Portmore Park & District Residents Association

Supporting local heritage, quality of life and community

Help save our local riverside car park

The WLARC car park, with the River Thames in the background

The WLARC car park, with the River Thames in the background

The Environment Agency (EA) proposes to replace some much used local riverside parking with a hot food and drink concession, right next to the Weybridge Ladies Amateur Rowing Club (WLARC) at the end of Thames Street, Weybridge. The EA has applied to Elmbridge for planning consent for this change of use of part of the car park, EBC 2025/0385.

The deadline for comments to Elmbridge is 27 April 2025.

Most residents and visitors we have spoken with think the proposed change would be a very bad idea. 
Here are some reasons why:

  • This popular small car park, in riverside Green Belt, is often fully parked, so removing some spaces would disadvantage riverside visitors
  • The EA plans are inaccurate on number of spaces: the area shown for change of use would in practice remove much more than two parking spaces
  • The EA plans fail to show the Thames Path and National Cycle Route 4, which both pass through the middle of the car park
  • Any queue for food, or standing by the vendor site, would dangerously obstruct the footpath and cycle path
  • There is nowhere to sit and eat, so food would be eaten on the hoof, resulting inevitably in litter along the riverside
  • The EA has a history of failing to maintain this car park, so there is good reason to believe they would fail to manage daily clearing of litter
  • A hot food vending concession here would be out of keeping with the many healthy riverside activities for which people visit this location
  • There are already two excellent food-serving pubs and two riverside cafes within 200 metres, each with ample seating for their customers
  • The application site is Class 3 Floodplain, directly adjacent to the river, and part of the car park was flooded in 2003 and 2014.

Help save our car park by objecting by 27 April to Elmbridge Planning Application 2025/0385 at
https://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/planning/find-or-comment-planning-application.
You can use the QR code below for direct access to the application details:
https://qr-code.click/i/680a17b88e317


EBC Planning Application 2025/0385 – Car Park South West of Weybridge Ladies Rowing Club Walton Lane Weybridge KT13 8LU – change of use from car park spaces to hot food and drink concession.

Update

We note that a different part of the Environment Agency has objected to this Environment Agency planning application, on the grounds that it is in Class 3 floodplain, and the application has no Flood Risk Assessment yet.

We also recall that a corner of this car park was flooded in 2003 and again in 2014.

It is still very important to object for all the other applicable reasons, to prevent an amended application with a favourable Flood Risk Assessment simply getting around that objection.

Some background 

The history of this car park is one of serious neglect by the EA

Elmbridge Borough Council believed it owned this land for many decades. EBC tended it, collected waste from three EBC-owned bins in the car park, and by 2008 had allocated capital for improvements. Then in 2009 the EA registered ownership, as part of its major riverside land registration for the Lower Thames Flood Risk Management Strategy.

When Elmbridge then withdrew its bins on losing ownership, the EA refused to arrange for waste collection from the site, telling Elmbridge, ‘we are not in the business of managing car parks’. Which left some of us wondering why the EA had registered ownership.  Subsequently an agreement was made for EBC to provide and empty three bins and provide a weekly clean up.

Elmbridge also used to maintain the adjacent stretch of riverbank, and kept it immaculately, but the the EA registered ownership, and has rather neglected its upkeep. See before and after pictures of the riverside.

Improvement funding

Some years later, local Weybridge residents worked closely with Thames Landscape Strategy and Elmbridge BC in framing a well-conceived and practical improvement plan, to resurface the dangerously uneven and neglected car park, and create a viewing platform on the sloping land overlooking the river, and remove self-seeded saplings and scrub, opening up the view towards Shepperton weir.

This excellent landscaping project was awarded a grant of circa £72,000 capital funding from the Elmbridge Community Infrastructure Levy.

However the project foundered, we understand because of lack of agreement from the EA about paying for future maintenance of the car park, and the funding has lapsed.

Overall this is a sad tale of neglect by the EA. And now the added insult and injury of a ‘hot food and drink concession’ diminishing the parking facility for visitors, and changing the character of this length of riverside, to the dismay of many.  

