Help save our local riverside car park

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

St George’s Junior School neighbours event

St George’s Junior School is extending an invitation to neighbouring residents to join an ‘Open House’ drop-in event between 6pm and 8pm on Thursday 28 September.

This will be a social and informational evening for our local community, open to all neighbours of the school. It will include an opportunity to learn more about the school’s parking plans, plus optional tours of the school site.

See the invitation above for more details.

Wey Road parking restrictions proposed

A controlled parking zone (CPZ) is proposed in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, “to increase space for short stay visitors to Weybridge by discouraging all day parking by non-residents in these roads”. Surrey is inviting comments on the proposals by 2 October 2020.

Surrey County Council has put forward these proposals as a late addition to the previously drafted Weybridge parking review, in what we understand is an exceptional move in response to a request from residents in these roads.

We have heard very diverging comments on the proposals from local residents, and will make a summary of these available online.

Details of the Wey Road and Round Oak Road CPZ proposals are available on the Surrey County Council website, with the statement of reasons being the primary document, and the weybridge parking review drawings showing what is described in the statement of reasons.

If you would like to object, support, or comment on the proposals, you must do so by 2 October 2020, by either:

filling in Surrey’s online survey, or
writing, quoting ‘Elmbridge parking review’ to: Parking Team, Hazel House, Merrow Depot, Merrow Lane, Guildford, GU4 7BQ.

UPDATE – SCC Elmbridge Parking Review January 2021 findings and decisions

Wey Road, Round Oak Road

Overview:

Objections: 140
Other comments: 6
Support: 24
Final decision: do not proceed.

Analysis summary

11 objections (58%) and 8 comments in support (42%) from Round Oak Road residents
29 objections (66%), 12 comments in support (27%) and 3 other comments (7%) from Wey Road residents
76 out of 79 responses (96%) from outside of the two proposals roads were objections

Conclusion

Given that the analysis shows residents to be against the scheme and would be even if considerable amendments were made to it, and that non-residents were vehemently against the proposals, we have decided not to proceed with any changes to parking in Wey Road and Round Oak Road at the current time.

Portmore Community Meeting and AGM 2019 – Report

What can residents do to influence development of our part of Weybridge, in the face of pressure for much higher housing density? That was the primary focus of the Portmore Park & District community meeting on 26 June. Other topics included green spaces and paths, flooding, and the parking review. Wall displays covered overviews of local issues, topics and developments, to inform and stimulate thinking. Forty four local residents participated, including three Weybridge Riverside Elmbridge councillors. County cllr Tim Oliver was unable to attend but sent a written update. There was some lively, constructive and positive discussion throughout the event.

Elmbridge Local Plan, and where to put new homes

The meeting drew lessons from the high-density development proposals for Beales Lane (141 local objections, refused) and Bridge House in the High Street (19 objections, consent imminent). Residents at our meeting hope for a less massive, less dominant development in Beales Lane, preferably of houses, certainly something more in keeping with the surroundings.

Government demands mean the planning authority is under pressure to squeeze in higher density developments: the forthcoming Elmbridge Local Plan must find space for 9,480 new homes in the next fifteen years. There will be difficult choices: either much higher density in towns or allowing development on some Green Belt land, or both. The question is where non-damaging high density might be achieved, with adequate infrastructure.

This is already a live issue in other parts of Elmbridge, where residents have become highly mobilised following the 2017 Elmbridge Green Belt review consultations – they want increased density to be elsewhere, and their target towns seem to be Walton and Weybridge.

What can people do locally? Actions discussed were: Take part in the public consultation on Elmbridge Local Plan options, which will run for six weeks from August. Get involved, raise awareness. Work towards constructive answers. Form a neighbourhood forum. Consider a neighbourhood plan.

The importance of green spaces

Other topics at the PPDRA meeting included positive news on local green spaces and paths.

There was strong appreciation of Broadwater Path – used by most participants since being made an accessible public footpath with a two metre wide crushed stone surface – and its role in enabling an application (with Elmbridge support) for national funding to conserve Broadwater lake. Making Footpath 36 (Grenside Road to the Thames) more accessible would also be welcome.

The meeting welcomed the retention of the whole of Churchfields Allotments, and heard about community efforts to enhance the maintenance of the allotment site. There was no support for building a car park on the Churchfields Recreation Ground bowling green.

