The Parish Council meeting on Monday 12 October was attended by 4 members of the public in the hall and 2 members of the public remotely via zoom.
Traffic calming was on the agenda again but there had been no progress as the Council had been unable to meet with SCC highways office staff since the last meeting. The agreement with Surrey Wildlife Trust for the Parish Council to manage the Brickworks Nature Reserve was still being drafted. It is hoped that both these projects will be progressed within the next few weeks.
Gatwick Airport has written to the Council about its proposal to charge people £5 for dropping off family and friends at the airport, to take effect from the new year. Gatwick say they want to increase their revenue stream, which given the catastrophic loss of business they have suffered this year is quite understandable. A £5 charge will probably not be a deal-breaker for most occasional travellers, so this charge should financially benefit the airport. The airport also wants this new charge to be viewed by the public as being “environmentally friendly” because they imagine it could encourage more people to use public transport rather than using their cars. However, they recognise that some people do need to deliver passengers directly to the departure building by car and for regular users they have proposals to lessen the financial impact. If residents are concerned about these proposals, it was suggested by the Council they should write to Gatwick about it.
Several planning applications were discussed. The owners of Rusper Golf Course have applied for planning permission to carry out rebuilding works following demolition of various buildings. The new buildings will have a smaller footprint than those there at the moment. The Council considered the proposed development, if approved by Mole Valley District Council, will be a great improvement.
If you sometimes have difficulty describing to people or organisations exactly where you live, there is a useful location finder app which can be installed on your smart phone or other device. The What3Words app has allocated 3 randomly chosen words to everyone’s property. So when calling the emergency services, for instance, you would only have to say those 3 words and they could find you without being given any further information. If you live in a remote location, or perhaps in an emergency you might find it confusing to give a long explanation about where you are, you can just give the 3 words allocated to your home by the app.
The next meeting of the Parish Council is on 16 November. Residents are very welcome to attend at the Village Hall or remotely if they prefer.
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[mks_one_half]Lesley Bignell, Clerk to the Council[/mks_one_half]
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15 September 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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Note: Most members of the public attending meetings in person are wearing masks. Seats are 2 metres apart, the hall is deep cleaned and well ventilated. Contact details of attendees are taken for track and trace purposes. The government’s website www.gov.uk lists all those who are able to claim exemption from mask-wearing; no proof of reason for exemption will be requested.