How should Woking Borough be governed in future?

Current Woking Borough Wards

Every fifteen years or so the boundaries of local government are reviewed by an independent body the Boundary Commission.  This happens at different times for each authority.  Surrey boundaries were reviewed in the last few years and county councillors were elected on the new boundaries in May this year.  It is now the turn of Woking borough to review its boundaries.

Reviewing boundaries is a lengthy process.  Councillors were advised that the review would happen earlier this year.  Woking Council will decide by the end of July how many councillors it will need in future and whether it wishes to continue electing them by thirds (a third of the council is up for election in each of three years) or in "all-up" elections that happen only every four years.

There is a consultation here that asks for your views on this initial part of the boundary review.  Responses are required by 19 July.

Over August the Boundary Commission will look at what Woking has submitted and we will know the future number of councillors and frequency of elections by September.

Then the fun starts ....

From September onwards Woking has to look at how wards (the areas within which councillors are elected) are constituted.  There will be a range of issues to consider including appropriate population size - so each councillor represents roughly the same number of residents; communities and inevitably political parties will have an eye to to areas that are "winnable" for them.

The Council will work on ward boundaries over the remainder of 2013 and then report to the Boundary Commission.  The Commission will consult on the initial proposals, take any responses and then consult again if there is any revision in the proposals.  All this will run through to 2014.  An order for the new Woking boundaries will be set before parliament in 2015 and the first elections on the new boundaries will be in 2016 - 3 years after the process started.

I am on the boundary working group at the Council and am looking forward to having a part to play in this process.  The working group will take account of consultations with the public and be talking to local interests on how to best represent our area in future.

Arthur's Bridge Safety works only solves half the problem

Work has taken place at the Arthur's Bridge / Lockfield Drive road junction as anticipated in my blog post of a few weeks ago. 

It is not quite as I was expecting.

The far side of Lockfield Drive from Horsell, heading towards Harelands Roundabout has been improved. The run up to the traffic lights is now a single clear lane.  All good. But ...

What about the road in the other direction? To my mind this is where much of the problem lies.  Vehicles coming from Harelands Roundabout race to the lights in the right hand lane.  Cars leaving Arthur's Bridge turn out and right as the lights are changing.  On several occasions this has led to collisions.  

Why has Surrey gone to so much effort to only fix half of the problem?

I am trying to find out.

Looking forward to going on safari

Lucy enjoying the 2012 Garden Safari

June is the safari season in Horsell.  Yes, that's right, the village of Horsell hosts its 11th annual Garden Safari on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June.  

There won't be too many big beasts prowling the streets but there will be 25 gardens to visit over the two days.  

Opening hours and tickets

Gardens are open 11am to 5pm on Saturday and 12pm to 5pm on Sunday.  Buy tickets from Spar, Needle and Thread or Lisa Jones hairdressers in Horsell High Street or at The Lightbox.  Tickets cost £7 per adult (children go free) and include a map of the gardens and details of extras available at each location such as refreshments or plant sales.

The Safari is always a great event with new and old gardens to see, some delicious cakes and even wildlife (usually nothing more vicious than chickens).

Visitors drive, cycle or walk around and you can go to as many or as few gardens as you wish.

Pares Woodland Garden

A special feature of this year's Garden Safari will be the opening of Pares Woodland Garden.  I've blogged here on how the vision of one man and the hard work of the 2nd Thursday club transformed an overgrown piece of land behind the High Street into an inviting woodland garden.  Now you can come and see the finished project for yourself.  Grand opening Saturday 15 June at 10.30 and then open as for the rest of the Safari over the weekend.

Supporting community facilities

Funds raised from the Garden Safari go towards the upkeep of the Village Hall and in recent years has contributed to both new flooring and a new boiler.

Any Questions for a Friday Evening

St John's Church, West Byfleet where
Any Questions was recorded 24/5/13

I had an enjoyable Friday evening as an audience member for Any Questions.  For those unfamiliar with the programme it is a Radio 4 current affairs panel discussion, similar to Question Time on television.  