Roundabout care

A resident raised the very poor state of the roundabout by Morrisons. Participants compared this with the excellent condition of some roundabouts in adjacent boroughs, where garden centres sponsor roundabout landscape maintenance in exchange for discreet advertising signs. There was strong support for Elmbridge to adopt this.

Flooding

There has been little news on further progress with the £700,000,000 River Thames Scheme for flood diversion measures between Datchet and Teddington, which is still seeking to fill a £350,000,000 funding shortfall. But there has been a rehearsal of temporary flood barrier use to protect Walton Lane and Dorney Grove.
The meeting heard of years of active local resident liaison with the Environment Agency, over River Thames Scheme proposals — a major flood diversion channel would discharge opposite the canoe club — and flood modelling. This included PPDRA lobbying to reverse plans (happily subsequently changed) to cut into the south bank on the Desborough Channel, which would have meant relocating the Thames Path closer to the Walton Lane road. Work on the River Thames Scheme recently seems to have gone rather quiet, with some EA personnel moved to other work.

Walton Lane residents have been in continuing contact over local temporary flood response measures. In October 2018 there was a successful Environment Agency rehearsal of putting up a temporary flood barrier from Weybridge Point to the first Desborough Bridge.

Parking Review

The meeting included a discussion on parking, and contrasted the 2009 and 2019 Elmbridge Parking reviews.

A decade ago, in 2009, Surrey County Council proposed a large Controlled Parking Zone west of Thames Street, a north Weybridge CPZ. The proposals proved very unpopular. They were rejected by local residents for multiple reasons, including loss of capacity leaving some residents unable to park near their homes, a parking ban along Portmore Park Road opening the way to more and faster rat run traffic, and serious displacement issues along the CPZ’s eastern boundaries.

The 2019 review in contrast sets out more localised changes. The proposals aim to: increase safety; make it easier for residents to park close to their homes in Dorchester & Gascoigne Roads; maintain on-street parking capacity; avoid displacement; and create space for daytime two hour waiting by shoppers. These are all aims which are in line with principles long supported by PPDRA and by many residents.

Several participants felt more CPZ space should be allocated for joint use, to permit shopper/visitor two hour waiting as well as long stay residents’ parking.

Grenside Road & St George’s Junior School

Parking problems persist in Grenside Road, and there was disappointment that nothing has been done in the parking review to improve this, beyond the useful addition of double yellows lines on the Grenside Road junction with Grotto Road to help improve safety.

It was noted that St George’s Junior School on-site staff parking is limited, resulting in many staff vehicles having to park on-street. PPDRA understands that the school was advised by an Elmbridge planning officer that a potential application for car parking space on their newly acquired land at the end of Grenside Road would be unlikely to succeed. PPDRA has suggested that the school might consider seeking consent to put a staff car park on their new land immediately next to the Bannatyne Health Club car park, as the least damaging location.

Thames Street warehouse

A resident raised the continuing issue of concern around inadequate asbestos management on the Thames Street warehouse site. It was agreed that the issue might usefully be given additional publicity in the Weybridge Society newsletter, and PPDRA will follow that up.

Collaboration with the Weybridge Society

It was suggested that closer collaboration with the Weybridge Society would be sensible on major issues affecting our town. It was agreed that collaboration is a good thing, and the committee would again follow this up.

PPDRA Committee 2019-20

The meeting thanked members of the committee for their contribution over the past year, with particular thanks to two committee members who were standing down: Doug Myers of Walton Lane, and Ian Bonnett of The Willows, who has served as Treasurer for many years.

Members of the Association were delighted to welcome Michael Freeman back onto the committee (in the role of Treasurer), following his term as Elmbridge Borough Councillor, and to welcome onto the committee Lester Gange of Walton Lane. We are still seeking a new committee member from the Dorchester Road/Thames Street area.

The committee elected for 2019-20 comprises:
– Miles Macleod (Chair), Clinton Close
– Michael Freeman (Treasurer), The Swansway, PPR
– Jane Heard (Secretary), Portmore Park Road
– Eleanor Butler, Church Walk
– Lester Gange, Walton Lane
– Pippa Graeme, Elmgrove Road
– Sarah Jane Groves, Grenside Road
– Barbara Molony-Oates, Greenlands Road
– Pauline O’Sullivan, Wey Road
– Diane Phillips, Portmore Park Road
– William Rutherford, Mount Pleasant

Beales Lane plans cause concern for residents

Plans for a three storey block of 17 flats and 11 houses in Beales Lane, with 53 bedrooms, are being considered by Elmbridge Borough Council (application 2019/0386). Over 100 objections have been registered with Elmbridge. Read our PPDRA letter here.

