PPDRA Community Meeting 20 Sept 2023

Find out what’s happening around north Weybridge at our PPDRA community meeting and AGM
> 7:30pm – 9pm, Wednesday 20th September 2023, CPP Parish Hall, Portmore Way, KT13 8JD.

Our theme is positive local activities:

Discover what’s planned for Weybridge Library community hub.
Learn more about local community activities and clubs.
Meet local councillors.

Guest speakers:
> Susan Wills MBE, Assistant Director, Art, Culture, Heritage & Libraries, SCC.
> Tim Oliver, Leader, Surrey County Council, divisional member for Weybridge.
> Representatives from local voluntary community groups and clubs, sharing information about local activities you can participate in.

A great opportunity to find out more about current and future community activities in our town.

All interested Weybridge residents welcome

We hope to see you there!
And if you are part of a local community group/club/activity and would like to contribute to the meeting, please do contact us and participate.

Download our latest PPDRA newsletter and meeting flyer

After 20 years of portmore.org.uk website, we have now finally set up something on FaceBook:

PPDRA Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/973688393918141
20th Sept Community meeting: https://www.facebook.com/events/845498233398453/

Local Plan Consultation – PPDRA comments

The Elmbridge Local Plan consultation has given Weybridge residents an opportunity to comment on options which will shape the character of our town and borough over the next 15 years. Government demands that EBC finds space for around 9400 new homes mean there are no easy choices: any of the options on offer will have effects which residents may not like. PPDRA has submitted the following comments:

ELMBRIDGE LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION 2019 – SUBMISSION

This is a submission in response to the Elmbridge Local Plan Consultation of behalf of the committee of Portmore Park and District Residents Association.

We have studied the indicative options put forward by Elmbridge Borough Council in public documentation and at the Weybridge consultation meeting, and we have informally canvassed preferences within the local community in north Weybridge.

Overview

In summary, we would support a sympathetic ‘optimising’ of urban areas – subject to some caveats, below – and a small degree of development on some ‘weakly performing’ Green Belt land so long as it minimises any negative impact on existing residents (indicative Option 2, with Option 5 in reserve).

We strongly oppose the options of ‘intensifying’ urban areas or wholesale release of Green Belt.

We have a question about how residents can help influence the evolution of the character of our town as housing density increases. We would also like more Local Green Spaces designated.

Rationale

1/ Intensifying urban areas in the way described in Option 1 would have an extremely negative impact on quality of life and the character of Weybridge and other Elmbridge towns. It would be wholly unacceptable.

North Weybridge is characterised by open and green settings, local open spaces, gabled buildings in Victorian and Edwardian style, and low rise development even in high density areas (e.g. terraced cottages), with larger buildings set well back. Intensification would significantly reduce the quality of life and damage the character of our town. It would remove some key reasons for living in Weybridge. A number of existing residents have told us they would want to move away.

2/ Large Green Belt release (Option 3) would again be a wholly unacceptable option. It would change the character of the whole borough, and make Elmbridge a much less desirable place to live.

3/ A small amount of development on Green Belt land appears unavoidable. It is essential this only affects weakly performing Green Belt, and is planned in a way which has minimum negative impact on existing residents: e.g. by incorporating wildlife corridors and local green spaces to soften the impact and give some visual separation of new development from old; also ensuring truly adequate infrastructure ahead of development.

We would support the level of Green Belt development suggested in indicative Option 2. We have concerns that, if larger areas of Green Belt are selected (as indicated in Option 5), developers will simply build on Green Belt first, before tackling more difficult brownfield/infill sites. But we recognise the value – if there is to be any building at all on Green Belt – of the kind of analysis underlying Option 5.

While we recognise that the ‘performance’ of Green Belt needs to be judged against defining criteria, we consider that some mechanism is also needed for residents to offer input into how Elmbridge categorises the significance of specific areas of Green Belt.

For example, the strips of Green Belt separating Weybridge from Walton are highly significant in preventing the two towns appearing to be simply part of one endless conurbation. They help define the towns. Some of these areas of Green Belt also have significant local amenity value, as well as being important to the landscape and urban identity (e.g. Cowey Sale, Desborough Island, the Grotto Road Recreation Ground and land at Broadwater Farm, Oatlands Park and allotments).

