Due to the planned national strikes Epsom and Ewell rail customers are urged only to travel if absolutely necessary from Tuesday 3 to Sunday 8 January 2023. From Tuesday 3 to Sunday 8 January, strike action will see a severely reduced service between 07:15 and 18:30, on a limited number of routes, for customers who have to travel. Sunday 8 January will also be impacted by the strike; first trains across the SWR network will start from around 07:30 and are likely to be very busy.
The strikes impact both lines that serve the rail stations in the Borough of Epsom and Ewell. SWR – Epsom, Ewell West and Stoneleigh (and Worcester Park) on the Waterloo line and Southern services for Epsom and Ewell East on the Victoria and London Bridge lines.
The national advice is always to consult in advance of your journey the online rail service journey planner
In the middle three weeks of December local rotarians escorted Father Christmas around the streets of Epsom accompanied by Tilly the train and a band of helpers from local youth associations. Joining the effort were Wilsons of Epsom on two of the nights, when they provided a driver and a Santa Claus.
It was a truly wonderful experience with young children and adults saying how delighted they were to see Santa Claus; and they gave generously to help local charities. This year knocks on people’s doors returned and they were pleased to see the Train and Santa after the COVID lay-off.
With today’s Social Media such as WhatsApp, children were ready and waiting. It was a wonderful sight when the train started down a street to see little groups in the darkness waiting. Tilly was also happy to have so many photos taken of her.
Around £6000 was raised for local charities, which included the youth organisations who helped.
Epsom Rotary, over the festive season, supported a group of young carers to a pantomime trip, a Christmas Card Appeal raised £250, the Christmas Hamper and Balloon Race Competitions, Carol singing and collections in the Ashley Centre raised even more cash for local charities. They supported the Meeting Room by collecting and donating presents and collecting donated foods from Waitrose.
Rotary and the local charities they support thank the marvellous generosity and spirit of Epsom and Ewell’s wonderful local community.
Epsom and Ewell miss out on New Year transport
2 January 2023
South Western Railways will run 21 extra services between midnight and 3.15am on New Years Day but none down our line. You could get to Oxshott. Not closer. Southern trains are no better with all services out of Victoria rescheduled to depart from London Bridge. Last train 23:45 (you’ll miss the fireworks) – but you’ll need to double-check that on the day.
South Western Railways late night New Year services on the coloured lines.
Tube services will run all night on most lines and that means you could get the Northern Line to Morden and the last 293 bus to Epsom is still scheduled to depart at 00:25. The tube journey takes 30 minutes – so you’ll still miss the fireworks.
There are night-buses throughout the night that could take you to Wimbledon, Morden, Raynes Park and Kingston and the closest to Epsom and Ewell being the 93 from Putney Bridge to North Cheam. But threats of strikes may effect journeys and you must check on the day to avoid being stranded.
If you know of any other alternatives to get back to Epsom and Ewell leaving London after midnight do let us know.
Epsom Hospital multi-storey car park rises
2 January 2023
A Planning Inspector has allowed Epsom and St Helier Trust to go ahead with a 6 level car park at Epsom General Hospital. Despite the plans rejection by local councillors and over 100 local objectors resisting. In a key section of the published decision (6th December) the Inspector stated:
“Overall, the institutional character of the hospital site strongly contrasts with the character of neighbouring residential areas. Accordingly, the wider hospital site, including the appeal site is appropriately recognised in the 2008 Environment Character Study 2008 as having its own unique character (Area 35E). This area is described as having a low sensitivity to change and relatively low ratings in terms of townscape quality and value. The proposed multi-storey car park would be notably taller than the immediately adjacent elements of the hospital building and would form a new, sizeable and somewhat bold structure at the edge of the wider hospital site. In many respects the proposed design is honest, reflecting that it would be a structure which results from its function. The design and scale, however, would be compatible with the wider utilitarian character of the hospital site within which it would be principally read. It would readily relate to the scale and height of the taller buildings on the hospital site including the consented backdrop of the Guild Living scheme. Accordingly, the multi-storey car park would appear as a logical and coherent consolidation of the built form in the unique host character area.”
