the Lib Dem flag and cut her parliamentary teeth. In 2006 Rosie put her name forward for Woking Constituency and was selected as parliamentary candidate.

Just a quick update on previous posts today

- Surrey County Council has still not deigned to reply to my concerns about the new traffic posts on Brewery Road

- There seems to have been no progress on potholes. A few weeks ago there were council contractors out and about repairing holes but I haven't seen any for a while now. I cycled down Wilson Way (runs from High Street to Pares Close, St Andrews School and several smaller roads) and counted 36 potholes!!!

Mad March Hares

Hot on the heels of the posts on Brewery Road (on which I am still awaiting a response from Surrey) I hear news of further failures of consultation from our beloved County Council.

Over in Brookwood a new traffic island, dubbed "Fishwick Island" by local residents, in reference to a senior county council officer, like the Brewery Road posts appeared in late March. The island is meant to help pedestrians and cyclists cross the A322 Bagshot Road, in the run up to Brookwood Crossroads. It is located opposite the Total petrol station and is on a direct route betwen two parts of the canal bank. Residents were surprised to see the island appear close to an existing combined pedestrian and cycle crossing. According to local residents the crossing affects cars wanting to make a right turn at the crossroads and has led to some motorists driving around the island (potentially against on-coming traffic).

The island appeared around 20 March and residents knew nothing until it was in place. See the website set up by residents here.

A further piece of County Council folly is detailed on the getsurrey website. Surrey has had to take out a cycle lane in Leatherhead, which cost 70K to install. The cycle lane was too narrow and featured numerous obstructions. In an attempt to widen the path Surrey used paint that made the path slippery when wet.

Still no response on those posts

Well, surprise, surprise, Surrey County Council have still not bothered to reply to my emails about the posts erected on Brewery Road. They are obviously holding out to their 20 day reply time.

I have yet to find anybody who thinks the posts serve any useful purpose . Taking a trip along Brewery Road you can now watch pedestrians dancing and weaving to find a way past each other on the new narrowed path.

Three weeks to election day ...

We are now over a week in to the election campaign proper and the pace is really hotting up. I am finding that people on the doorstep have a much clearer idea of which way they are going to vote, although there are the inevitable "undecided" and those who may not vote at all because of the expenses scandal and behaviour of some MPs.

There is a great deal of support for Vince Cable, so many people tell me he is the only one talking sense on the economy. Recognition of Rosie is very high and people are keen to vote for a local candidate who has worked for our area for so many years.