4/ ‘Optimisation’ of towns must not include development which leads to damaging intensification (including over dominant infill) and loss of character.

Some of the Proposed Urban Sites in Weybridge would significantly damage the character of our area. For example US401, the prominent triangle of green space between the southern end of Grenside Road and Thames Street, has significant value in shaping the character of the area: it is visible from the Monument Green Conservation Area, and maintains a continuation of visual green and open character into the southern section of Thames Street.

5/ Local green spaces are essential to the character and quality of daily life in Weybridge. Losing any green spaces would remove some key reasons for living in Weybridge. We would like to propose further green spaces in north Weybridge including:

green space between Grenside Road and Thames Street (US401), reason described above
the Grotto Road Recreation Ground (i.e. the football field at the end of Grenside Road) which while already protected to some extant as Green Belt has high amenity value
Cowey Sale Open Space, Walton Lane (Green Belt with high amenity value)
Darnley Park Open Space
Desborough Island, Walton Lane (Green Belt with high amenity value)
Finnart Close Open Spaces
‘The Grotto’ Marlborough Drive
Walton Lane Open Space (by Canoe Club & car park – riverside Green Belt with high amenity value)

Who shapes the future character of Weybridge?

At the 27 August consultation meeting, we were advised that a Neighbourhood Plan was really only useful where large scale development/redevelopment was planned. We were also told that with an increase in housing density, the character of a town would inevitably change.

Our question then is, how can residents help shape and moderate that change in the character of Weybridge, if not through a Neighbourhood Forum and Neighbourhood Plan?

Previous Elmbridge Local Plans have characterised sub-areas of towns in some detail – e.g. characterising Portmore Park Road as a ‘Suburban Boulevard’ – which has helped guide councillors in making decisions about granting consent to planning applications which affect character.

At present, planning officers can give advice based on national planning law and housing ambitions, with apparently insufficient regard to local factors such an application’s impact on the character and openness etc of a specific locality (e.g. St Catherine’s, Beales Lane, Weybridge).

We are currently in a position where applications which local residents and councillors consider to have deleterious and damaging impact on the character of our town (such as Bridge House, High St Weybridge) can appear to be voted through by councillors from other towns, without the benefit of any strong specific guidance about making new developments fit with the character of our town.

Is there some way in which the local knowledge of residents and local councillors, and their aspirations for future development of their neighbourhood, can contribute to a formal source of such guidance on local character?

Download a pdf of our Local Plan Consultation submission here

Traffic and Parking – What do YOU want done?

Remember Surrey’s 2009 North Weybridge parking proposal? Many residents objected strongly, with good reason. It proposed CPZ restrictions that would have made life difficult in some roads. The plan was scrapped, and other roads that needed parking controls had to wait. Conclusion? CPZ proposals must be designed to meet the very different local needs of different roads.

2009 North Weybridge CPZ proposal – strongly rejected by residents

Parking and traffic: problem twins…

Our part of Weybridge has traffic and parking issues which vary considerably from road to road. We have several roads used as rat runs, three schools, roads where residents have no off-street parking and others with ample off-street parking.

Previous attempts at strategic parking solutions have failed because they ignored local residents’ differing needs. Can we do better now?

Traffic issues arise from the sheer number of drivers who want to use our local residential roads

As a rat run
Or for the school run
Plus some driving irresponsibly fast where possible

The impact of traffic is serious

Reduced safety for pedestrians and cyclists
Greater disturbance for residents from noise and fumes.

Parking problems have more causes

Limited on-street capacity, in roads where residents have no off-street parking and finding anywhere to park is a challenge
Short term school run parking obstructing driveways, pavements and junctions
Workers and visitors wanting free long-stay on-street parking
Shoppers wanting convenient free short-stay parking

The impact of parking varies

Massive and prolonged negative impact when residents are displaced from parking near their home
Short-term inconvenience and great annoyance when access is obstructed by school run parking at key times
Recurrent annoyance from seeing a road being used as a free car park
Positive effects when considerately parked cars reduce excessive traffic speed (natural traffic calming).

