There were several interesting items on the agenda for the 10 February meeting and a good turnout of residents. The Regional Development Manager from English Rural Housing gave a helpful talk about the work they do to provide affordable housing in rural villages. They run several different schemes, according to the needs of the area, and are typically involved with small developments of 6 to 8 homes in a village. The time scale from the initial point where a parish council starts talking to English Rural Housing about a housing project up to final completion can be around 3-4 years, depending on several factors. The first step of the process is to find a suitable site. The good news is that a suitable site in Newdigate is likely to become available shortly. It was agreed that a small group of Parish Councillors would look at how to develop this as a mixed development site.
Conversations between Surrey Wildlife Trust and Parish Councillors have continued with a view to restoring the Newdigate Brickworks Nature Reserve to its former glory which would enable more people to visit and enjoy the walks and wildlife. A representative of the Trust will be attending next month’s meeting of the Parish Council to give an update about the work that needs to be done. Local volunteers including members of the fishing club have carried out maintenance work on the pathways over the years but more in depth work is now needed to improve paths and cut back undergrowth.
The Traffic Calming project is under way with residents in the 30mph area of the Village placing speed warning stickers on their wheelie bins. It was reported that there had been a good response to the Newdigate Village Road Safety Consultation. The most popular suggestions were to extend the 30mph zone and introduce a 20mph zone in the centre of the village. Once those changes are made, vehicle activated speed signs may be introduced. Several other suggestions are under consideration and the full report is on the website. If anyone who is not on the internet would like a copy of the report, please let me know.
A new local Youth Club will be starting soon and will take place at the Village Hall. Volunteers are currently making all the arrangements and the Parish Council agreed to donate £250 towards set up costs.
The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign starts on 20 March and runs until 13 April. This is also known as the Great British Spring Clean. We call it litter picking. 28 March was suggested as a convenient day to do this in Newdigate and it would be helpful if we could have some more volunteers. Please let us know if you can help.
The next Meeting of the full Parish Council is on Monday 9 March 2020 at 8pm in the Village Hall.
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[mks_one_half]Lesley Bignell, Clerk to the Council[/mks_one_half]
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11 February 2020[/mks_one_half]
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[mks_one_half]clerk@newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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www.newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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