Bigger, higher, denser, closer to road

The new block would replace the existing St Catherine’s buildings (lacking merit but inconspicuous, total 27 bedrooms) with a significantly taller block, of more than twice the mass, with its bulk much closer to the road.

See the photo and plans above to get a feel for the proposed scale. It is 55% higher from ground to rooftop compared with present, towards the Thames St end.

The plans propose parking spaces for 28 cars behind the block, accessed via a height-limited entrance mid-building.
The style of the proposed building is quite unlike other properties in north Weybridge. Some residents feel strongly that it is wrong for the location.

Many are concerned about the excessive bulk, and negative impact of the proposed development on the streetscene, traffic and parking – that it would transform the character of Beales Lane, and not in a good way.

Open, light, green and small scale

Residents are worried that the character of Beales Lane will be lost. Beales Lane is green and open towards its Thames Street end. The St Catherine’s buildings are low and mostly set well back. Their layout is staggered so it doesn’t impose.

The houses opposite are a traditionally styled 1998 development, in keeping with the character of Weybridge.

It is currently a pleasant suburban lane, leading to the historic small cottages of Church Walk.

The new building would present a much larger and more dominating profile along its length, and project closer to Thames Street. It would be a massive difference.

The current St Catherine’s building as seen from Thames Street

The proposed building would be 55% higher, far wider and project much closer to Thames Street

Below we list some objections to the development plans, raised by local residents.

How to give Elmbridge your views

Comments to Elmbridge Borough Council are invited by 29 March, but will be accepted after that. The application will be decided by the South Area Planning Sub-committee. To register your comments, search for 2019/0386 at www.elmbridge.gov.uk/planning

It is helpful if objections are on grounds that relate to relevant planning legislation / relevant sections of EBC Local Plan. Below are relevant issues of worry to local residents. We list things that Elmbridge Borough Council must consider in deciding planning application 2019/0386:

Oppressive bulk and mass
- The proposed development is EXCESSIVELY MASSIVE compared with neighbouring properties
- It is taller, with its bulk closer to the pavement, and would dominate a road that is currently open and spacious
- Its bulk and mass would be excessive for this suburban site.
- Beales Lane leads to the historic riverside small scale cottages of Church Walk, the contrast is stark
Lack of fit with local streetscene
- The proposed is quite unlike other buildings in the area, in appearance and style as well as scale
- North Weybridge is characterised by Victorian/Edwardian dwellings with traditional roofs and lots of gables
- The proposed vertical and rectangular lines might look fine as worker accommodation in Rotterdam, but don’t fit well here
- It would have a very negative visual impact, transforming Beales Lane
  - from a light, open, airy road with chimneys the highest points & St Catherine’s largely set well back
  - to a visually narrower street dominated by a high, massive, alien building along its south edge
Excessive density
(not a likely winner, given current pressure for increasing density, but worth arguing)
- This is a much higher density than neighbouring dwellings
- It squeezes a large volume of habitable space (11 new houses and 17 new flats, 53 bedrooms) onto the site
- The floor area and number of bedrooms doubles
Loss of privacy
- Neighbouring residents are concerned about loss of privacy, especially in their back gardens
Loss of light
- Neighbouring residents are concerned that the proposed high building will block their light. Some question the measurements supplied in the application, for the height of windows opposite.

Visitor parking being used by school parents for child collection; note narrow roadway