History suggests that the EA will do nothing effective to manage the daily use of the concession and ensure that all the resulting litter it creates along the riverside is cleared up.

Residents and visitors alike hope to enjoy our beautiful and largely unspoilt lengths of local riverside. This application takes no account of their needs and expectations

Weybridge Library Hub – Drop-In Event 25 Jan 2024

Plans for Weybridge Library and Community Hub will be on show at Weybridge Library in a Surrey County Council engagement event on 25 January 2024  from 4:00 – 7:00pm.  This is for anyone who wants to find out more about the plans for the new Weybridge Hub and the timetable for the refurbishment of the library due to open in Spring 2025.

There will also be co-design opportunities for children and their parents and carers during the scheduled rhyme-time and story-time activities between 11:00-11:30am on 25 January and 30 January.

Residents who attended PPDRA Community Meeting in September 2023 will be aware of very positive plans for a modern flexible library. This is a chance to learn more, and talk with those behind the plans.

The Weybridge Hub plans also include space for targeted youth support and accessible community spaces for hire, and commercially lettable space, although  some residents feel that these Hub elements of the proposals miss opportunities to create a really positive local community hub and fall short of community aspirations.  What are your views?

At the event, information will be available on all the improvements and collaboration taking place to create the new Hub and partnership work being undertaken with Elmbridge Borough Council to provide a library provision during the refurbishment works. Attendees will be able to view approved plans for the library and input their ideas to the look and feel of the library and future event programming of the library space.  Video content showing a 3D walkthrough of the plans for the improved library area will be shown.

Surrey County Council staff will be available during the afternoon event to answer questions.

The building works will include comprehensive external refurbishment of the existing structure, a single storey infill of the rear courtyard to expand the ground floor and full internal refit of all interiors providing accommodation for a variety of services and partners.

More information will be available in the library and online from the 25 January 2024.  Whilst staff will be available at the drop-in session from 4-7pm, the information boards will remain in the library and online for comment until the 7 February 2024.

PPDRA comments on plans for Weybridge Library

The following comments on the Surrey County Council plans for Weybridge Library Community Hub have been sent by PPDRA to SCC Leader and Councillor for Weybridge, Tim Oliver.

Dear Tim,

Below are some comments from the Committee of Portmore Park & District Residents Association on the Surrey County Council plans for the Weybridge Library building, as set out in the Consultation Planning Application submitted to Elmbridge (EBC 2023/2312) which offered no opportunity for public comment.

We believe the comments below reflect feelings widely held within the local community, and hope that you and the Library Community Hub design team will give them genuine consideration.

Support for aims

  1. We strongly support the use of the Carnegie model to guide and inspire redevelopment of Weybridge Library as a library and integrated community hub.
  2. We are delighted that Surrey County Council has allocated budget for this.
  3. We believe that there is a great opportunity to create an appealing, engaging and popular new library and integrated community hub in the current library building, if a more community-centred design is developed.

Disappointment with current plans and process

  1. We are very disappointed that the current SCC plans for the library building show a lack of imagination and integration, and appear to ignore community input, particularly in the proposals for hub elements on the first and second floors, which seem like little more than refurnishing existing rooms.
  2. We implore SCC to reconsider, and to reshape the design with more community involvement (which we understand is already envisaged for finalising the ground floor library element).
  3. We are disturbed by the opaque planning process by which SCC can grant itself planning consent, without any clear opportunity for public comment on the current plans: EBC says “please consult the relevant authority”, yet the SCC website doesn’t suggest how to do that.
  4. We want to avoid a repeat of the 2004 New Walton Bridge fiasco, when SCC spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money awarding itself planning consent for a deeply flawed, oversized bridge and twin-loop junction design, and on trying to fend off public opposition (happily unsuccessfully, as a public inquiry imposed a much better bridge and junction design which conserved valuable riverside public amenity land and saved Weybridge residents from the extra rat run traffic the twin loop junction would have invited).
  5. We hope for a planning process for the Library Hub where evidence and community input and comments are recorded and publicly visible (an essential element of the EBC planning process).