In short, the implication is that as the hospital site is as a whole rather ugly, more ugliness is not objectionable. The Inspector goes on to observe:
“Despite the proposed height and massing there are relatively few public perspectives in which the proposed structure would be readily experienced. The principal ones would be from the site frontage to the hospital complex on Dorking Road and across the open sports ground from Woodcote Road. The proposed structure would also be highly visible from the public footpath connecting Dorking Road to Woodcote Road where it passes adjacent to the appeal site. However, in all of these places the multi-storey car parking building would be primarily experienced in the context of the adjacent modern, large hospital buildings described above. In those main views from Dorking Road and Woodcote Road it would be seen at some distance, dissipating any visual effects arising from its bulk and height at the edge of the hospital site. For users of the footpath adjacent to the site there is scope to install hedging along the boundary as part of the landscaping for the appeal site, as found elsewhere on the path, mitigating to some degree the visual effects from the proximity of the height and scale of the structure.”
While acknowledging that there would be harm to neighbouring conservation areas he stated: “The scale of harm, however, would be significantly moderated by the existing impact of the hospital buildings on the setting of these conservation areas. The existing hospital complex would form the principal context and backdrop in which the car park structure would be experienced in the limited public views identified from within the Conservation Areas”.
On the question of encouraging commuting by car there appears to be a paradox. The Inspector stated “Overall, the modest uplift in total parking provision would not be excessive or unduly encourage significant or unnecessary additional car-based trips to the hospital.” [Emphasis supplied.] He goes on: “In the round the appeal proposal would generate environmental benefits over existing conditions in terms of reducing queue lengths and associated emissions and through the significant provision of vehicle charging points as part of the necessary transition to a lower carbon future.”
Epsom Rotary are raising funds for many local good causes this Christmas. Take part in a virtual balloon race or guess the value of a hamper donated by Honey and Bamboo of Ewell.
Ballooning venture:
At a loss as to what to buy someone for Christmas? Buy them a balloon in our Christmas Day Balloon race. These are just like helium balloons and the aim is to see which balloon travels furthest in the week following Christmas. There is a prize for the winner!!
You can choose how much helium is put in the balloon and how thick the rubber of the balloon should be. You can choose the shape of your balloon and you can decorate it appropriately. You can also name the balloon eg Grandad Ron.
The difference is that the balloons do not exist in the real world. A computer simulates the flight of all the balloons, updating where they would have got to every 15 mins.
No ruining the environment and causing mayhem with birds and fish. You can log in at any time to see where you have ended up. Real weather data is collected for the simulation so, at Christmas, you may have strong winds and cold to contend with. You are racing against the other balloons in the Rotary Christmas race and a fun thing for your family is to phone round every day to see where the balloons have got to, plot the positions on a map and share it with the family members.
Its great fun and so cheap. Each balloon costs £3 and £2 of that goes to our charity account. Fun and doing good at the same time!!!
You can buy a set of codes to give to others and they can log in using the code – your gift to them.
THEY MUST LOG ON THEMSELVES BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY TO SET UP THEIR BALLOON READY FOR THE RACE WHICH STARTS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Honey and Bamboo Ltd, in Ewell offers a Christmas Hamper as a fundraiser. Entries are charged £5.00 per entry to guess the total value of the hamper. The winner would be the nearest guess below the actual value of the Hamper.
Details of what the hamper contains are:
Bottle of Surrey Honey, Christmas pudding. Bottle of Red wine, Bottle of White wine, Roast potato spice mix, Ferrer Roche Chocolate, Bottle of Honey and Ginger, Mature cheddar Cheese, Spice mix for turkey stuffing, Gravy mix, Box of Ceylon tea, Box of mince pies x 2, Caramelised Onion Chutney, Two packets of Afiya wax melts, Bottle of dried tomato, Olive and Garlic in Virgin Olive Oil, Wax wrap, Box of Christmas Crackers, 250 grams of mix fruit and nuts, Christmas stocking filled with sweets.
Send your £5 (or more!) to Epsom Rotary Trust Fund and mark it Hamper
Kids Out & Carers/Activity Holiday, Surrey Youth Games, Nescot Award , Young Musician, Rosebery School, Blenheim School, Youth Speaks, Young Photographer, French Speaking Competition, Young Champion, Employment Fair etc.