Impact on safe traffic flow, safe delivery access, and safe manoeuvring, given lack of turning space
This is a Surrey matter (so it is worth also writing to our SCC councillor, tim.oliver@surreycc.gov.uk, on this aspect). We are surprised that Surrey Highways has no objection
to the prospect of large vehicles having to reverse out of Beales Lane into Thames Street (a road which Surrey’s own figures show carries around 5700 vehicles a day) right next to a school crossing:
- Beales Lane is directly opposite the entrance to St George’s Junior School, so there are special safety factors
- As sheltered elderly housing (27 bedrooms), there were previously very few residents’ vehicles associated with St Catherine’s
- Beales Lane/Church Walk is a cul-de-sec with no turning circle
- It gives resident and delivery access to circa 43 homes (apart from St Catherine’s)
- Delivery and traffic flow would be greatly increased by 17 new flats and 11 new houses (53 bedrooms)
- Currently the St Catherine’s visitor parking space is used for turning by delivery vehicles and visitors
- It is heavily used at school drop-off/pick-up times (scores of vehicles using it to turn)
- The proposed design would remove current turning facilities, and mean large vehicles having to reverse into Thames Street, which carries high traffic flows and has a school crossing adjacent to St Catherine’s; reversing vehicles would risk the safety of pedestrians including school children and obstruct traffic flow
- The design does not allow headroom for vehicles higher than approx 2.5 metres to access the rear parking, so big delivery and removals vans would have to park up obstructing narrow Beales Lane
Impact on parking
- 28 parking spaces are proposed to serve 28 dwellings (9 x 1 bed; 13 x 2 bed; 6 x 3 bed)
- 40.5 spaces would be required to meet Elmbridge Parking Standards:
  - Development Management Plan – Appendix 3: Elmbridge Parking Standards (DM21 – Access and Parking)
    1 bed residential unit : 1 space per unit
    2 bed residential unit : 1.5 spaces per unit
    3 bed residential unit : 2 spaces per unit

Learn more and register your comments

The number of people who comment is crucial to the future of Beales Lane and Church Walk.

Search for 2019/0386 at www.elmbridge.gov.uk/planning.

Comments to Elmbridge BC are invited by 29 March, but will be accepted after that. Use the comment form on the EBC website or email tplan@elmbridge.gov.uk.

The application will be considered by councillors on Elmbridge Borough Council South Area Planning Sub-committee.

If you feel it is important that they are all aware of your comments, you can email them directly:

Cllr Barry Cheyne (Chair) Oatlands and Burwood Park
Cllr Mrs Dorothy Mitchell (Vice Chair) Cobham and Downside
Cllr James Browne Cobham and Downside
Cllr Andrew Burley Oxshott and Stoke D’Abernon
Cllr Oliver Chappell Oxshott and Stoke D’Abernon
Cllr Andrew Davis Weybridge Riverside
Cllr Michael Freeman Weybridge Riverside
Cllr Peter Harman Weybridge St George’s Hill
Cllr David Lewis Oxshott and Stoke D’Abernon
Cllr Mrs Charu Sood Weybridge St George’s Hill

bcheyne@elmbridge.gov.uk; dmitchell@elmbridge.gov.uk; jbrowne@elmbridge.gov.uk; aburley@elmbridge.gov.uk; ochappell@elmbridge.gov.uk; adavis@elmbridge.gov.uk; mfreeman@elmbridge.gov.uk; pharman@elmbridge.gov.uk; dlewis@elmbridge.gov.uk; csood@elmbridge.gov.uk;

Traffic and parking issues are the responsibility of Surrey County Council, who will prepare a consultation report in relation to planning application EBC 2019/0386.

The Surrey County Councillor for Weybridge is Tim Oliver
tim.oliver@surreycc.gov.uk

You can download a pdf copy of our March 2019 newsletter about application 2019/0386 here

Flats or Flats & Houses?

Some residents are puzzled by the reference to 17 flats and 11 houses in the planning application, when the drawings appear to show a single large block of flats, arranged over three floors.

Below is an extract from the 2019/0386 Application Form

Grenside Road school parking

Parking and turning on private land, obstructing residents

Residents of Grenside Road face school traffic and parking issues which need help from Surrey Highways.
Grenside Road is a cul de sac with no turning space, so things can get fraught when large numbers of parents park up on the pavement and neighbouring land, wait with engines running, then try to turn around and drive out.

The private access to residents’ parking spaces and lock up garages is often obstructed by parents parking and manoeuvring and trying to turn around to depart from Grenside Road.

The school’s use of the Grenside Road gates as a secondary entrance is in line with Surrey’s policy of multiple access points. But the road lacks the parking controls expected around a school entrance. There are still no zigzags or special parking restrictions around this entrance, despite the optimistic comments made by an outgoing councillor, before last year’s Surrey County County local elections, about Surrey making safety improvements in Grenside Road.

St George’s Junior School is trying to make sure parents are considerate, but official parking restrictions from Surrey would allow traffic wardens to enforce better behaviour. PPDRA will continue to draw this to the attention of the new County Councillor, Tim Oliver. Action is needed to improve a situation residents find unacceptable.

Viewpoint: Weybridge Parking Project

INTRODUCTION: We are grateful to PPDRA committee member Pauline O’Sullivan for this informative overview of the Weybridge Parking Project — work in progress by the Weybridge Society and Weybridge Town Business Group, a major undertaking on a significant topic.