The Location

This week's edition was recorded at St John's Church in West Byfleet.  I've driven past St John's church many times on my way through West Byfleet.  It is located just past Waitrose, at the traffic light intersection, an area I learnt that was once known as Byfleet corner.

I am not a church goer but I am always interested in, and appreciative of the architecture of ecclesiastical buildings.  St John's is a large church, and we were told in the introduction to the evening that it has a growing congregation.  The church has a huge wooden vaulted barrel roof and walls of Doulting stone. Unusually there is just one stained glass window in the church.  The church celebrated its centenary last year, having been designed by Caroe, a leading light in the Arts and Crafts movement and built by local builders Tarrant in 1912 at a cost of £9,908.  The organ came a year later and cost a massive £1,000.

I digress, but we did spend quite a while sitting around waiting for the recording to start so I had time to take all this in and read the helpfully provided leaflet about St John's.

Any Questions

The evening proper began with a 'warm-up' from a BBC producer, currently with Newsnight but about to move to the Today programme.  He regaled us with some amusing stories and there was an opportunity to ask questions about BBC news.

We had all been invited to submit questions and I put in a few before taking my seat for the evening.  It was to no avail.  Ten questions were selected and the questioners were invited to take seats on the front row - no roving microphone at this recording.  The last question chosen was told it was to be asked first, for the dry run, to check out microphones and sound levels.

Finally to the guests.  

Trevor Kavanagh, former political editor and now Associate Editor of the Sun - I didn't agree with him once all evening.  

Maria Miller, Conservative MP for Basingstoke and Minister for Culture - totally disagree with her on her recent pronouncements on arts making an economic case (typical Tory who knows price of everything and value of nothing) but she was good in defence of government policy on equal marriage.  Less good on taxation where she seemed a little lost.

Sadiq Khan, Labour MP Tooting for and Shadow Lord Chancellor was the only Muslim to have attended Cabinet meetings when he did so in the latter days of the last government.  I had heard him before on television and found him an atypical Labour minister but he is an engaging speaker with a sense of humour and came across well.

Brendan O'Neill is rather an enigma.  He edits a magazine called spiked, writes for the Big Issue and blogs for The Telegraph.  He had some pretty off the wall views on most issues discussed in the evening but I did agree with him when he called Maria Miller a philistine for her view on funding the arts.

I was of course disappointed that there was no Liberal Democrat on the panel.

And the questions.  Predictably we started with the dreadful events in Woolwich on Wednesday.  One questioner asked if the Muslim community could do more to prevent terrorism and another whether governmnet had over-reacted to the incident.  We covered tax avoidance by successful businesses, equal marriage, funding of the arts and "swivel-eyed" loons.

It was an interesting evening and good to be part of something live, with real people in front of you answering questions rather than a television picture or a voice on the radio.

Finally safety works on Arthur's Bridge / Well Lane?

Signs displayed on Well Lane in Horsell suggest that long promised safety work on the junction of Well Lane / Arthur's Bridge and Lockfield Drive may finally be about to happen.

I blogged back in October that this work was imminent.  Despite Surrey County Council announcing the work it didn't happen at that time. No idea why.

Then, Surrey, with their usual forethought, suggested doing the work in January - at the same time as the closure of Triggs Lane.  It was politely suggested this wasn't a good idea.

Finally, I hope, work will start on 22 May.  That will be almost 3 years since I wrote on my blog summarising the issue and highlighting concerns that had already been made many times.

The junction will be closed whilst the work is done so it will be an inconvenience for some days.  i hope it will be worth it for a safer junction in future.

Getting on your bike in Woking

Lots of people get on their bikes on Woking

Figures released recently by the Department of Transport show that 23% of Woking residents get on their bike at least once a month.  This is above the average for both Surrey (20%) and nationally (15%).

Surrey County Council is now offering local companies funding to provide cycle parking and an agreement to match fund any money raised for changing facilities such as showers and lockers at the workplace.

All good stuff but a few road improvements wouldn't go amiss.  I'm still waiting for a re-paint of the white lines that denote a cycle lane that isn't meant to be a cycle lane on Brewery Road in Horsell

Taking the Lead

Cllr.Ann-Marie Barker and Cllr. Will Forster
 Leader & Deputy of Woking Council Lib Dems

I am delighted to have been elected as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Woking Borough Council.  I will now lead the 15 strong group for the next year.  My Deputy is Will Forster who I know will provide great support throughout the year.

