Effingham Eye: Flats Near Completion During The AGM Season

Published on: 10 Aug, 2017
Updated on: 18 Aug, 2017

By Chris Dick

Other recent Effingham news articles put this column back a bit. But, undaunted here I am back again to brighten your day. Do I hear sighs of relief? Who’s that groaning?

I would have written about our return visit to the Henley Traditional Boats festival last month where, once again, David King and I, under wifely supervision, saw 16 of the Dunkirk Little Ships and so much more. But I can only stray off Effingham matters so far before the editor hits the delete button. [That was me groaning. Ed]

On the other hand, with the new Dunkirk film showing at the Guildford Odeon perhaps I can squeeze in a photograph:

WW2 German amphibious craft in foreground with one of the Dunkirk Little Ships named L’Orage in background. There is always a naval rating on board during a parade. Photo taken at the Henley Thames Traditional Boat Festival July, 16 (2017)

Meanwhile, back in Effingham, new building projects will soon be ready. The Old Post Office in The Street should be finished this autumn. Now much extended from the original footprint it will provide two upstairs flats, one flat downstairs and a retail outlet. A coffee shop and meeting place is planned for the retail outlet, which will bring a welcomed boost to the other shops in the parade.

The old post office conversion to one and two bed flats nears completion.

The flats are likely to appeal to first time buyers and those downsizing. Gary Balchin, who has run this conversion project, hopes to have the flats ready for occupation by October.

I hope to catch up with Cassie Millard, the new coffee shop proprietor, and write about her plans for the coffee shop, which is also intended to be an informal meeting place for villagers to chat over a hot drink.

A short distance away, next to Sibleys Newsagent on the A246 Guildford Road, a further five flats are nearing completion. This site is where Finestra Home Improvements Ltd used to be before they moved to Leatherhead.

Flats near completion Guildford Road at the junction with Norwood Road

There has been a spate of annual general meetings (AGM) since the previous Effingham Eye article. These included; Effingham Parish Council (EPC), Effingham Residents Association (EFFRA), Ripley Parish Council, Effingham Recreational Trust (EVRT) and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

In some respects, the worst meeting was the AGM held by CPRE in the beautiful settings of Pains Hill Park, Cobham. Unfortunately, it fell on the hottest day (June 22, 2017) of the previous 40 years! The outside temperature was 33C and there was no air conditioning. In all other respects the meeting was a great success and played to a packed audience.

This meeting was significant to Effingham residents because of the potential impact on our village from a possible 2000+ new homes at the old WW2 Wisley Airfield known as Three Farms Meadow.

Overcrowded trains, lack of parking facilities, road closures, increased demand on school places, traffic congestion, strained infrastructure such as water and sewage removal and over used wildlife areas will inevitably have some impact on Effingham residents and of course other villages close by.

Helen Jefferies presented the case of Wisley Action Group (WAG) explaining how the Wisley appeal was progressing. It was clear that WAG were mounting a formidable defence but equally clear was the fact that this came at a high financial cost per head as Wisley has so few inhabitants.

Vivien White the chairman of EFFRA said: “EFFRA and EPC will be making a statement to the inquiry, which will be based on the views of residents. It was very clear at the recent Berkeley Homes inquiry that statements based on the actual views expressed by residents carry more weight with the Inspector”

Vivien White chairman of EFFRA – Effingham Residents Association

The final decision on Wisley, like the Berkeley Homes appeal regarding 295 new homes in Effingham and a new school, will also be referred to the Secretary of State for the final decision.

Also mentioned at the CPRE meeting was the news that the redesign of the M25/ A3 Junction 10 had suffered a set back. Someone had omitted to include access to Wisley Gardens in the various Highways department plans. Whoops!

I mentioned the Ripley AGM, held in their local bowls club on May 11, because they seem to have solved the problem of encouraging residents to attend. The evening started half an hour earlier than our meetings, which always start at 8pm.

They started earlier because it was foremost a social event and the meeting appeared to be an add-on. There was no formal layout of chairs and it was all about residents gathering for a chat over a couple of pints. Oh yes… and then maybe getting round to the AGM an hour later. Let’s hold our meetings in a pub or one of our club rooms.

In other news; resident, students and commuters face about a year of rolling road closures affecting their North Downs routes over Ranmore to Effingham.

The consultation on the possible closure of Ranmore Recycling Centre was due to close on August 7, (2017). The Ranmore Centre is the nearest for most Effingham residents and the consequence of closure will doubtless lead to more fly-tipping such as we saw in an earlier article about the old WW2 Wisley
Airfield