Senior local Councillor slams Surrey’s budget consultation
2 January 2023
Cllr Eber Kington, long serving Residents Association Borough Councillor and former Epsom and Ewell Mayor has served as a County Councillor since 2009. He has long campaigned against waste on staffing and councillor expenses. For example when standing in 2017 he stated he had “..called for a review of the County Council’s senior management structure to reduce the then £42 million salary bill [that] was voted down by the Conservatives. He opposed the Conservatives’ 2015 decision to increase their council allowances by over 60%. He has argued for the need to cut the use and cost of agency staff, which [then] stood at over £13 million.”
Today he has focussed on Surrey County Council‘s public consultation on the 2023/2024 draft budget. He describes “as biased and meaningless”. He goes on to claim “The questions are deliberately designed to lead residents towards those responses that support the draft budget. Negative responses are discouraged by additional and unsupported commentary warning of the consequences of choosing the response.
In addition, the final question invites residents to give details of “any benefits” they can see if the budget was implemented. Quite clearly SCC is not interested to learn of residents’ views on any disbenefits of the budget, as that question is not even asked.
A truly impartial survey would have also encouraged residents to state what they felt was unnecessary expenditure, perhaps on high level salaries, or what for them is a higher priority, for example night-time safer streets.”
In addition, Councillor Kington was critical of information gathering on the respondents’ personal circumstances.
“There are 24 questions, but only the last three are on the draft budget. The first 21 questions are on the status, background, salary, and other personal details of the respondent. You have to ask why any Council requires its residents to provide so much personal detail before they can even start to give an opinion. Maybe one cost saving would be for SCC to reduce its spend on such biased and meaningless surveys”.
It is believed that a similar survey in 2022 produced about 100 responses out of a Surrey population of 1.2 million.
Epsom and Ewell Times has verified Cllr Kington’s claim. The consultation questionnaire indeed has just 4 questions directed at the issue with the first 21 directed at profiling respondents.
Surrey County Council state: “The council is setting its budget for 2023/24 and has set out plans for £1,095.6m (just over £1bn) of spending. The council faces a budget gap of £83m for next year, largely due to inflation pushing up the cost of delivering services, but also due to increasing demand for services, policy changes from government, workforce shortages and continuing impact from the Coronavirus pandemic. Having worked to identify £68.6m of efficiencies within the budget, the draft budget is currently facing a £14.4m overspend.”
You can find more information and a link to the survey HERE
Surrey County Council’s leader says he has “no expectation at all” that council tax will be put up by the full amount allowed despite a £14.4million budget gap at the … READ MORE
Local sewage uploaded
2 January 2023
Epsom and Ewell’s Hogsmill River and Green Lanes Stream feature in the latest sewage report. The Rivers Trust undertake a review of the health of the nations rivers. Recent publication of the statistics for 2021 has prompted a petition to reduce sewage discharges. The main local water supplier is Thames Water. A company that reportedly has not issued dividends to shareholders other than holding companies for several years. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation are about 50% of its approximate £2 billion annual revenue. Yet, in July it awarded its chief executive £727,000 of a reported £3.1 million “golden hello” on top of her £2 million annual salary. The announcement came shortly after a damning report from the Environment Agency about the failure of water companies to stop sewage entering our rivers and waterways.
Images and data courtesy the Rivers Trust
Thames Water stated that the spillages from the Longmead arose due to a faulty sensor.
The Rivers Trust provide things you can do to maintain healthy rivers. CLICK HERE to its website.
The Rivers Trust is a registered charity and an umbrella organisation of 65 member trusts. The member trust for our area is The South-East River Trust
[Original: A local Labour Party promoted petition on the Hogsmill reported by us in June 2022 has expired. The local Liberal Democrats are promoting a new petition for general application on river pollution nationwide. ]
CORRECTION 22/12/2022: Epsom and Ewell Times apologises to Mark Todd and the local Labour Party. The petition raised by them on change.org is still live. The link may have been temporarily broken when we checked on 12th December 2022. The link to that petition is HERE.