I have worked with Will and other colleagues to put together the team which will provide clear and constructive opposition to our local Conservative run Council.

We will not oppose merely for the sake of it but we will scrutinise council decisions and provide an alternative to the Conservative view.

My first task this week is to propose my colleague Cllr. Anne Roberts as the next Mayor of Woking.

No county seat but still working for you as a borough councillor

No county seat but borough role continues ...

I was unsuccessful in my efforts to get elected to Surrey County Council this week.  The Conservative candidate won the Goldsworth East and Horsell Village division by just 94 votes.

I won't be representing the area on the county council but my work as borough councillor for Horsell West continues.  I will be up for election again next year when my borough seat comes due.

Thank you very much to everyone who gave me their support.  Sorry that we did not make it this year.

Special thanks that to those who made a direct contribution to the election.  Everyone who helped to speak to the electorate, deliver leaflets or who collected voters numbers on polling day is much appreciated.

Goldsworth East and Horsell Village result

Conservative                    1343  36%
Lib Dem Ann-Marie Barker  1249  34%
UKIP                                 681  18%
Labour                              441  12%

Turnout 33%

Two out of three ain't bad (but it would be nice to do better)

I've been really pleased in the last week to have helped local residents to solve two niggling problems.

Overhanging trees caused problems

The first was an issue of highway trees which overhang a resident's garden.  When I spoke to the resident a few weeks ago they told me they had tried, unsuccessfully, in the past to get Surrey to cut the trees back but they had not received a response from anybody.  I sent the details off to Surrey to see if anything could be done.  I was delighted to hear back last week that the county agrees the trees need to be cut back and the work will be done in the next few months.

Drains flooded on unadopted road

The second issue was flooding drains on an unadopted road.  I find the concept of unadopted roads puzzling. We don't have many in Horsell but they are quite common on newer estates.  In this case it meant that I couldn't ask Surrey to come and clear the drains because they don't cover that piece of road.  I did however get Thames Water to do the job and it was completed last week.

Brewery Road flooding
still not resolved

I also finally got action on a third issue but sadly it was not solved. This is the flooding on Brewery Road which I summarised the saga of last week.  The county team came out and cleared the drains (which has helped to some extent) but were not able to solve all of the flooding.  As I had suspected there is more than one issue here.  The drains was a part of it.  The very helpful man from highways agreed "the camber" of the road may be part of the issue.  This appears to confirm my theory that much of the problem dates from when the road was resurfaced last year.

The issue has now been passed to the "wet spots" team but highways couldn't give me a timescale for when they would be able to tackle the flooding.

So two out of three isn't bad but it would be nice to do better and get the third resolved as well.

Goldsworth Community Event Had a Big Pull

Community Event at Goldsworth Had a Big Pull

Spent a lovely few hours this afternoon at the Goldsworth Park Big Pull.  This fantastic community event was organised by the Goldsworth Police Team and supported by Goldsworth Park Community Assocation, Surrey Fire and Rescue, Woking Council and Waitrose.

The centre-piece of the event was a competition to pull a police van around Goldsworth Park lake.  The Waitrose team triumphed with Woking Council staff the runners up.  The much fancied firefighters team came in last (but were two men down on the day).

It was great to see all the Lib Dem councillors for Goldsworth and Horsell taking part in the day, including Amanda and Denzil Coulson with their new baby daughter, Bryan Cross, Ian Eastwood on the GPCA stall and yours truly of course.

Children were well catered for with a bouncy castle, inflatable slide, obstacle course, drawing and visits from Peppa Pig and and elephant.  The police offered the opportunity to sit on a police bike and to create a bookmark with your own fingerprint.

Adults could pick up safety tips on burglary prevention, avoiding fire and getting bicycles security marked.

There was an ice-cream van, cakes from Waitrose and burgers and sausages on sale.

The sunny weather added to the occasion and everyone appeared to have a wonderful time.