It is excellent to see mention that:

any restrictions must not disadvantage residents in roads with limited or no off-street parking, and
parking restrictions must not increase rat run traffic through residential roads.

These are two concerns which local residents frequently express to PPDRA, which were included in our evidence to the project, not apparent in the original Parking Project report.

We welcome the prospect of the Parking Project accommodating these and other wider concerns. PPDRA strongly supports the principle of a strategic plan recognising the diverse parking needs across our local community. We also feel it is important that it covers traffic as well as parking, as the two are so interrelated.

Comments welcome!
…………………………….

Weybridge Parking Solution – Make your views known

Creative thinking is at last taking place to sort out parking and improve our Town. There are many factors involved and your input and ideas are important.

SCC and EBC have failed for years to implement an effective and cohesive parking plan for Weybridge that addresses increasing problems for business, shoppers, residents, schools and visitors. Getting this right is fundamental to the prosperity, look and feel of our Town.

As a result, The Weybridge Society (WS), in conjunction with the Weybridge Town Business Group (WTBG), undertook a voluntary initiative to produce an advisory document to start the necessary detailed quantification of the problem and an outline of the considerations for a potential solution. To view the Weybridge Parking Project Review & Proposal, plus a clarification and update, go to: https://www.weybridgesociety.org.uk/current-activities/weybridge-parking-review-2017-18/

The project involved only: the collection of hard data on the extra commuter parking space needed, the assessment of space available in existing car parks and their potential for expansion, and current charges/revenues. It also looked at current problems and considerations relating to the parking needs of all users and identified further work necessary to assess the wider impacts to be considered before any final solution can be proposed and implemented.

A comprehensive survey of local businesses revealed that a minimum of 725 commuter cars currently park each weekday on the streets around Weybridge High Street and the Queens Road Village. They make parking difficult for shoppers, visitors and residents, especially for those with no off-street parking. The solution being suggested is to provide more off-street parking for use by commuters and the creation of at least two Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) for residents that can be shared with short and medium-term shoppers and other visitors. The precise details of these CPZs are still to be decided and are likely to be shaped more in line with the official town boundary to take better account of the inconvenience suffered by residents in roads close to retail areas. Note these will not be concentric circles as used in the Proposal as indicative of distances from a central point.

In February, the WS and WTBG met with Weybridge and Surrey councillors to launch the Review and Proposal. Agreement was gained for it to be presented for adoption at the next Joint Executive Group of SCC and EBC. Cllr. Andrew Davis agreed to undertake the Feasibility Study into the potential expansion of existing car parks, acknowledging the need for creative ideas and no multi-storey eyesores. This was due to be delivered at end of June, but a lack of progress has meant that it is having to be recommissioned.

The PPDRA committee has discussed the findings, the outline of a potential solution, and the further work required as input to a cohesive Plan. The extra work is primarily the responsibility of EBC and SCC, but progress will need close monitoring and consultation with residents:

Feasibility Study into possible car park expansion to ease parking pressure in the two main retail areas and around the station.
Continued discussion on additional parking being provided as part of redeveloping the hospital site.
Traffic Management Review – volumes, flow, pollution levels, safety and potential impact of changes to parking and restrictions in residential roads.
Quantify parking needs around schools at drop-off and pick-up times.
Quantify the impact of evening parking needs on residents.
Investigate new parking opportunities and the further parking potential that could arise from changes being considered to the town layout.
Further Investigate the viability of a Park & Ride scheme from Brooklands.
Quantify the charging, economic viability and use of extended of car parks with the focus on their use by long-term parkers.

Key considerations in creating the new Parking Plan

It must not disadvantage residents in roads with limited or no off-street parking, nor increase rat runs.
Businesses must buy into their staff using carparks and the cost implications.
Residents must buy into paying for parking permits in return for local parking and having controlled parking zones to ensure that long-term parkers use car parks.
The timetable for implementing any new Parking Plan must ensure that adequate off-street space is available prior to introducing any more CPZs.
No further money should be spent on existing carparks until their future has been decided.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAS SOMETHING BEEN MISSED? Contribute your thoughts below, and come to the PPDRA AGM on 13 September to share views and hear from councillors. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

P O’S July 2018

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UPDATE 11 Sept 2018

Here is some further helpful clarification from Pauline O’Sullivan on CPZ proposals from the Weybridge Parking Project, which illustrates how the Project is responding to local concerns. Comments invited.