2030 vision for the elderly in Surrey
2 January 2023
Surrey County Council sets out its vision for the care and living of the older generation by 2030. In 2021/2022 Adult Social Care in Surrey spent £506 million to support older people. This money helped over 5,600 older people and their unpaid carers. Money was also spent with voluntary organisations that support people in their community too. Adult Social Care also ensures services for information, advice and guidance are available to help people understand their care options and to make good care-related decisions.
The county of Surrey has a population which is getting older with people living longer than in other parts of the country. These changes mean that many more people are likely to be living alone, without support from their family. By 2030, the number of people aged 75+ predicted to be living alone will have increased by 27%. National reporting states that the number of unpaid carers 65 years old and over will increase by 17% from 2016 to 2025.
Dementia is most common amongst older people and in Surrey it is estimated that between 2020 and 2030 the overall number of people with dementia could increase by 28%, from 17,700 to 22,672.
In building the 2030 strategy SCC stated “We spoke to over 750 people living in Surrey. We worked with many diverse groups of Surrey residents of all ages including unpaid carers, care providers, partners, and colleagues. This took seven months and included workshops and surveys. We wanted to know what works well, what does not work well, what could be improved and what is important to our residents.”
The plan sets out all the ways SCC, working with its partners in the NHS, care sector and districts and boroughs, will support people to live and age well in Surrey over the next decade. At the heart of the plan is a commitment to improving opportunities and care choices in local communities so that older people can be as active and independent as they wish.
The council engaged with residents and their families, as well as staff and partners, to draw up the strategy – and is now seeking input to help shape how it’s put into practice.
The plan is centred around three priorities. They are:
Prevention – supporting people to lead healthy and independent lives in their local communities for as long as possible
Living independently – enabling people to live in their own homes with care and support tailored to their strengths, including through planned new extra care housing
Care homes – making sure that Surrey can offer the right mix of high quality care homes for those who need them
Working with partners, including the NHS in Surrey Heartlands and Frimley, as well as care providers and voluntary organisations across the county, the council has already achieved some key milestones in its plan.
These include:
signing a new contract for home care services so that people receive even better care in their own homes
enhancing its reablement service for people needing short-term care, such as after a hospital stay, through linking with specialist care workers
carrying out in-depth planning to help SCC and its partners meet the growing need for care home places catering for complex and challenging needs
The council’s keen to continue to gather residents’ and partners’ input as it works towards meeting the commitments in the plan. There will be opportunities to take part in workshops and surveys.
Anyone who has an interest in shaping services for older people can sign up via the web page or by calling 0300 200 1005, SMS (for the deaf or hard of hearing) 07527 182 861, text relay 18001 0300 200 1005 or BSL video relay.
Mark Nuti, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Our ambition here in Surrey is that no one is left behind – we’re committed to helping those who need us most, and improving quality of life for everyone. We want older people to be able to lead independent and active lives for as long as possible in their own homes and communities and, if they need extra support, to receive tailored and dedicated care. Our Living Well in Later Life plan sets out how we will continue to modernise our services and work with our partners over the rest of the decade to enhance the lives of older people in Surrey. If you have an interest in shaping services for older people, please come forward and help us put our plan into practice.”
Additional reporting from Surrey County Council news service.
Council elastic on plastic?
2 January 2023
In March 2019 Epsom and Ewell Council agreed to phase out its use of single-use plastics. How is it getting along? Judge for yourself from the reply of Councillor John Beckett (Residents Association – Auriol Ward) to a progress report demanded by Councillor Julie Morris (Liberal Democrat – College Ward) at the Council meeting 6th December.