What a better design can offer

  1. We hope to see an integrated library and community hub created, with:
    1. Appealing, inviting entrances from Church Street and Churchfields
    2. More open and flexible design of the hub elements to meet multiple community uses, creating a desirable destination for all kinds of local residents
    3. Outdoor spaces as well as indoor spaces (including a terrace, and a landscaped seating area by an improved Churchfields entrance, as recommended by Elmbridge Borough Council)
  2. We hope for a design which makes the first floor of the Community Hub a more desirable community destination, through increasing its space and enhancing its facilities, e.g. by:
    1. Extending its area laterally, incorporating doors onto a new open air terrace on the roof of the planned single storey extension, with outdoor seating and tables (thereby, as a visiting county councillor observed, making it a far more profitably lettable space for functions)
    2. Enhancing its catering potential by expanding the kitchen area (in line with comments from Elmbridge Borough Council), not reducing it
    3. Offering cafe facilities for visitors, to help make the hub a genuine local destination
    4. Increasing the flexibility of the internal space of the whole first floor, making it more open and adjustable to accommodate more varied community activities
    5. Providing controllable shading for the west facing windows, to reduce the main room’s greenhouse-like summer heat, without reducing its admirable winter light
    6. Reconsidering the design and location of a business hub element, to make it better suited to use by multiple small businesses and individuals (the current design looks outdated and inappropriate), and thereby enhancing income.

Wider community involvement

  1. We support suggestions by the Weybridge Society for bringing the building to life by having a visibly operating Brooklands Radio live broadcast studio on the ground floor, as part of a more open plan, integrated and flexible hub design, shaped with the help of community input.
  2. We support the views of local EBC councillors that it is essential to have wider community involvement in defining and shaping local community facilities which will serve Weybridge into the future.

Transition arrangements

  1. There are strong local concerns about negative impact on the Centre For The Community of transition period proposals to relocate Library services there, displacing current activities.
  2. We wish to see transition achieved in a way which avoids negative impact on the Centre For The Community.
  3. We would support a proposal to relocate library books to the former bowling green pavilion (subject to relocation of current services provided there to other EBC owned properties) for the duration of any works, with the more socially interactive library services relocated to the Centre For The Community.

Lifetime management costs

  1. We wonder if sufficient consideration has been given to the longer term benefits of investing more now in energy efficient measures (e.g. triple glazing, insulation, heat recovery, etc), which could significantly reduce lifetime energy costs.

 

Thank you again for suggesting that comments are sent to you, in your role as our county councillor.

We sincerely hope that there will now be an opportunity for proper public input into the creation of an amended and improved design for the community hub within an extended library building: a design which is much more community-centred and user-centred than the current proposals.

Kind regards,
Miles Macleod

Chair, Portmore Park & District Residents Association

Positive PPDRA Community Meeting and AGM

Our Portmore Park & District RA community meeting and AGM on 20th September was well attended and had a very positive mood. Around 60 people, including five local councillors, were there despite horrible weather — a deluge from the remnants of Hurricane Lee.

First we heard participants describe numerous local community activities and groups, each outlining very positive voluntary activities which help make our local community a lovely place in which to live and participate.  Then we heard guest speaker Sue Wills MBE speaking about the inspiration and plans for the new Weybridge Library, and finally Surrey County Council Leader Tim Oliver gave an update on local matters.

All our speakers were very well received. We look forward to a positive future for the Weybridge Library and Community Hub, and rapid development of new health facilities on the Weybridge Hospital site.

Elmbridge ‘No objection’ to Weybridge Library Hub plans – with reservations

Elmbridge Borough Council has registered ‘No objection’ to the Surrey County Council plans for Weybridge Library Community Hub redevelopment, with reservations. Surrey has the right to permit or refuse its own plans on Library redevelopments, following due consultation.

Reservations

However, the Elmbridge BC Officer Report requests “that greater consideration is given for the creation of increased community space provision on the first floor, e.g. enlarged kitchen/servery along with break out seating areas for community groups“, and that there is a ‘missed opportunity’ around the treatment of the entrance from Churchfields.

This EBC judgment aligns with some strong local feeling in Weybridge that the Community Hub element requires more space and facilities, and a more thoughtful approach to creating a flexible community Activity Hub on the first floor, to help it become an appealing community destination.