Local priorities

Top priorities for PPDRA (discussed extensively over the past ten years: see previous postings), are that parking restrictions and provision:

Reflect local needs, which vary from road to road
Draw on the views of residents in each road
Give highest priority to safety
Give very high priority to ensuring residents with no off-street parking can find somewhere nearby on-street to park (e.g. by local CPZ in badly affected roads)
Give special attention to school & school-run parking issues, and their impact on residents
Allow ample convenient short stay parking for shoppers
Allow all-day on-street visitor parking where appropriate
Are strategically coordinated across the area to reflect overall needs (without forcing ‘one-size fits all’ restrictions on residents)
Strategically relate on-street controls to off-street (public and private) parking capacity
Provide adequate affordable off-street capacity, without sacrificing the character of our townscape (i.e. avoiding visually intrusive multi-storey car parks or paving over public green spaces)
Don’t use strategic planning as an excuse for inaction: where there is an urgent need, action must be urgent.

Residents’ views matter

Here we give some more background on local issues for residents around traffic and parking, and their impact.

Local views on traffic are reasonably clear — most residents don’t want dangerous rat run traffic in their residential roads — but parking is more divisive. One resident’s solution may be another resident’s problem.

PPDRA’s long held view on parking is that local residents are the people who know most about the parking needs and issues in their road and nearby. Residents are the people who have to live with the issues day after day, so their views should be heard.

Of course restrictions must be strategically coordinated across the area, but that must not disadvantage roads in urgent need.

Residents who have to rely on finding an on-street parking space have the greatest need — so PPDRA has long supported residents’ majority calls for controlled parking zones (CPZs) in roads like Elmgrove Road (given a residents-only CPZ) and Dorchester Road (still waiting).

Areas around schools also have particular needs. For example, we have been lobbying for safety improvements in Grotto Road and Grenside Road.

Wide area CPZ concerns

Currently it is suggested that a large area of Weybridge could be made a CPZ, perhaps with inner and outer zones (see the Weybridge Parking Project). Some local residents — including most of the PPDRA committee — were worried by proposals in the original Parking Project report, because they seemed to ignore considerations that some residents feel are local priorities. Happily, the Weybridge Parking Project team appear to be evolving the proposals in response to concerns.

Impact on our area

One resident said, after reading the report, “I don’t want to see our town ringed by multi-storey car parks and dominated by yellow lines, clearing the way for faster rat run traffic”.

Reduced capacity

Other residents (e.g. in Radnor and Glencoe) are aware that a CPZ in their road would significantly reduce their ability to find anywhere to park, because of all the additional yellow lines (see the 2009 plan above).

Previous proposals rejected

Reduced capacity, greater rat run danger and increased inconvenience were key reasons behind residents’ overwhelming rejection a proposed 2009 North Weybridge CPZ (see plan above).

The proposal to ban daytime parking on Portmore Park Road was especially unpopular. It would have encouraged rat run traffic, reduced parking options for residents of nearby roads, and caused problems for parents collecting children from St Charles Borromeo.

There were also worries of impact outside the proposed CPZ boundary, in Thames Street and beyond.

So what factors must be considered now, and what principles would bring the best outcome? The Local Priorities listed above by PPDRA draw on years of input from local residents.

SHARE YOUR VIEWS AT OUR COMMUNITY MEETING & AGM ON 13 SEPTEMBER
7:30 for 8:00 pm at St Charles Borromeo school hall, Portmore Way, Weybridge

PPDRA position on parking

In summary, PPDRA, rather than proposing specific parking solutions, seeks to

listen to residents’ concerns about parking and traffic, which may vary from road to road
focus on the principles around parking and traffic that matter for our community
lobby Surrey and Elmbridge Councils to act in line with those principles, and find strategic solutions which are sensitive to the differing needs of different roads in north Weybridge

At its heart, our position is that any strategic parking solution must reflect the differing needs of different roads.

Problems vary across our area

Our part of north Weybridge has some very specific parking and traffic issues, which vary enormously across the area.

We have many attractive narrow fronted Edwardian and Victorian homes within walking distance of the town centre, busy schools, local businesses, tree-lined suburban boulevards with large houses, and traffic trying to avoid main road jams.

Diverse issues

Traffic and parking issues vary from road to road:

roads of narrow fronted homes with no off-street parking, where residents have problems finding anywhere to park
roads used as rat runs which would be dangerous without effective traffic calming
shoppers and visitors needing somewhere to park, and displacing residents
roads where school run traffic and parking dominate parts of each school day
workers seeking all day parking, and displacing residents

Strategic needs

Many residents have long believed that strategic action is needed, with the councils working together. Surrey County Council is responsible for controlling on-street parking, Elmbridge for off-street.

