acorns and oak leaves

News from Ockham Parish Council March 2024

/in /by
  • Guildford Borough Council announced last month that they will be reviewing the Local Plan.  This is a statutory obligation and we hope that the Lib Dems who lead the council will be bold enough to make positive changes. This northern part of the borough has already been massively overdeveloped since the adoption of the Local Plan in 2019 and infrastructure is struggling. More homes will lead to even greater strain on roads and for local services including medical, education, foul water capacity. Please see this link for further details from GBC  https://www.guildford.gov.uk/localplan

 

  • We are looking for some volunteers to help us tidy our memorial garden behind the War Memorial. It is not heavy work and is suitable for volunteers of all ages so do let us know if you might be free for an hour or so via clerk@ockhamparishcouncil.gov.uk  

 

If you are able to join the small local teams for HGV Watch and / or Speed Watch, please let us know. You would be very welcome and the more people involved, the more reports we can make to SCC and the police.

 

  • The flooded lanes, potholes and crumbling road surfaces all continue to cause problems. We are in daily (often several times a day!) contact with SCC highways on these issues. We are being well supported on this by OHRA and our SCC Cllr Booth who is aware of how bad the roads have become and is also regularly chasing SCC on our behalf.

Please keep reporting the issues as we know that volume of complaints helps gain attention.

Seriously large or dangerous Potholes: If you think the issue is an immediate risk to public safety please call SCC anytime, day or night on: 0300 200 1003 If you are calling outside of normal business hours, please hold for option 3 (for Roads and Transport) followed by option 2 (for Highway and traffic signal emergencies).

Potholes and all other Highway Issues: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/roadworks-and-maintenance/report-a-highway-problem

 

  • Jonathan Wade the Project Lead from National Highways was invited to our March PC meeting but declined our invitation. This was disappointing particularly when considered alongside the M25 closure this weekend. We have repeatedly asked NH to liaise with us about the inevitable use of the local road network as a result of the M25 closure and regrettably, they have ignored our multiple requests. If you do notice excessive traffic and dangerous driving at any time on local roads please do report it to the police (using 999 or 101 depending on the severity of the issue) and if you are able to obtain a reference number for your report, please let us know. You may also want to report issues directly to National Highways m25j10@nationalhighways.co.uk  and we have been advised that Ben Spencer, MP in Runnymede and Weybridge has also said he would be interested to receive reports of delays due to the M25 closure this weekend: spencer.mp@parliament.uk

We will be re-issuing our invitation to Jonathan Wade for our April PC meeting

 

 

Please contact our Parish Clerk with enquiries: clerk@ockhamparishcouncil.gov.uk