The Day Two Cranes Met

Saturday was the day two cranes met as the huge crane left the WWF building site on Brewery Road in Horsell.  A section of the road from Chobham Road to the beginning of Horsell Moor was closed all day whilst another crane lifted out the site crane.

Wilmott Dixon had leafletted some nearby residents but it seemed a number were not aware of the road closure as they turned along Brewery Road towards the closure.

Signage on the roundabout at the junction with Arthur's Bridge and Church Hill said "Road Ahead Closed" but didn't make it clear which road was closed or where it was closed.

The only advance notice on the road was A4 notices on lamp posts which said the road would be closed on the weekend of 6/7 April!  When we closed the High Street for Jubilee celebrations last year it was a requirement to display advance notice of the road closure.  That certainly didn't happen with this closure.  Surrey Highways did not have any details of the closure on their website.

It was after 8pm when the workers packed up on Saturday night.  I was told that it was hoped to complete all the work on Saturday (but the road closure does cover Sunday as well) but last time I looked some of the equipment was still on the road.  Hopefully this will be cleared early on Sunday and the road re-opened.

Road Closure as Crane Leaves WWF site

Brewery Road will be closed this Saturday (20 April) as the crane is removed from the WWF building site.  The removal of the huge crane means that Brewery Road needs to be closed from 7am to 6pm on Saturday.  The road will be closed from Chobham Road to the first turning into Horsell Moor.

Vehicles are diverted via the Arthur's Bridge roundabout or Well Lane onto Lockfield Drive.  Coming into Horsell this will require a u-turn on the Harelands roundabout.

Pedestrians will need to travel to and from Chobham Road and the town centre via the towpath.  Although there will be step free access from the new Bedser Bridge to the towpath when the WWF HQ is complete at the moment there are several steps up to the bridge.  On Saturday anyone in a wheelchair, mobility scooter or with a buggy is likely to have to go along the towpath to Chobham Road (just when you thought the diversions were over).

Wilmott Dixon have the facility to close the road on Sunday as well but hope to complete all the removal on Saturday unless there are very windy conditions.

I have had great difficulty getting information about the timing and scale of this road closure.  I was originally consulted as a borough councillor about a closure that was planned for two weekends ago.  I heard nothing more until a county colleague forwarded me a Travel Alert about a closure this coming weekend.  As a close neighbour of the building site I had a note through the door from Wilmott Dixon last week but residents of Horsell Moor tell me they have seen nothing.  Notices went up on lamp posts in Brewery Road over the weekend but they refer to a closure on 6/7 April.  They fail to make it clear that the whole road will be closed.

It took phone calls to Surrey's call centre (member of staff very helpful but had no information), the Wilmott Dixon site manager and the provider of the crane removal equipment to get answers.

Lower Bedser Bridge opening seals residents' victory

The long wait is finally over.  Almost a year since the old bridge over the Basingstoke Canal in Horsell closed (23 April 2012) the Bedser Bridge is open.  

There was general delight among residents of Horsell as a lower bridge that fits its environment was opened.  "This seals the residents' victory won when 2000 people responded to a consultation on the bridge" said Cllr. Ann-Marie Barker.

Initial reactions to news the bridge had opened:

Cllr Ann-Marie Barker is delighted the lower bridge
that fits its environment is finally open over the canal

"That shortens my walk to the station in the morning"

"It looks impressive"

"Woo"

"That's good"

Waiting for the opening

We were promised our new bridge in "early 2013" and indeed i had heard it was hoped to complete the work by late 2012.  January came and went and there was no sign of the new bridge or any updated information.  I chased up the opening date with Woking Council but their answer to me and residents who enquired was seemingly stuck in the groove of "early 2013".

In late March I heard the bridge was likely to open soon after Easter, then checks called for a few corrections and the opening was going to be a week or so ago. Finally the magic date of Monday 15 April emerged.  I updated residents of this possibility at the Residents Association AGM last Friday and was promptly chastised by a Conservative councillor for informing people that the opening of the bridge was imminent.