A strategic approach to parking and traffic issues will only succeed if it addresses the different issues facing different roads in north Weybridge. It must be sensitive to local priorities and the different needs of different roads.

Strategic solutions are difficult, which means they take time. Hence many residents are disturbed at suggestions that urgently needed local changes should be put on hold pending an overall strategic solution. It should perfectly possible to agree more immediate local changes, in line with an overall strategic vision, to relieve severe problems.

There is a cost to local residents in failing to meet their needs!

SHARE YOUR VIEWS AT OUR COMMUNITY MEETING & AGM ON 13 SEPTEMBER
7:30 for 8:00 pm at St Charles Borromeo school hall, Portmore Way, Weybridge

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UPDATE 11 Sept 2018

We have added a further clarification from Pauline O’Sullivan on CPZ proposals from the Weybridge Parking Project, which illustrates how the Project is being responsive to local concerns.

Weybridge Point scheme making progress

Plans for improving Weybridge Point took a step forward on 7th December, at a meeting between the Thames Landscape Strategy (TLS), Weybridge residents groups, Weybridge Ladies ARC and local councillors.

The Weybridge Point Scheme was initiated by TLS and the Weybridge Society, and obtained CIL funding after it incorporated some adjustments to meet local needs better (proposed by PPDRA, Weybridge Ladies ARC and other local groups).

Work is soon to start. On 7th December, plans developed from previous meetings — for landscaping the car park and enhancing the ability to view the river and weir — were adjusted so that all parties were happy with the proposals.

Weybridge Point overlooks the confluence of the Thames and Wey, and is valued in many ways: as a riverside car park; as the entrance to our local stretch of the Thames Path; as part of national Cycle Route 4; as a convenient place for mooring visiting boats; and as a place with a picturesque view towards Shepperton Weir.

The Weybridge Point scheme aims to enhance its use for all of those purposes.

The draft TLS plan with a diagonal path was a significant improvement on the very first plans, but it was agreed that it needed some adjustments to avoid reducing riverside parking, to moderate cycle speed past the entrance to the WLARC boathouse, where boats are often carried across the path, and to keep the emergency vehicle access clear. PPDRA suggested some modifications.

The annotated plan on the left illustrates the agreed amendments.

Putting a dogleg in the desire line path enables maximum parking with a riverside view, slows cycles at the key point, and prevents obstruction of the path and emergency access. A low safety barrier railing will separate the parking from the riverside edge, without obstructing views.

Making the viewing platform a suitable and practical size was high on the agenda. The ground beyond the edge of the car park is fairly level before it drops away. Decking over the relatively level part would be far more affordable than decking needing a tall engineered structure for support.

There was also much discussion of how to limit litter being left outside bins. This has been an increasingly troublesome issue, since the moorings were upgraded and enlarged.

Suggestions at the meeting were for a large (commercial sized) wheeled bin with lid, for boat rubbish, plus normal bins for use by pedestrians and other visitors to the riverside. The best location for the boat bin is still under discussion, as it depends on easy access for emptying.

Overall the meeting was very positive, and all parties look forward to work starting as soon as possible, so the results can be enjoyed this summer — if at all possible, in time for the Weybridge ladies ARC Regatta on 10th June.

PPDRA has found a picture of Weybridge Point on a postcard sent from Weybridge in 1909.

It shows a view of the weir, with working horses and a small moored boat in the foreground.

Weybridge Point is a place residents and visitors alike appreciate, and true asset for our community. We look forward to it regaining some of its picturesque charm.

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

Community Event and PPDRA AGM – 5 Oct 2016

Portmore Park & District Residents Association

Local residents are invited to our Portmore Park & District community event on 5 October, from 7:30 pm in the St Charles Borromeo School Hall, Portmore Way.

Keep in touch with what’s happening locally

Meet fellow residents and local councillors
Find out about things that affect our local community
Share your views

The evening will have ample opportunity for asking questions and raising concerns. It will incorporate (briefly) the PPDRA AGM.

County Councillor Ramon Gray, and Elmbridge Borough Councillors Andrew Davis, Michael Freeman and Andy Muddyman plan to be there.