Extending the CPZ in Weybridge

It is generally accepted that Weybridge needs more off-street space for long-term parking so that all residents can park close to their own homes. However, there is also a need to provide an element of short-term parking for shoppers and visitors within walking distance of the High Street and Queens Road trading areas.

Getting this balance right is not going to be easy, with many factors to be considered. The enlargement and changes of restrictions to the existing CPZ in 2015 resulted in more stress in adjoining roads, a reduction in parking for shoppers, and roads in the CPZ being left with lots of space for much of the day. A revised approach is therefore essential.

The Weybridge Society website (weybridgesociety.org.uk) gives full details of its recent Parking Project that quantified both the cause of the congestion (long-term commuter parking) and the needs of residents, shoppers and businesses. The Project concluded that there will have to be more controlled parking on our roads for off-street parking to work.

The current thinking of the Project is to have 2 CPZs, one broadly following the irregular shape of the official Town centre boundary and a similar one for Queens Road, both based on the acceptable average walking distances for commuters as determined by the Weybridge Society’s survey. Differing parking restrictions would need to apply within these CPZs to reflect the proximity to the High Street and Queens Road, and the needs of individual roads and locations, e.g. around schools. It is already recognised that a few roads may opt to be excluded from any restriction for practical and/or safety reasons, so getting the best result for all will be a complex process. Understanding the views of residents is therefore very important.

Make sure you have your say by providing feedback direct to the Weybridge Society as leaders of the initiative at: weysoc@mickey.me.uk and/or to this Association at contactus @ portmore.org.uk

Update on planning future health services for Weybridge

Residents who signed up to participate in consultation about future health services for Weybridge following the Community Hospital fire have received the update below.

Note that the NW Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) website has been updated with NW Surrey CCG’s informative reports of the two community meetings held on 17 October in St James’ Church, Weybridge.

PPDRA aims to contribute to the consultation in liaison with members who wish to particpate in the engagement process. If you are strongly interested in the shape of our future health services in Weybridge, please let us know.

FROM: Comms (NHS NORTH WEST SURREY CCG)
DATE: Wed 15/11/2017 13:30
SUBJECT: Engaging the local community in planning future health services for Weybridge

Thank you very much for expressing an interest in joining a smaller working group/s to consider future health services for Weybridge.

We have set out our draft engagement plans below, and it would be really helpful if you could let us know which group/s you might be interested in participating in:

Engaging local people across North West Surrey on our urgent care strategyAs we described at the public meetings in Weybridge on 17 October, we are starting to think about how we plan and improve access to urgent care services across North West Surrey. This will include services in Weybridge so it makes sense to start thinking about the wider picture first before we focus on the detail for a new healthcare facility in Weybridge.To start this engagement, we are planning to hold a wider engagement event (possibly end November/beginning of December) with up to around 50 people from across North West Surrey to start thinking about the best way to provide urgent care, on the day services for local people. This is likely to be a daytime event and we will also be inviting people from other parts of North West Surrey. This would include some facilitated table discussion.

A smaller working group to look at our developing urgent care strategyFollowing the event above, we would look to create a smaller working group that might meet every 2-4 weeks for a period of several months while we work through options and move towards public consultation.
Weybridge Hospital Patient Advisory GroupOnce we have clearer plans for urgent care access across North West Surrey, we would like to create a dedicated patient group to consider services + the look and feel/design for a new health facility in Weybridge. We anticipate a working group of up to around 20 people. This is not likely to meet until well into the New Year. This group is likely to meet approx. once a month for the duration of our planning for the new build (which could be up to around 2 years depending on how the planning moves forward).

As we indicated at the meetings in Weybridge, engaging the local community is a key part of our planning; we will continue to keep people updated via our website, the local press and other methods as appropriate and there will also be opportunities for more people to get involved during public consultation where we will also have further public meetings. During that wider consultation period we would also be very happy to come out and talk to local groups as much as possible.

In the meantime, we would be very grateful if you could indicate which of the above you would be interested in participating in; these are not mutually exclusive so you could opt for more than one if you wish.

All up to date information on Weybridge Community Hospital is now on our website and can be found here.