History of the Bedser Bridge

The opening of the Bedser Bridge seals a series of events that began back in September 2011.  As I blogged at the time I had a shock when I returned from holiday in early September and settled down to read my latest Council papers.  For the first time I saw a visual of the bridge planned to cross the canal.  It was high up in the air, 5 feet higher than the old bridge; access was via a very long ramp that ran most of the length of the car park site or many stairs and it looked like a motorway bridge.  

I set about gathering the views of others across Horsell and beyond.  There was general dissatisfaction and a petition was set up to ask the Council to think again.  Under the weight of dissent the Conservative run Council gave way and held a consultation on changing the bridge design.  Over 2000 responses later they agreed to get the bridge redesigned.  My blog post on this victory for residents was posted in December 2011.

Shock at Conservatives

I was rather shocked at the sheer brass neck of our local Conservatives when I saw their party website today.  They give a very partial view of the history of this bridge.  I've picked out a few choice lines:

"... Horsell councillors Beryl Hunwicks and Tony Branagan were among the first people to get a look at the new bridge ..."

Hardly surprising as no doubt they were told in advance exactly when the bridge would be open.  A service not afforded to opposition councillors or the general public   I got a call from a resident to tell me the bridge was open at 12.45 on Monday.  I got a press release from the Council 4 hours later!

"The bridge has also been designed to be free of steps, as specified by a motion made to Woking Borough Council by Conservative leader John Kingsbury last year."

Yes that motion was proposed by the Leader but only after I had made the public aware of what was being proposed and concerns were raised.  Our local Conservative councillors also seem to have missed the point that, until the WWF HQ is complete you can only get from the bridge to the towpath by means of several steps.

"I know that not everyone believed it would be open in early spring as we said ..."

No we expected it to be open "early in 2013" as you said and the public has been requesting updated information since the beginning of the year.  We were told the work would take 9 months or 40 weeks and it has been just a week short of 12 months.  Hardly on time.

But, the bridge is there and the long walk around is over.  Let's celebrate.

Trying to Tackle Flooding

As the rain set in yet again on Saturday (what happened to that sunny weather that was forecast?)  my mind turned to the floods on local roads that would inevitably follow the precipitation. 

Flooding on Brewery Road affects
the pedestrian crossing

Upper most in my mind was the flooding on Brewery Road.  This is a key walking and cycling route into the town centre from Horsell and affects a pedestrian crossing.

I have been asking for action on this, and other areas of flooding, since the rain set in after the "drought" (remember the hosepipe ban?) early last summer.  Initially I reported the flooding to the county council but when nothing happened I started asking questions at Surrey's Local Committee of county and borough councillors from Woking.

In addition to floods on Brewery Road I identified flooding on Arthur's Bridge Road, Church Hill, the Brewery Road exit from the roundabout at Church Hill / Arthur's Bridge and at crossings over Victoria Way.

I have put questions to the last 3 Local Committees.  Within my questions I have raised the theory that much flooding seems to have happened after roads have been resurfaced.  This possibility has been rejected by county officers.

Pedestrians and cyclists run
gauntlet of a shower from
thoughtless motorists

As a result of my questioning 

• There has been progress on Arthur's Bridge where clearing the drains appears to have solved the problem.  
• I am told the flooding on Church Hill and at the roundabout is due to a drain problem which has been passed to Thames Water to remedy.  
• The County denies the crossings of Victoria Way have a flood issue.  
• The flooding on Brewery Road remains unresolved.  The latest response I received, back in March, was that investigations are continuing.  Meanwhile pedestrians and cyclists continue to run the gauntlet of safely passing the puddles before getting a free shower courtesy of a thoughtless motorist.

I set out below the questions I have asked by date.  