The Chairman of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee reported:
“Since adopting the Single use Plastics Policy as part of the Climate Change Action Plan, the Council has been working to support the reduction in the use of single use plastics within its own operations and across the Borough. We have utilised our communications channels and public events to improve awareness and to support wider behaviour change of our residents and businesses. We installed refillable water stations in 6 of our parks and opens spaces and in our Market place, to encourage use of reusable water bottles,. We have also supported all non-food stall and dry food greengrocers at Epsom Market to stop using single use plastic carrier bags, run a reusable Tote bag giveaway event, and committed to making the Market place Single use Plastic free by April 2024. We have also reviewed the Council’s own operations to understand where we can reduce single use plastics. We have removed all plastic cups from our operational buildings, encouraging staff to use reusable bottles and cups. We replaced the depot’s old container-based water cooler with a plumbed-in version. We have also introduced segregated office recycling bins to enable improved recycling of plastics in our buildings. We have stopped buying plastic-based refreshment supplies where possible but where it hasn’t been possible to find a viable alternative, we are unfortunately having to continue to use that option. This does not mean that we will just accept the products but will continue to look at alternative options now and in the future. As the Climate Change Action Plan is a living document and with changes to industry constantly evolving, we will continue to review our operations for further opportunities to reduce the need for Single use Plastics. This work will also involve partnership working with Surrey County Council, through the Surrey Environment Partnership, to support the delivery of the Single-use Plastics Strategy for the whole of Surrey. Regarding the small milk pots which are currently used at the hot drink’s machines in the members room, council chamber and committee rooms, alternative options are being looked at with the intention for these to be discussed at the January Climate Change Working Group meeting. After an initial conversation with the councils recycling officer, it is believed that the material used in the pods might be the same as yogurt pots and the solution might be as simple as removing the foil lid and having a separate container for these to be recycled at these locations. Whilst we acknowledge it wasn’t called an audit a review has taken place of Single use Plastic use and subsequent action taken as highlighted in this reply. Since then, the issue of SuP and the 5 pledges have been incorporated into the climate change action plan and will continue to be picked up through delivery of the plan. These actions are also now robustly supported by incorporating SuP consideration into all our procurement processes. The climate change action plan has member oversight and officer resource attributed to secure its delivery and continuous review.”
Labour Councillor moves on housing
2 January 2023
An affordable housing commitment was put off at yesterday’s meeting of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. A motion proposed by Labour’s Court Ward Councillor Kate Chinn read: “We as the Labour Group move that in the Local Plan Epsom and Ewell Borough Council will specify a minimum requirement of 40% of affordable housing in each new housing development of 10 or more units (Use Class C3) of which at least 25% will be reserved for social rent and comply with the vacant building credit.”
The matter was referred back for further consideration by the Council’s Licensing, Planning and Policy Committee that next meets 19th January 2023.
Auriol School sports field in Cuddington is earmarked by Surrey County Council for 50 elderly care housing units. According to SCC: “The Cuddington site is ideally situated for Extra Care Housing and has been selected specifically for its location. The site will provide new homes in the form of 1-bedroom self-contained apartments. All of the homes will be accessible, with features designed for wheelchair users.
The accommodation has been designed around the constraints of the site and its neighbours but is still able to offer residents ready access to safe external space including landscaped gardens designed expressly to address the needs of older people; encouraging activity and promoting exercise, healthy living and wellbeing.
The design focuses on ensuring residents have sufficient space, both private and communal, and key to this have been considerations around accessibility. The development has been designed to ensure residents can remain in their homes as they grow older and/or as their needs change.”
SCC have plans for three other sites in the County. Mark Nuti, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Our ambition is to bring affordable extra care housing to locations around Surrey and these four sets of proposals bring us a step closer. Not only would the schemes help older people live life to the full, they would also breathe new life into four community sites.”
SCC is holding a consultation exercise and if you want more information and to participate go to:
Battle for school gets classical with fears of a Trojan Horse. Kingswood House School in Epsom is asking local people to join hundreds of residents in opposing plans to evict the School from its site and replace it with a small school and housing estate. With objections numbering over 400, local people have risen up in opposition to developer Steve Curwen’s plans to evict the 102 year old, 245 pupil school from its site in West Hill, Epsom. Curwen Group are working with the landowners, the Aczel brothers, with the scheme involving the construction of a small school of only 60 pupils with acute special needs.
It is anticipated that the school would be privately operated on a “for-profit” basis. In what has been described by MP Chris Grayling as: “an example of the worst form of business practice”, the Aczel brothers have confirmed that the planning application for the new school will be followed by a second application to build a housing estate on the current school’s playing field.