Communications and Engagement Team
NHS North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group
58 Church Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8DP

Web: www.nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk
Follow us on Twitter @NWSurreyCCG

Weybridge Community Hospital — concern over which services will return

St James’ church was packed to capacity for two meetings on Tuesday 17 October. Around 800 local residents attended, hoping to hear positive news about health services returning to our town, after the destruction of Weybridge Community Hospital in the disastrous fire back in July.

The news was mixed. Good news is that the hospital site will be retained, interim accommodation for the two GP practices is being constructed as rapidly as possible, and should be up and running in December, and a new permanent building will be constructed on the site over the next three years or so.

The bad news is that Weybridge is unlikely to get back the Community Hospital as it was, with its Walk In Centre, X-Rays and extensive outpatient services.

What about the Walk In Centre?

So what will we get? North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group (NWS CCG) is responsible for deciding. The meetings were led by Matthew Tait, of NWS CCG, along with representatives of NHS Property Services and local GP practices.

The publicity handout headed ‘services returning to the former Weybridge Community Hospital Site’ (see below) made it clear that GP practices, a range of treatment room services, and Lloyds Pharmacy will return. Beyond that, all is up for discussion.

The great area of concern for residents at both meetings was the future of the Walk In Centre and X-rays etc. Will the Walk In Centre be returning?

We were told that Walk In Centres are now an outdated concept, that CCG thinking has moved on. But there will be treatment services. There is no short-term replacement for the Walk In Centre, as there is no space on the site and no other suitable site has been found. [Surrey County Councillor Tim Oliver on 20 Sept told local residents that part of the library building had been considered for a replacement Walk In Centre, but proved not to be feasible.]

CCG ‘engaging with community in NW Surrey’

About NW Surrey CCG

Residents were told repeatedly by Matthew Tait of the NW Surrey CCG, and his colleagues, that they would be engaging with the community of North West Surrey to understand local needs, and that future services would be shaped to meet those needs.

It appears that NWS CCG are starting with a clean sheet of paper, and looking at the needs of local towns from Ashford to Woking and beyond, in deciding what future facilities we will have in Weybridge.

Before the fire at Weybridge Community Hospital, Weybridge was a hub for local community health services. The loss of the Community Hospital means that we are no longer a working hub.

The services delivered in Weybridge in future may be better or worse than before the fire, NWS CCG cannot say at present, but CCG have a duty to look at the overall clinical needs of North West Surrey.

Weybridge concern about LOCAL provision

For many Weybridge residents, the important question has a different emphasis: ‘will we get back the LOCAL provision of health services that we lost in the fire?’

NW Surrey CCG cannot promise that we will get them back. But CCG want to engage with the community, and the massive turnout at the two meetings — CCG had originally planned to hold them in a room with a capacity of 100 people! — is a sure sign that Weybridge residents care deeply about local provision of those services.

There are natural concerns that our town may be diminished by a long-term loss of local provision of services which we value highly and rely on.

But as Matthew Tait has said, we may get something better and more future-proof. Perhaps the voice of local residents will be heard.

Three years of interim services

20 ‘pods’ (portakabins) have already been sited on part of the Weybridge Community Hospital site previously used for staff car parking, and these are being fitted out as GP Surgery facilities, plus treatment rooms.

The interim facilities on the former hospital site should be up and running by December 2017, at which point the Church Street Practice and Rowan Tree Practice will return to Weybridge. Another pod will house Lloyds Pharmacy.

Limited parking

There will be parking on the interim site for about 30 cars (presumably this will mainly be for staff parking?), including disabled spaces. The impact of this reduction in parking over the next three years is likely to be significant.

[If the remainder of the site will not actually be built on until two years time, would it not be possible to level most of it, and use it for temporary parking until building actually starts?]

There were questions about the possibility of increasing parking space longer term via underground parking (too expensive at £15,000 per space, according to NHS Property Services) or a multi-storey car park on the site (not dismissed, but likely to face cost and planning issues).

Three year plan

The majority of the interim site will become a building site for construction of a new building by NHS Property Services, following commissioning by CCG, in a process expected to last around three years:

12 week consultation in NW Surrey looking at community clinical needs
Followed by a feasibility study & further engagement
Outline business case + procurement
2-3 months design
3-4 months for town planning consideration and consent
8 weeks tendering process
12 months of building and fitting out

Community Engagement

Throughout the meeting, the words ‘engage’ and ‘engagement with the community’ were repeatedly used. PPDRA looks forward to genuine consultation, and has asked to be part of the process.