My attempts to get local flooding fixed - Questions asked to the Woking Local Committee

September 2012

There are a number of roads in my area that suffer from notable flooding after heavy rain.  This can be caused by drains blocking but in recent times seems to be an after effect of resurfacing works.  I have raised this issue with officers and I believe some investigative work has been done but I would like an update on

- when flooding on Brewery Road and Arthur's Bridge Road is expected to be remedied

- whether there are issues with the contractor resurfacing roads and flooding after resurfacing has been noted in other areas, and, if so what is being done to put this right in future

December 2012

I asked a question about flooding at the last Local Committee but don't believe the matter was fully addressed.  Improvement has been seen on Arthur's Bridge Road because I believe this was a drain clearance issue but in the last couple of months I have noticed that there are several roads which have been resurfaced or re-laid as part of road improvements in recent years that now have large puddles when it rains heavily.  Locations are:

- the lower part of Church Hill where the pavement was widened and dropped kerbs added several years ago

- the junction of Brewery Road with the Arthur's Bridge Road roundabout which was created in the last few years

- Brewery Road outside the entrance to the WWF building site (this has improved a little I think from drain clearance) but there is still a large puddle.  This part of Brewery Road was resurfaced earlier this year and the problem has been there since that time

- the pedestrian crossings over Chobham Road and then Victoria Way into Woking town centre

- the pedestrian crossing over Victoria Way by the Lightbox into Woking Town Centre

Would you agree that there does appear to be a problem when Surrey Highways contractors resurface or create new road structures?

What will be done to remove this puddling in the short term?

What can change in future so that these problems do not continue?

March 2013

Could Highways please tell me what action has been taken in response to my question to the previous local committee three months ago in respect of 'puddling' problems at the following locations:

- the lower part of Church Hill, Horsell

- the junction of Brewery Road with the Arthur's Bridge Road roundabout, Horsell

- Brewery Road, Horsell  outside the entrance to the WWF building site

- the pedestrian crossings over Chobham Road and then Victoria Way into Woking town centre

- the pedestrian crossing over Victoria Way by the Lightbox into Woking Town Centre

Good news for heritage in Woking

There was good news for heritage in Woking when Woking Palace recently secured Heritage Lottery Funding  The £306,000 achieved will allow for extra digs at the site in Old Woking, an exhbition at the Lightbox and educational work.

I have enjoyed taking part in two digs at the Palace which has connections to both Henry VII and VIII and Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII)  On my day at last year's dig I was pleased to see some young people visiting and to hear that local schools had been invited to take part in the dig.  Bringing history, especially local history to life in this way adds so much to classroom work.

To Surrey and beyond ...

After being a Woking borough councillor representing Horsell for 7 years I am taking a big step and putting myself forward as a candidate for Surrey County Council.  Elections take place on Thursday 2 May.

County 'divisions' are larger than borough 'wards' so I will be going beyond my current area of Horsell West and looking to become county councillor for the Goldsworth East and Horsell Village division.  This is an area that starts where Chobham Road meets Brewery Road. It runs through Horsell, taking in side roads along Church Hill and the High Street and up to the Cricketers and Horsell Birch.  Claydon Road (opposite Squires garden nursery), Carthouse Lane and two bits of roads in Chobham are outlying parts of the area. Heading up Bullbeggars the Goldsworth East patch begins on Sythwood, taking in the Lakeview estate and roads around Waitrose and the central area of Goldsworth Park.  It also covers Goldsworth Road, roads on the Goldsworth side of St John's Road and parts of the town centre.  All in all a diverse area.

Surrey has re-drawn its boundaries this year so the division for which I am standing is partly represented by two county councillors at the moment, neither of whom is standing for this seat.

Over my time as a borough councillor I have increasingly been asked about matters relating to Surrey Council.  Residents want to raise concerns about roads (especially potholes), traffic problems, social services and education and often come to me as their borough councillor.  It seemed a logical step to seek to formally take on these responsibilities - if this is the will of the electorate.

Horsell Moor Resurfacing Defies Logic

On Sunday I took a look at the resurfacing work on Horsell Moor. Signs went up a week or so ago advising residents and other users of the road that it would be closed overnight on a couple of days over the last week.

I was pleased to hear that this road was to be resurfaced because the work was much needed.  There are potholes and damaged road surface all along the road.  However I was a bit puzzled because I had also heard at a county council meeting that Horsell Moor was on a standby list for resurfacing.

Part of Horsell Moor is now resurfaced

On further investigation I came to understand that the main part of Horsell Moor would be resurfaced but the section from Brewery Road to 1A Horsell Moor was not being done at the same time.

