The Parish Council meeting was again held online only on 8 February at 8pm. The enthusiasm among residents for attending online meetings is growing and this time we had 12 residents in attendance. So, together with the parish councillors, district councillors and county councillor, there were 23 people in attendance. It is hoped that sanity will return this year and normal meetings may be resumed.
It was reported that repairs had been carried out by Surrey County Council to the potholed area in Underhill Road where it meets Village Street. However, this was already showing signs of wear following heavy rains and heavy vehicles parking on top of the new surface.
Investigations to find out who is responsible for the rest of Underhill Road are continuing. The good news is that a grant of £740 has been received from Cllr Helyn Clack’s members’ fund for a kissing gate and countryside code signs for public footpaths to improve access and safety.
The difficulty of getting anything done about reducing traffic speed limits in Newdigate is extremely frustrating. The data produced on behalf of the Parish Council for the 2020 Consultancy report two years ago was sent to Surrey Highways recently with a request for permission to reduce the speed limit on some of Newdigate’s roads from 40mph down to 30mph.
The answer now received is that several more expensive surveys will be needed and these surveys can only be done when traffic returns to normal. A rational person might ask when, or if, “normal” will ever return, given the extraordinary and unprecedented response by our own government, and many worldwide, to the covid virus. Newdigate’s roads are not main roads, they are just little country roads used by vehicles of all sizes and often travelling too fast. So why is it considered by the highways authority that reducing speed limits on country roads is not automatically the safest way to improve road safety without the need for even more surveys?
There were several planning applications up for consideration and a lively debate took place about an application to import inert waste to cap a historic above-ground landfill mound at a relatively remote site at the edge of Newdigate parish. The application had been discussed at the January meeting when it was decided that more time was needed to look at the documents. It is a Surrey CC application and Newdigate PC have been invited to comment along with neighbouring parish councils. The proposed route of the lorries involved in the project is Henfold Lane, which is in Capel parish, and Mill Road/A24, which is in South Holmwood parish. Newdigate PC has asked SCC for a more detailed traffic management plan to ensure that lorries keep to the proposed route and do not use Newdigate’s roads under any circumstances.
Good news was reported by a resident regarding recent work done at Newdigate Brickworks by contractors on behalf of Surrey Wildlife Trust. Some diseased ash trees were felled and areas of brambles and scrub were cleared over a 2-day period by a group of workers. A notice from the Trust has been placed at the entrance asking people not to feed the swans. The Parish Council is continuing its efforts to get a response from the Trust regarding the joint management agreement which would enable the Parish Council to repair the boardwalk.
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Monday 8 March 2021 at 8pm. The agenda notice will be published on the website and the noticeboards at Bob’s Shop and the Surrey Oaks on the Wednesday before the meeting. The public are welcome to attend all public meetings, which are being held online only at the current time.
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[mks_one_half]Lesley Bignell, Clerk to the Council[/mks_one_half]
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12th February 2021[/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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