Amongst its 245 pupils, Kingswood House School is home to 172 local children with special needs and has the highest concentration of special needs pupils at any school in Surrey. The School has been made an Asset of Community Value by Epsom and Ewell BC in recognition of its contribution to the local community.
The School has now filed a detailed objection to the proposed development including reports by independent experts. These documents which are publicly available on the Council’s website include a report by educational expert Neil Roskilly, a former member of the General Teaching Council for England and adviser to the Department for Education. Roskilly notes that “…none of the pupils at Kingswood House School would qualify for a place at the proposed new school because their special needs would not be considered sufficiently severe: and the need in Surrey is for schools catering for milder special needs (such as Kingswood House) not acute special needs and therefore the new school would be marketed by its owners towards pupils from outside Epsom.”
Roskilly says that Department of Education design guidelines for schools accommodating pupils with acute special needs have been ignored, resulting in classrooms and common areas being too small and that: “… as designed the proposed school would have to operate with a limited curriculum”. As such, Roskilly believes that: “…it is highly doubtful that the proposed school would receive permission to open from Ofsted at a post-registration inspection. This is because it would be potentially discriminatory and in breach of the: “Special Education Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25Years (2015)”, which states that all SEND pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum”.
Access for the proposed new school would be via West Hill Avenue, currently a quiet residential road to the rear of the Kingswood House School. Transport consultants Markides note that the proposed access and parking arrangements are inadequate given the width of West Hill Avenue, its use for residential parking and the presence of trees restricting visibility. When combined with the intended housing estate and inadequate staff and visitor parking for the proposed new school, Markides conclude that: “… the proposed access and internal layout are regarded as seriously deficient and unsupportable.”The problems identified don’t stop with those spotted by Markides and Roskilly.
Officers employed by Surrey County Council and Epsom and Ewell Borough Council have identified problems relating to both flood risk and ecology. The Surrey County Council Flood Risk, Planning and Consenting Team have reported that they are: “…not satisfied that the proposed drainage scheme meets the requirements…” of the relevant planning legislation and that development should not commence: “….until details of a surface water drainage scheme have been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority”.
Curwen’s own ecology reports recommended further reports, not yet done, to establish the presence or otherwise of protected species, Great Crested Newts and Bats. Surrey’s Ecology Officer notes that these reports are still not done and that: “These surveys are required and cannot now be done until spring/summer next year” .
A common concern amongst the hundreds of objections filed so far is that Curwen’s scheme is in reality a sham and a “Trojan horse” for the construction of a housing estate. This concern is only likely to have been intensified given the fundamental flaws in the scheme’s design exposed by experts for Kingswood House School’s and the shortcomings noted by Surrey County Council’s Flood Risk team and Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s Ecology Officer.
A Spokesperson for The Curwen Group said to Epsom and Ewell Times:
“We are committed to providing a specialist SEND school at the Kingswood House site, and are currently working though technical responses to our application in consultation with the surrounding community. “.
Those wishing to support or object should do so via the Council’s website tinyurl.com/epsomewellplanning and entering the reference number 22/01653/FUL or by email to the case officer, Gemma Patterson at gpatterson@epsom-ewell.gov.uk (ref 22/01653/FUL)
*The Trojan priest Laocoön guessed the plot and warns the Trojans “I fear Greeks, even those bearing gifts“.
Ending Saturday 19th November your last chance to see selected works of the artist John Whurr at his solo exhibition in Bourne Hall Gallery. His work varies from pencil sketches of birds and animals to watercolour landscapes and detailed pen and wash of well known buildings in London and elsewhere. Also included is a large collection of portraits in ink and pencil – WG Grace is portrayed at Lords Cricket Ground – the pop artist Rod Stewart in his early days – groups of famous racing drivers and rugby plyers. His gift for depicting people is incredible. I particularly enjoyed the picture of the actor Leo Mckern playing the part of “Rumpole of The Bailey”. In this one off incredible exhibition, colour paintings of classic cars, motorbikes and railway trains demonstrate John’s wonderful skill in depicting shiny surfaces like metal and glass. Detailed pictures of buildings and cityscapes show his interest in architecture. A very modest and down to earth person – John has been awarded many accolades for his work but prefers to maintain a low profile.