The Dividing Line
Resurfacing only part of Horsell Moor

This seemed totally illogical but imagine my shock when I realised that only the section of Horsell Moor from near the children's playground to Arthurs's Bridge Road and the part of the road outside the cricket club and children's nursery entrance has been resurfaced.  This leaves the main residential section of the road and the two other entrances from Brewery Road untouched.

Where is the logic in resurfacing just part of a road when the whole of the road is quite clearly in need of this treatment.

What is the financial logic in getting all the equipment to site, having it delivered on huge low loaders, bringing all the workmen to the site just for one small section of road.

Potholed road left untouched on Horsell Moor

On top of this I am told by residents that notices they received about the works implied that the whole road was to be resurfaced.  I have also heard that councillors were aware only part of the road was to be done.  Well maybe the county councillor is aware but I was never even told the road was to be resurfaced, despite receiving general public notifications about road works.  I learnt from being told by residents and noticing the signage on the road.

More time to pay Council Tax

Woking Council has always collected Council Tax for Woking, Surrey and our police and fire services in 10 instalments. There is one advantage of this to residents.  For two months of the year there is no Council Tax to pay.  The advantage to the Council is that all the money is collected earlier in the year and it provides greater certainty in future budgeting.

This year dear old Mr Pickles, the Local Government Minister told councils that they must offer residents the opportunity to pay Council tax in 12 instalments.  I must admit I hadn't realised that other authorities already offered this option.

Woking Council don't seem too keen to promote the longer payment terms as they have hidden information about making the choice on the back of local council tax bills.

If you would find it easier to budget or make council tax payments over 12 months just give the council a call and ask them to revise your payments.

With some residents being asked to contribute to their Council Tax payments for the first time or to pay more of their Council Tax bill this year as I set out here this could be of some help.

As one road opens ... an entrance closes

Triggs Lane open

I was delighted to find out last Thursday that Triggs Lane was to re-open to traffic the following morning.  I knew drivers in my own area of Horsell and across the borough would be relieved that one traffic nightmare was over.  The work was finished a whole four weeks ahead of schedule.  Thanks are due to a number of local councillors and county council officers who worked hard on getting the work done in the shorter time.

The speed of the work, which took two thirds of the anticipated time, seems to show just what utilities can achieve when pressured.  All too often the county council seem much too lenient in allowing utility companies to close roads and disrupt key routes.  There is no doubt works need to be done.  Triggs Lane needed a new gas main, but all effort should be put in to do the work in the fastest time possible. 

Woking Council which helpfully put a notice on its website advising the road was closed until late March has to date failed to advise that the road is now open again.

UPDATE 27 February - Woking Council now has an update on its website - 5 days after the road re-opened 

Lightbox entrance closed

Meanwhile today I found out that the front entrance to The Lighbox is closed while works are done on access to the bridge over the canal.  I had heard in passing that this was to happen but I had no idea when or for how long.  

I have no doubt the work is necessary but why could the Council not let people know this was going to happen?  I haven't walked by yet to see but I am told there is no advance signage of the closure.  There is nothing on the Council website.  There is a notice on the Lightbox website where I learnt the closure began on Monday 25 February and will last for up to 3 weeks.  It would have been nice if this information had been given to ward councillors and some signage would be helpful.  I did drive past tonight and the way the site is cordoned off it looks as if the Lightbox is closed.

Horsell Policing Update

After a stable period of local policing in Horsell with PC Parish we got a new NSO (Neighbourhood Specialist Officer) during last year.  I never heard that this new NSO was leaving but was told by our local PCSO that another officer was covering our area for the forseeable future.  This seems to be a long term arrangement as another officer Rebecca Holder is now listed as the Horsell NSO.  You can see PC Holder's biography on the Surrey Police site.

Derek Slee continues to be our Horsell PCSO and is frequently seen out on the beat.

Meet both our NSO and PCSO at the regular Police Panel on Thursday 6 February.  The panel is an opportunity for residents to raise any general crime and safety concerns and to set priorities for our local police in the next two months.  The panel starts at 7.30pm and is held at Horsell Village Hall in the High Street.