Effingham Eye: November Round-up

Published on: 15 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 17 Nov, 2019

Chris Dick gives his personal monthly round-up of some interesting and varied items. These items include Effingham Parish Council updates, a possible new nature reserve designation, the bells ring out once more, HGV problems, more houses and another talk…

Effingham Common 

Following the October Effingham Parish Council (EPC) meeting it’s great to report another positive initiative by the council.

EPC is considering whether it should approach Guildford Borough Council (GBC) with a view to designating Effingham Common as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR).

Apparently GBC has indicated that it might be willing to support this formal designation. [Local Nature Reserves are a statutory designation made under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949].

Harry Clarke on a recent visit to Effingham Common.

Local naturalist and County Butterfly Recorder Harry Clarke is enthusiastic about the council’s initiative.

Mr Clarke said: “The common is already registered common land, and designated a SANG [Suitable Alternative Natural Green space], which is a mitigation measure for development within seven kilometres of the Thames Basin SPA.” [Special Protection Area].

Mr Clarke explained that the new designation would ensure the common was managed for wildlife, rather than being managed just as a green space.

He added: “It won’t prevent a car park, but reduces the risk of a car park. Actually designating Effingham Common as a LNR should be a no brainer, given that along the western and northern boundaries of the common is the wildlife corridor, which is a policy in Effingham’s Neighbourhood Plan.

“It would help protect rare skylarks, attract nightingales – which have been lost from Bookham Common – and encourage Guildford Borough Council to manage the woodland edges. I am unaware of any disadvantages to such a designation and, as I am also rather fond of butterflies, hopefully they might also benefit from the designation as well.”

Mr Clarke explained that commons can be developed under certain circumstances involving land swops and that in the years to come government pressure to build near transport hubs like Effingham railway station will only grow.

However, if EPC decides to go forward with this initiative and is successful in designating the common as an LNR it could help prevent unwanted development there.

Planning Highlights

Also at the meeting, councillors discussed and agreed to object to both the new Berkeley Homes planning application for 50 additional homes on Effingham Lodge Farm – on top of the 295 already approved by the Secretary of State – and to the Millgate planning application for 20 homes off Church Street on the former St Lawrence Primary School playing field.

EPC has written a detailed letter of objection to GBC’s planning department explaining its concerns regarding the land off Church Street.

Apart from many aspects of the Millgate application that appears to drive a coach and horses through the Effingham Neighbourhood Plan, the council objected to what it referred to as the “social engineering” of providing a separate entrance off Church Street for those living in the affordable flats.

Effingham Residents Association website covers these planning applications in detail as well as the links, references and objections. It is clear that the residents association and parish council are sensibly singing off the same hymn sheet in their objections to these plans.

Heavy Lorries

Above and below, HGVs threaten Effingham’s narrow streets.

Much time was taken up at the council meeting discussing what appeared to be an unsolvable problem.

With Berkeley Homes having been granted planning permission for a new school and around 260 new homes off Lower Road – the remained are planned for the Browns Lane site – EPC is now faced with the question of how building materials can be delivered to the two sites off Lower Road.

Clearly Surrey County Council (SCC) Highways own the problem but EPC is expected to advise and comment.

Councillors discussed the 7.5-ton weight restriction along The Street and Effingham Common Road.

However, these weight restrictions do not apply to access. Councillors discussed the dangers for parents and pupils going to and from St Lawrence Primary School if HGVs used the two mini-roundabouts outside the school.

And it would be equally dangerous to the Howard of Effingham School pupils if Lower Road was used during term-time hours.

Add to this problem that the roads between the A246 and Lower Road do not have continuous pavements which inevitably means pedestrians have to walk in the narrow roadways.

Therefore, nobody considers it safe or wants traffic on these narrow village lanes – Church Street is marked as ‘Unsuitable for HGVs’,  Calvert Road is too narrow and Manor House Lane has no pavement for pedestrians at all.

This means that all site traffic will probably have to use the Effingham Common Road site access via the Effingham Station railway bridge.

As part of this process, councillors discussed both the weight limit on the railway bridge and that it had subsided over the past couple of years.

SCC Councillor Julie Iles, who had been in contact with Network Rail several times, reported that Network Rail considered that the bridge structure is sound.

Apparently there is a layer of clay under the tarmacadam which dried out during one of the recent hot summers and subsided. In the past, railway engineers have said that once the clay had rehydrated the surface should recover. Unfortunately this has not yet happened.

Remembrance Day

The autumnal colours of the Dawn Redwood tree provided the foreground to this photograph of the Remembrance Day Parade in Effingham.

It was good to see an even larger crowd than last year take part in the Remembrance Day parade and service last Sunday.

The parade started at the Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Lower Road and walked up to St Lawrence Church in what turned out to be a warm sunny day.

The bells ring out again

Workmen in biohazard suits visit St Lawrence Church to remove the old mercury switching system.

In the final stages the St Lawrence clock repairs became something of a nightmare.

When engineers came to restore and upgrade the dated clock mechanism they found that the switching system contained mercury.

Unfortunately, although many of us will recall playing with mercury in the school science lab, in today’s world it is treated like asbestos – hence the photo above.

The clock and chimes are now back in full working order after many months of silence. Much thanks is due to Effingham Parish Council who supported the cost of renovations.

One for your diary

Leaflet providing details of a talk in Little Bookham by local Effingham historian Vivien White.

Finally, this Effingham Eye article would be complete without drawing your attention to another informative talk.

This time the talk will be about Little Bookham, (in the parochial parish of Effingham) during the First World War.

The illustrated talk, on Friday, November 22, will be by historian Vivien White and accompany by mulled wine, mince pies and coffee.

The venue is Manor House School, Manor House Lane, Little Bookham. See leaflet for details of how to apply for tickets.

Now did my editor say there is a general election to write about…? [Yes, he did!]

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