John Whurr has always had an interest in drawing from an early age. He went to school in Carshalton and became chief draughtsman for Shell Coal and later worked for the BBC . He studied at Sutton Art College and spent time learning watercolour skills at the Epsom Further Education Centre. Over the years he has had several exhibitions alongside other artists at Bourne Hall and other places with many of his works going abroad from Australia to the USA and many European countries.
He was commissioned to provide five pictures for the cultural centre in Nagasaki, Japan. He loves sketching and his first love is architectural/coastal subjects but his interest in landscape will get him reaching for the paint palette. For many years his drawing has extended to caricatures and more recently portraits. John is a member of the Society of All Artists & The Molesey Art Society. He’s enjoyed being ‘artist in residence’ at the Brooklands Museum Weybridge.
Reporting by Audrey Ardern-Jones
Council’s secret strategy on public resources?
2 January 2023
Epsom and Ewell’s powerful Strategy and Resources Committee went into secret session on four items of public interest at its meeting Tuesday 15th November. The four items were:
INCOME GENERATING OPPORTUNITY
COST OF LIVING PAYMENT
LAND RETENTION
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY UPDATE
In each case the secrecy was justified on the following ground:
“…. the business to be transacted/nature of the proceedings………. deals with information relating to the financial or business affairs of the Committee and third parties and the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”
However, the Committee did not close the meeting during discussions on the motion to close. During that discussion Councillor Eber Kington (RA Ewell Court Ward) revealed in public that the “income generating opportunity” related to a crematorium.
Councillor David Gulland (LibDem College Ward) argued that the proposal “is an interesting development which would benefit from a wide-ranging discussion with our residents … I feel we’re trying to be too secretive…we should be open with what we’re trying to achieve with our assets.” The Interim Chief Executive, responded that “the reason this is a restricted item is because it’s a commercial opportunity and we need to protect our negotiations…with potential suppliers, etc”. However, Councillor Kate Chinn (Lab, Court Ward) agreed with Cllr. Gulland. “Part of making the business case is to see if there’s a need for it in the borough,” she said. “Surely the easiest way to do that is to ask the residents.”
It was at this point that Councillor Kington made the statement that “I want to get as much as I can out in the open. But what we have here is the Council looking at a possibility of a crematorium.” He went on to defend the proposal to exclude press and public: “ [If this] is a runner, it would have to come back to this committee and it may well be that that will be the time when it will be a public document. We don’t want to give anyone the heads up that this is what we are planning. In most cases, we will put things not on pink paper if we can help it.” [Ed. “Pink paper” is the colour of secret papers.]
The Residents’ Association majority on the committee agreed with Councillor Kington and excluded press and public from any further details of this and the other three items.
_________________________________
At the same meeting:
VOTER ID LIKELY FOR 2023 – BUT COUNCILS MAY HAVE TO PICK UP THE BILL
Following public consultation, a new polling station is expected to be in operation for the borough elections in 2023. This is to be situated in the arts centre at the newly refurbished Horton Chapel and will serve the residents of the new Horton Ward. This new ward will comprise the four former hospital sites of Clarendon Park, Livingstone Park, Manor Park and Noble Park, plus some roads that are currently in Court Ward around the northern end of Hook Road.
Receiving the detailed report that included this information Councillor Hannah Dalton (Residents’ Association, Stoneleigh Ward), asked about the Council’s preparedness for the introduction of voter id at polling stations. “There will be a lot of communication from the government about this,” the council officer replied. But he went to say that it will be a challenge getting it ready because the Council will be able to issue identity slips where people don’t have photo identity.
Councillor Liz Frost (Residents’ Association, Woodcote Ward) followed this up by asking about the cost implications of this for the Borough Council. The Interim Chief Executive, stated that “there are discussions going on with government at the moment … At the moment, the proposal is that local councils will fund ID cards … It’s an ongoing discussion.”
Epsom and Ewell remembers…
2 January 2023
Epsom and Ewell came together for the annual Remembrance Day service at Epsom’s Clocktower, Friday 11th November. The Mayor’s Chaplain reflected on the history of Remembrance Day. The first was held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace in 1919 when the two-minute silence was observed. In 1921 the poppy became a symbol of Remembrance. The Second World War saw the commemoration being held on a Sunday, to avoid disruption of ammunition production should the 11th of November fall in the working week. The Chaplain mentioned how the reality of today’s television coverage of wars was inuring many to the horror of war.
