Election Round Up

As election day dawns I thought I would provide a round-up of some of the issues I have dealt with in recent months.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or I can provide any further information.

Well Lane
As I have explained in previous posts Surrey County Council planned to resurface the road from end of March for 10 working days.  The project has run massively over time, affected all major utilities in the road, led to properties and vehicles being covered in a horrible white dust and had residents disturbed by unauthorised contractor work in the middle of the night. 

Blocked drain
Surrey has now been able to resurface part of the road, and very nice it is too.  The other part of the road has a huge hole courtesy of Thames Water who are trying to clear a blockage in the drain.  I spoke to Thames Water this week and they can't tell me when the blockage will be cleared.  They have regular trucks coming to pump out the drains.  This pumping will eventually clear the drain but it could be several more weeks!

Once Thames Water have finished Surrey's contractors will return and resurface the rest of the road.

Speed calming
At some point (it is not clear when) Surrey will consult Well Lane residents on putting back the speed calming.  There is likely to be yet more work on the road then to put in new humps.

When I followed up as to why speed humps would not be replaced during the resurfacing works I was told that the road resurfacing team on the special Project Horizon could only replace like with like and weren't told that new speed humps were required.  However plans for new speed humps and approval to consult residents was given by a council committtee last June.  Given that this work was originally planned for September, then November, then February you would have thought there had been plenty of time to sort the speed calming.

Learning lessons
The list of lessons to be learnt on how not to run a roadworks project is endless but there are several key points on which I am seeking answers from Surrey

- Who is in charge of these projects - Surrey commissions the project via the Project Horizon team, roadworks are contracted out to May Gurney, May Gurney then use multiple contractors on site.  Nobody seems to be in charge.  Our local county councillor, who lives just off Well Lane, has spent a lot of time in the road, but is this the role of a councillor?  What are we paying our taxes for if county council staff or the contractors paid money to maintain our roads are not managing the job?

- The resurfacing method used on Well Lane was apparently experimental.  Why were residents and local councillors not told that Horsell was to be a guinea pig in this work? Can we be assured this method will not be used when other roads including Arthurs' Bridge, Bury Lane, Church Hill, High Street and Thornash Road are resurfaced.

Queen Elizabeth Gardens
Most of the mound is gone but not all and the area is still not open to the public 9 months after it closed.  The delay is due to plans for a new footpath but this is now becoming unacceptable and I will be looking for answers on when we get our public space back if re-elected on Thursday.

Green gunge on the canal
Doesn't the canal look great now the green gunge has been cleared.  I raised this with Council and got them to take it up with the Basingstoke Canal Authority (to whom we pay fees to maintain the canal).  The canal authority finally came along and cleared the gunge with some new equipment.

Horsell Splash
There is still a puddle by the Brewery Road car park entrance.  Some clearance work had made the area around the zebra crossing stay clear unless there is a really substantial downpour.  The area at the car park entrance is as bad as ever.  We are still waiting for CCTV to look at the area between the road and the canal to find out what is blocking the water from draining.  I remain convinced that this is just part of the issue and that the flood at the entrance is due to incorrect levels when the road was resurfaced combined with heavy trucks in the area during the building of the WWF.  I will continue to press for action on this local hazard.