There will be opportunities to learn more about — and give your views on — topics including

Broadwater Path update
Weybridge Parking Review
River Thames Scheme flood relief
Community Resilience
Weybridge Point riverside consultation
Weybridge town centre
town planning and
other local matters.

Is there a local topic you would like us to include?
Please do let us know: email contactus @ portmore.org.uk

Provisional Programme

7:30 Chat and light refreshments
8:00 Hear about and discuss local matters as a whole group
9:00 Brief AGM formalities, followed by
discussion in smaller groups of topics of most interest to people
9:45 Close

We hope to see you there!

Local concern at Parking Review recommendations

The long awaited Weybridge Parking Review recommendations have received mixed reactions locally, and disappointment at what was not covered. Here we give an overview of the parking issues, and draft reactions from PPDRA to the recommendations.

When the Surrey County Council parking team presented its Weybridge Parking Review report of recommendations, and drawings to the Elmbridge local committee at its meeting of 27 June for initial approval, councillors at the meeting reported a lot of concern from local residents

SCC reports that “As a result of concerns expressed by committee members, we are currently considering comments received in response to the publication of these proposals, before deciding on what schemes should be put forward to formal advertisement. We are still aiming to advertise these proposals in September.”

At a public meeting on 14 July organised by Cllr Andrew Davis, PPDRA Chair Miles Macleod was invited to attempt an impartial non-political introduction.

Here are the notes from that introduction:

Weybridge Parking Review – An Introduction from PPDRA

Parking is an increasingly serious problem for our town. Weybridge needs:

Reliable parking for residents
Convenient parking for shoppers & visitors
Affordable parking for workers

The issue is that demand for parking spaces exceeds supply.

Weybridge has a particular problem in roads where Victorian and Edwardian homes have no off-street parking, so residents have to find spaces on-street, in competition with workers and shoppers unless there is a CPZ in their road.

Over the years this has got worse, with:

more cars,
new dwellings without private parking (which Government planning law forces Councils to permit near town centres)
progressively more yellow lines and on-street restrictions which reduce overall capacity

Many residents were pleased when Surrey announced a strategic review, which would try to do something about that.

Those who recalled the last strategic review, some 8 years ago, hoped it would be nothing like that – a plan which caused an outcry because it would have reduced parking capacity dramatically in parts of North Weybridge causing displacement to neighbouring areas.

PPDRA welcomed the new review’s aims. Our view has long been that:

residents in individual roads should be consulted on CPZs, within an overall strategy and consultation with wider community
the Councils — Surrey & Elmbridge — should work together to increase capacity
something major is needed to address the shortage of off-street parking in Weybridge

What was our reaction on seeing the Review recommendations? Well, in some ways very disappointed
– where is the strategic thinking? What about off-street parking? And why were some roads entirely ignored?

But it does have some positive points, in some of the changes proposed.

PPDRA DRAFT reactions to the Weybridge Parking Review 2016 report of recommendations

It has some good points:

Trying to address some important parking issues, and consulting residents of the most immediately affected roads – particularly those close to the High Street, with limited private off-street parking (where residents rely on being able to park on-street)
Proposing CPZ changes/extension based on the responses of residents of those roads
Proposing something to help control early evening on-street parking near the town centre (by extending restrictions to 8pm)
Trying to do something to increase daytime short-stay shopper parking (by allowing it in some sections of CPZ roads)
Addressing known safety issues around various junctions

And bad points:

LONG TERM

Failing to take a strategic view of Weybridge parking needs, and on-street vs off-street capacity
Particularly failing to address the issue of public off-street parking shortage

IMMEDIATE

Ignoring roads east of Thames Street (e.g. Grenside Rd, Grotto Road, West Palace Gardens, Old Palace Road)
Not assessing the impact of displacement parking from CPZs
Not being effective enough in increasing short-stay shopper daytime parking capacity (e.g. Oakdale Road daytime spaces count)
Doing nothing to assist long-stay worker parking

There is a fair overlap between our views and the views from the Weybridge Society, but where we differ is that PPDRA does not think that all changes should be put on hold while the strategic issues are sorted out – there is a parking crisis in some roads near the High Street, which needs urgent action.

Former PPDRA Chairman Elected to Elmbridge Borough Council

Portmore Park and District Residents Association offers congratulations to Michael Freeman, who chaired PPDRA from 2008 to 2014, on his election to serve on Elmbridge Borough Council.