Meeting with Surrey County Councillor Tim Oliver, 20 Sept 2017

COUCNILLOR-LIAISON-SURREY-303l

Issues that matter for Weybridge residents were the topic of a useful meeting between local residents’ groups and the Surrey County Councillor for Weybridge, on 20 September.

Clr Tim Oliver met with representatives of local residents groups in Weybridge, including the Weybridge Society, Portmore Park & District RA and Triangle Residents.

In advance of the meeting, PPDRA circulated a list of Surrey-related things that concern residents of our part of north Weybridge. Most of these were covered constructively in the meeting.

Below we list the PPDRA issues, plus Tim Oliver’s agenda. Summary of some key points covered in discussion to follow.

Summary of PPDRA issues/questions for Weybridge Surrey County Councillor – September 2017

1/ Parking concerns in north Weybridge

Need for effective strategic planning and action on parking (Weybridge-wide, recognising the specific issues of Portmore Park & district, including residents of our increasingly densely populated residential roads near the High Street where most households have no off-street parking, plus shoppers and workers and school runs)
Local reactions to the recent Parking Review, especially Dorchester & Gascoigne Road issues, and lack of action on Grenside Road following our meeting with Margaret Hicks

2/ Traffic flows and speeds in north Weybridge

Keeping speeds low in residential roads
Extending the 20mph limit to the east of Thames Street: Grotto Road, Monument Road etc (region of St James’ School & surrounding residential roads; additional traffic calming, particularly for Grotto & Greenlands Roads?)
Preventing Portmore Park Road / Thames St / Walton Lane becoming a faster & more heavily used rat run
Positive visibility of roundels in existing 20 zone (a few more needed, CIL funding possibility? likewise interactive signs?)
Request for up-to-date figures on traffic flows in Walton Lane/Thames Street and PPR

3/ Any SCC plans to reduce the overall negative impact of traffic on Weybridge?

4/ Safer cycle routes

SCC plans for improving safety of cycling Weybridge (given big spend in other places, and statements of previous Weybridge councillors)?
Particular issue cycling between PPR and Station/Heathside School at Balfour Road and Church Street.

5/ Pavements

Progress of town centre pavement / pedestrian area plans?
Dangerous unevenness on pavements and gradients on drop kerbs (and no way of reporting gradients online)
Continuing issue of missing pavement on one side of Grotto Road, approaching the junction of Thames Street (a crossover of two school runs, with many pedestrians; blind corner for traffic exiting Grotto Road)

6/ Public Footpaths

Excellent to have Broadwater Path FP40!
Gradients/difficult access to parts of FP36 (Grenside Road to River Thames)
Dual use of FP20 (PPR to Minorca) ?
Issues of horse riders on Desborough Island, including churning its unsurfaced perimeter footpath

7/ Road surfaces / potholes

Status of resurfacing vs patching?
Issues of recurrent break-up at high use turning areas (e.g. Elmgrove Road outside Waitrose car park) and bends (e.g. PPR either side ode of traffic islands)
Recurrent dangerous break-up & subsidence around drains (where cyclists have to ride – e.g. in Thames Street))

8/ Impacted gullies causing recurrent road flooding

g. the end of PPR by Balfour Road; Walton Lane (or is that an EBC culvert issue by the canoe club?)

9/ Weybridge Community Hospital

Transport to temporary Walton location (new enhanced bus timetables – is SCC monitoring need /demand/ take–up?)
Rebuilding plans (essential not to lose the local community facility!!!)
Medium term plans?

10/ Town centre improvement initiatives

Weybridge Library building – current plans?
Status of thinking on part-pedestrianisation, e.g. weekend/market day closures at end of Baker Street?
Other positive SCC thinking?

11/ Future housing plans – SCC involvement?

What is the SCC role in the consultation on future housing needs (e.g. in matching plans to infrastructure & community character; some local concerns about the impact of building multiple flats – with transient rentals – on the character of a family residential area)

12/ Possibilities for SCC supporting community & voluntary involvement?

Helping residents take pride in our locality, e.g. through supporting voluntary minor clearing work along public footpaths.

Happily, the PPDRA issues overlapped considerably with the agenda suggested by Tim Oliver:

AGENDA

Introductions

Purpose of the meeting

Library proposals/ walk in centre
Parking review
Park & ride/ Traffic congestion
Streetscape/ High street regeneration
Brooklands business park accessibility
Baker street
War memorial lighting
Road closures information
Road surfaces
Road safety

Future meetings