Library vision good, but Community Hub limited

The Library element of the redevelopment proposals, drawing on the Carnegie model, seems very positive in creating a Library which will enable and promote more community involvement, and bring increased cultural, social and learning interaction.

But the small community ‘Activity Hub’ on the first floor misses the opportunity to go beyond the limitations of the current first floor community hall (apart from adding toilets). The majority of the first space is taken up with tightly fitted traditional office desks and chairs, in a large open plan ‘Business Hub’ and in meeting rooms. It even seems to move away from adaptable community use by proposing to turn two potentially flexible current spaces, a Tea Room and Staff Room, into small traditional office-style meeting rooms.

Yes, residents want to see facilities for local business use. But is this an effective design, when there is a golden opportunity to create a well designed integrated Community Hub within the Library building, supporting multiple local activities?

Surrey County Council has a statutory duty to provide Library services, but not wider community facilities, and that rather shows in the proposed design. 

Here is the existing Weybridge Library first floor plan.

Community input overlooked?

During the public consultation phase there were many suggestions about how to make a first floor Community Hub a more desirable community destination, through increasing its space and enhancing its facilities, e.g. by:

  • Extending its space laterally, incorporating doors onto a new open air terrace on the roof of the planned single storey extension, with outdoor seating and tables
  • Increasing the flexibility of the internal space, to accommodate more varied activies
  • Enhancing its catering potential by expanding the kitchen area
  • Offering cafe facilities for visitors, to make it a local destination
  • Providing controllable shading for the west facing windows, to reduce the room’s greenhouse-like summer heat, without reducing its admirable winter light

Support for a more appealing Hub

Proposals for enhancing the plans and shaping the Hub more around what people want received strong support in the WeyBetterWeybridge Stakeholder Reference Group. A visiting Surrey County Councillor at one meeting said that a terrace would be a great idea and a significant improvement. It would greatly enhance the potential income from letting the space for social functions, since many people want the option of access to a terrace and fresh air for function guests.

A Surrey County Council Officer who presented draft plans agreed that a terrace would be an achievable addition to the Activity Hub, at modest extra cost (including repositioning some rooflights), and suggested that it could be added to the planning application as a minor amendment.

Joined up thinking needed

Subsequent local discussions have gone further, and suggested a far more integrated approach to the design of the building’s interior layout, combining the Library and Community Hub and Brooklands Radio elements in a way which would be much more inviting, appealing and engaging. This seems entirely in line with the aims of the Carnegie model, which is an inspiration for the redesign and extension into a community hub.

Improving access from Churchfields

The EBC Officer Report also suggests improving the design of the the access from Churchfields.
“The approach from the rear car park / pedestrian footpath is an important secondary access. Whilst some improvements have been made to the approach over the existing arrangement, it is considered that this is a missed opportunity to create a more welcoming space with better permeability/ connectivity through the site which would help encourage an increase in footfall and activity within the area. It is considered that this could be improved further by creating a more prominent accessibility entrance at the rear with an enhanced landscaped setting with a seating area through the relocation of car parking spaces to the main car park.”

This aligns with views of the Stakeholder Reference Group about the significance of this entrance, and the fact that this area of the Library exterior is the most tranquil and sheltered from A317 traffic nuisance.

Note that Elmbridge stated that its ‘No objection’ was ‘subject to consideration of the issues above’ listed in the Officer Report.

An opportunity for improvement

We hope that the Surrey plans for the refurbishment may yet be amended, to achieve a more effective and appealing Community Hub by exploiting the great potential of an extended and improved Library building.

At the very least the first floor Activity Hub design must be improved, something which can be done at modest cost if incorporated now while there is the opportunity. Preferably the entire redesign of the building will be revisited, to offer an integrated community hub which is closer to what the community wants. But it is entirely up to Surrey County Council to decide this.

What currently seems unclear is how to get effective feedback to Surrey County Council about the proposed plans, other than by contacting our councillor for Weybridge Division, Tim Oliver.

We are still seeking clarification on how residents can make publicly visible comments on this Surrey County Council planning application.