Michael stood down from the PPDRA committee (where he was deputy chair) in March 2016 in order to contest the local election, in line with our policy of strict neutrality on party-political matters. His work on the PPDRA committee will be missed, but we are sure that a close link will be maintained.

Michael will be one of three councillors representing Weybridge Riverside ward. The other councillors are Andrew Davis and Andy Muddyman, to whom we also offer our congratulations. PPDRA looks forward to working with all three over the coming years.

Weybridge Parking Review – PPDRA Response

On 17 January 2016, PPDRA sent the following to the Surrey Highways Parking Strategy & Implementation Team. It draws on extensive local discussion by our committee, input from residents at meetings and via a survey, and discussions with local groups.

PPDRA submission to SCC Weybridge Parking Review

Portmore Park & District Residents Association (PPDRA) recognises that Weybridge needs adequate parking for residents, shoppers, visitors and workers, if our town is to thrive. We also know that this is a difficult balance to achieve.

The PPDRA committee broadly welcomes the principle of reducing parking restrictions to help increase capacity, where that is possible and desirable, so long as

a good balance of priorities is achieved (especially the balance between parking for residents, shoppers and workers)
safety is kept as a prime consideration.

We welcome the principle of consulting residents of individual roads about the specific needs of their road, especially where residents are being displaced from limited parking spaces in their own road.

PPDRA believes there is a very strong need for more public off-street parking, priced more affordably, and convenient for Weybridge town centre. This is a view which has been widely expressed by local residents in our community meetings and surveys. Cheap or free short stay parking in particular could help the town centre thrive. Affordable long stay off-street parking is also much needed, within reasonable walking distance.

We recognise that allowing on-street parking can have positive outcomes beyond a simple increase in parking capacity, especially in potential rat runs. Traffic speeds in our local residential roads are a major issue. Parked cars can be a positive natural form of traffic calming: for example, Portmore Park Road and Thames Street are unclassified residential roads which without parked cars might become high speed rat runs for through traffic.

Thames Street and Portmore Park Road include schools and a church, which have different parking needs and impacts on the community, meriting additional thought about how best to enable the required mainly short stay parking nearby. PPDRA has met with St George’s Junior School 3 times a year since 2002, liaising on issues including how best to manage school run drop off and pick up parking. We have also discussed parking issues with representatives of Christ The Prince of Peace church and other local groups. We note that Thames Street has recently faced issues of excessive obstruction caused by inconsiderate parking at the upper end between the junction with Grotto Road and Monument Green.

The most serious parking issues locally arise close to Weybridge High Street. The Portmore Park and District area of north Weybridge has a fair density of mainly Victorian homes with no off-street parking. The lack of private off-street parking is a particular issue in roads adjacent to the High Street, where shoppers and town centre workers look to park their cars. The result has been that residents of these roads, returning from a school run or shopping journey, risk finding nowhere to park within walking distance of their home. Hence many living in these roads favour residents’ parking schemes.

PPDRA has long supported the principle that Surrey County Council should consult residents of individual roads about specific residents’ parking schemes for their road.

The PPDRA committee also recognises the need to permit short term shopper and visitor parking in such roads, with a good level of churn, so long as it allows for the needed level of daytime residents’ parking. It is not good to see ‘residents only’ parking zones with few parked cars in daytime, when shoppers can find nowhere to park and when local shops are in need of footfall.

Further from the High Street, many homes in Portmore Park & District have private off-street parking. For roads where there is no issue of residents being displaced from essential on-street parking, as a general principle the majority of the PPDRA committee would favour only minimal restrictions, simply where safety issues demand double yellow lines on dangerous corners. However, we appreciate that there is concern among residents in some roads (particularly Wey Road and Round Oak Road) about potential displacement of parking into their roads if CPZs are introduced elsewhere, and we feel this issue needs careful consideration by Surrey.

We are aware of specific issues in Radnor and Glencoe Roads where there is a very high density of houses and almost no off-street parking, and Church Walk which has very limited parking. Some residents of these and other roads rely on their parking being able to overflow into on-street parking in Portmore Park Road.

PPDRA would be happy to contribute further on any way possible to help support Surrey County Council (and Elmbridge Borough Council) in finding ways to achieve adequate parking for Weybridge residents, shoppers, visitors and workers.