The service was attended by a full complement of Councillors of all parties, servicemen and boys and girls from Blenheim School and other local schools.
The full service is reprinted below.
Battle for Epsom School continues….
2 January 2023
A new planning application has been submitted by land owners the Aczel brothers to Epsom and Ewell Borough Council to redevelop the Kingswood House School site. “Demolition of an existing building, relocation and reprovision of MUGA Sports pitch, and construction of new access and parking facilities for a SEND school”.
The plan is to replace the 100 years old school for many with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) in West Hill, Epsom, with a new 60 place school for children with “extreme special needs “. Supporters of the existing school suspect the application is a ploy to develop all the land in the owners’ possession into a housing estate. The new application relates to the built area and a further application is expected for a housing estate on the current adjacent playing fields. If the owners were granted both permissions but failed to proceed with the new school development the suspicion of The Kingswood school support group is that an application will be pursued in the future for housing throughout the whole land.
Kingswood House School is asking local people to object to the new school application by 21st November 2022. The application can be seen on the Epsom and Ewell BC website under reference 22/01653/FUL.
Kingswood House School is a thriving and vital part of the community that provides a first class education to over 240 local children and which is the only school in Epsom to be listed as an Asset of Community Value.
According to a report commissioned by the land owners “There are (SEND) places available across all year groups in the…. independent ….and…. public sector within Surrey…. and Epsom and Ewell and …..should any pupil from Kingswood House School require a place within (either sector) … there will be a place available”. Alfredson York Associates Ltd. The author of this report Jonathan Powell goes on to conclude in his report: “Given that Kingswood House School is not a special school and has no particular specialism that is not provided within the same catchment from which Kingswood House currently draws, the proposed development would not significantly alter the choice and availability of places.”
Dr Kugathasan Senduran disagrees and commented: “Education provides us with the fundamental tools we require to live. Switching schools is more likely to demonstrate a wide array of negative behavioural and educational outcomes. If education collapses, everything does. You do not need an atomic bomb or a long-range missile only the collapse of education in a country to ruin it forever. I simply cannot believe the council is even considering their proposal of demolition of an existing building and interrupting children’s education. I strenuously object their proposal.” He is one of 30 objectors to date who have gone public on the Council portal.
Kingswood House School is holding a public meeting on the plans at the Main Hall, Stamford Green Primary School, KT19 8LU on Thursday 10th November at 7.00pm (doors open 6.40pm).
Although Kingswood House is a private school, it is a charity and any profit is reinvested into the school. By contrast, the proposed school, which is not backed by the Local Education Authority, would be run by a private operator (with profits going to shareholders) and “would not be aimed at local children”, Kingswood School supporters say.
Richard Laudy, a Governor or Kingswood School, adds “There will be problems with access via West Hill Avenue, currently a tranquil street. At least two protected trees would need to be removed. The plans do not include enough space for drop-off, causing queues, overspill parking, and nuisance on local roads. The proposed new school only has 22 parking spaces. This will be insufficient for the specialist nature of the school.”
Richard Evans, Chair of Governors at Kingswood House School, confirmed that the School had not been consulted over the plans and that: ”…the School vehemently opposes the unacceptable plans and is working with local residents to defeat them. Kingswood House has been serving the local community for over 100 years and provides the unique offering of special needs and mainstream children developing alongside each other. Our school is a listed Asset of Community Value, which would be lost along with our playing fields if the landowners’ plans went ahead. The proposal would also damage the tranquil character of Stamford Green Conservation Area, creating a chaotic new access on West Hill Avenue. We need local people to make their voices heard and object to this speculative and harmful proposal.”
Cllr. Steve Bridger, Councillor for Stamford Ward, is aware of the application and has ‘called it in’ so it will be heard in front of the Planning Committee rather than decided by Council officers.
Public comments can be submitted via the Epsom & Ewell Borough Council planning applications website using the reference 22/01653/FUL, then clicking on ‘Make a Comment’.