 

 

Weybridge Library Community Hub Redevelopment Plans

Surrey County Council’s consultation planning application (2023/2312) for Redeveloping Weybridge Library as a community hub is now on the Elmbridge Borough Council website.
This is a consultation, as the Library planning application will be decided by Surrey itself.
Update 1 Sept: the full set of 25 plans is now listed on the EBC website, up from the 2 originally listed.
Update 17 Sept: The Elmbridge BC decision on the consultation application is “No objection”.

Application Headlines

Address: Weybridge Library Church Street Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DE
Description : Consultation from Surrey County Council: Change of existing library, museum, public hall (Use Class F1) and Brooklands Radio (Class E) to new community hub to include library with single storey infill extension (Use Class F1), youth support (Use Class F2), flexible community/commercial including public hall (Use Class F1/E) plus external alterations to existing elevations, installation of photovoltaic panels and roof top plant and associated parking and landscaping.
Application Type : Surrey County Council Consultation
Status: Registered. Not decided by EBC. Please contact the relevant authority to make a comment.

Surrey County Council Cabinet on 27 June 2023 approved capital spending to fund the Weybridge Library Community Hub redevelopment.

There is some useful information in the comprehensive Report on WEYBRIDGE HUB REDEVELOPMENT presented to Surrey Council Cabinet on 27 June 2023.

Surrey also provide a summary of the options considered.
The original long list of options to deliver Weybridge Library Community Hub included a complete re-build of the existing building and alternative leasehold or freehold acquisitions to re-site the building.
These options were discounted due to the cost and carbon footprint to deliver a new build and limited alternative sites capable of delivering the spatial needs of Council Services.

Elmbridge disposal of public open space at Dorney Gardens

Elmbridge Borough Council posted the following formal notice on 26th May 2023. The deadline to object was 9th June 2023.

We hope this simply relates to renewing/updating the lease arrangements between the Council and the Tennis and Sailing Clubs, but have seen nothing announced locally. It does not seem to have received much publicity, and we only became aware of it at the end of August. We are seeking further information.

ELMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
NOTICE OF DISPOSAL OF OPEN SPACE

LAND AT: Dorney Gardens, Walton Lane, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8LU.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with Section 123(2A) Local Government Act 1972, that Elmbridge Borough Council (“The Council”) intends to dispose of an area of public open space.

The proposed disposal is two leases of open space land having a total approximate area of 11,400 square metres at Dorney Gardens, Walton Lane, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8LU (the “Property”).

A plan showing the extent of the Properties to be so disposed of may be inspected at the Civic Centre, High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9SD on Monday to Friday each week (public holidays excepted) until 9th June 2023.

The Council will consider any objections to the proposed disposals as may be made to it.

Any person objecting to the above proposal should write to: Property Portfolio Manager, Elmbridge Borough Council, Civic Centre, High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9SD no later than 16th June 2023, giving full particulars of the grounds of his or her objection.

Dated: 26/05/2023

From: https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/notices/Statutory/Walton-Lane—Notice-Of-Disposal-Of-Open-Space/646dd7874bda3c001abf0ca3

Walton Lane Open Space designated a Local Green Space

We are delighted that Elmbridge Borough Council has now recognised Walton Lane Open Space as a designated ‘Local Green Space’ in its 2023 Draft Local Plan, submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

This follows a PPDRA objection to the omission of this space from the 2022 EBC Draft Local Plan list of Local Green Spaces , an objection we submitted as part of the formal Regulation 19 Consultation.

The Local Green Space designation should help give lasting extra protection against any building development on this significant and much used local green open space.

Extract from Elmbridge Draft Local Plan SA Addendum 2023

M4.2 ENV3 46 Additional Local Green Spaces to be designated:

Stoke D’Abernon Memorial Park; Walton Lane Open Space; Kingston Grammar School Playing Fields/ Ditton Field, Thames Ditton

To improve accuracy and ensure soundness and compliance with NPPF para. 101 and 102.

No- these additional sites do not affect the SA of the policy.

WeyBetter Weybridge drop-in event 25 May 2023

A WeyBetter Weybridge drop-in event on 25 May 2023 will give an update on the latest plans for Weybridge Library and Hospital site.

The drop-in session on Thursday 25 May between 4pm-7pm on the 1st floor, Weybridge Library, Church Street, Weybridge, KT13 8DE, will display near-final plans, and give residents a chance to discuss them with the design team.

Here a quick preview of what we expect:

  • The hospital plans should be a finalised version of the plans shared at the last event, with some minor adjustments in response to feedback
  • We understand that the Library expanded ground floor plans will contain a lot of good thinking to make it an appealing and engaging interactive community space, which should be very welcome
  • There will be community hub plans for the first floor — we hope these plans may now include a roof terrace above the proposed ground floor extension, which would make the ‘Activity Hub’ event space (the room where the drop-in session is being held) more appealing in future by giving direct access to a private open air terrace.

Here is what Surrey County Council say about the event:

“Following previous events that have been held in relation to the new healthcare facility and library developments, we now have final proposed designs that we would like to share with you.

The event will be the opportunity see these designs ahead of the submission of the two planning applications in the coming weeks.

Members of the project team who are leading on the planning applications, will be at the event to answer any questions you may have.”

WeyBetterWeybridge – Public Exhibition of Plans 20 May

On Friday 20 May residents will at last get an opportunity to view and discuss plans for Weybridge Hospital replacement, 2pm – 7pm at St James, following years of behind the scenes work by the WeyBetterWeybridge programme. Community facilities and road improvements are also on the agenda.

NHS, Surrey County Council and Elmbridge Borough Council representatives will be on hand to answer questions and listen to residents’ views, as will our local MP.

Surrey County Council announced the event on their website on 11 May.  Here is the full text of their announcement:

WeyBetter Weybridge public exhibition to update on plans to create a state-of-the-art community and health and wellbeing hub for local people

POSTED BY  ⋅ 

On Friday 20 May, Surrey County Council, North West Surrey Alliance, NHS Surrey Heartlands Clinical Commissioning Group and Elmbridge Borough Council are hosting a public exhibition in St James Church, Weybridge. Dr Ben Spencer, MP for Runnymede and Weybridge will also be in attendance to speak to residents.

The event is to share the work to date that has been undertaken on the re-development of community and health services in the area, along with a series of planned road improvements.

The town centre development includes plans to build a brand new health campus, and a planned redevelopment of the library to create a modern, purpose-built space that will be a vibrant hub for the local community for generations to come.

Residents of Weybridge and the surrounding area are invited to come along between 2-7pm to hear an update and get an idea of how the site could look, find out about the type of services that could be provided, have the opportunity to speak to key decision-makers and share their initial feedback.

Leader of Surrey County Council, Tim Oliver, said, “I’m delighted we’re able to host this event and present plans to local people for the renewal of their town and facilities. The WeyBetter Weybridge programme is a unique opportunity to deliver modern facilities across a range of services to meet the needs of residents now and into the future, ensuring no one is left behind.”

Jack Wagstaff, Place Leader for North West Surrey Health and Care Alliance said: “This event gives us the opportunity to update local people on the work that has been happening in collaboration with our partners to develop and modernise services in Weybridge.

“This is an exciting opportunity to deliver a brand new, first-class, health facility as part of a much wider vibrant community hub for local people and our staff.” The event will be held in the church from 2-7pm and people can visit at any time. If people are unable to attend the event itself, the information will be located in the library until the end of May and available online after the event <insert link>.

Local leaders will be at the event to talk to local people and hear their views. Leaders include:

  • Tim Oliver, Leader of Surrey County Council
  • Dr Ben Spencer, MP for Runnymede and Weybridge
  • Marie Snelling, Executive Director for Customer and Communities, Surrey County Council
  • Ian Smith, Designate Chair for the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board
  • Jack Wagstaff, Place Leader, North West Surrey Alliance

This event is an opportunity for us to share our progress to date on the planned transformation of the site and our early ideas on how the space could work and look. As the WeyBetter Weybridge programme develops, there will be plenty of opportunity for local people and partners to have their say to ensure the proposals meet the needs of local people and local communities.

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