Lion Retail Park
Last night I spoke at a meeting of Woking Borough Council’s Planning Committee on behalf of residents in Little Riding, Oriental Road and Maybury Hill who asked me to object to the application for increased opening hours by the Asda supermarket.
Asda had applied to extend its trading hours from 8am to 7am in the morning, and from 8pm to 11pm in the evening. However, residents are concerned that the location has suffered from traffic, noise, light and air pollution in recent years and believe that the scale of development at the retail park is overtaking the capacity of the local infrastructure to cope with the demand. Some 24 parking spaces have recently been lost owing to the construction of the new Costa Coffee unit.
The Lion Retail Park is an unusual site in that it is in a predominantly residential area with houses in very close proximity to the shops. While residents are not against additional trading and longer opening hours as a matter of principle, they understandably want to make sure that the expansion and development of the retail park is being done in a way that is consistent with its location in what is otherwise a quiet and peaceful part of Woking.
Following my representations, councillors on the Planning Committee voted to restrict opening hours from 8am to 10pm. During the meeting I also obtained reassurances that the council will not allow 24-opening hours at the retail park. I was pleased to be able to secure another victory for my residents and will continue to exercise vigilance to ensure that the quality of life for everyone living near the retail park is protected.
Boundary Review
On Thursday councillors will debate changes to the ward boundaries for local elections. The purpose of the boundary review is to make local elections more balanced by ensuring that all councillors represent a similar number of voters across the borough, and to reduce the number of councillors from 36 to 30, in line with recommendations set out by the Boundary Commission. The council undertook a public consultation on the proposed new wards earlier this year, with displays in the Peacock Centre and Mercia Walk. A total of 195 responses were received, the bulk of which were supportive of the changes.
During the consultation representations were received from Pyrford residents about the boundaries for the new Heath ward, which would have included Pyrford village, Mount Hermon East and parts of Maybury and Sheerwater. Residents were concerned that the new ward would split the historic community of Pyrford across two different seats. At a public meeting about the boundary review last month, some residents also expressed opposition to Pyrford being included in the same ward as Sheerwater – considered to be a very different community in terms of character and needs.
In response to these objections, a number of alternatives were considered which sought to ensure that Pyrford remained within one ward. The new ward will now contain the entire area within the current Pyrford division as well as the Maybury estate, but will exclude Sheerwater and Mount Hermon East. Mount Hermon East will instead merge with the bulk of what is currently Mount Hermon West to create a single Mount Hermon ward. The new seat will run from the Old Woking Road in the east, along White Rose Lane in the south and the railway line in the north, and will extend all the way along York Road and Mount Hermon Road.
I am glad that the new boundaries will retain Mount Hermon as a distinct community within Woking, as this would have been lost under the earlier proposals. The new wards will ensure we have the right number of councillors in the borough to represent residents’ interests. I look forward to supporting the changes when they are debated later this week.
Budget debate
At the meeting of full council on Thursday, councillors debated the budget for the financial year 2014-15. The budget includes a modest but unavoidable increase in council tax of 1.9%, which is equivalent to an extra £4 per year or 8p a week for a Band D property and is under the current 2.1% CPI rate of inflation.
We should be under no illusions that we are likely to receive significant financial support from central government in the forthcoming years. Our grant has already been cut by 40% since 2010-11, and projections suggest that we can expect to see further reductions from £4m this year to £3.4m in 2014-15 and £3.2m in 2015-16. Our financial strategy is predicated on the view that local authorities will receive no central support by 2018 and hence it is up to us to become self-sufficient and identify our own income streams.
However, despite these pressures the council has achieved a great deal in difficult times. Hidden inside the budget papers are some impressive figures. The council has delivered efficiency savings, cost reductions and additional revenue of £2m for the next financial year. The council’s reserves have also been maintained at £3m. We run a balanced budget and our additional funding requirements are proportionally much lower than both Surrey County Council and Surrey Police – we should remember that Woking Borough Council only receives only around 12% of all council tax collected.
Some people have asked why Woking did not accept the Government’s offer of a grant this year to freeze council tax. The Executive has taken the view that it is not in the interests of residents for us to do so. The grant of £85,000 is only available for two years and will then cease, giving the council a further savings requirement on top of the funding that the Government has already signaled it will withdraw. A modest increase in council tax under the CPI rate of inflation generates some £156,000 of additional revenue per annum which is added to our base. The current model for incentivising council tax freezes is not sustainable and during the debate comparison was drawn with Runnymede Borough Council, which has accepted the grant for a number of years and is now seeking much larger, above inflation council tax increases to make up the lost revenue.
During his budget speech, the Leader of the Council set out how the Executive has maintained and improved services and kept the borough’s finances sound despite the ongoing economic challenges. In particular, he highlighted the 224 affordable homes and 163 family houses being delivered through the Moor Lane project, the sale of the Hoe Valley housing site for 150 new homes, and an anticipated further 75 affordable and 222 family homes through the sale of Brookwood Farm as progress in meeting our housing targets. He also pointed to the improvements in Jubilee Square, the beginning of the refurbishment works in Commercial Way, the opening of the Bedser Bridge, construction of New Central on Guildford Road, the opening of the WWF headquarters in Brewery Road, the new Asda in Sheerwater, the anticipated completion of the upgraded Woking market in July, the launch of the Victoria Square project, and the diverse range of new retailers in Wolsey Place and the Peacock Centre as highlights of the municipal year.
I was therefore pleased to support the budget and believe that Woking residents will show their support for the Executive’s record in this year’s local elections.
Pyrford Neighbourhood Forum
This week Woking Borough Council gave approval for the establishment of a Neighbourhood Forum in Pyrford. Under the Localism Act, communities have been given the power to have a greater say in the planning process by preparing a Neighbourhood Plan and specifying what kind of development they would like to see in their area. Once a Neighbourhood Plan has been adopted, it becomes part of the statutory development process and must be referred to and taken into account in all planning decisions taken within that community.
The first step in drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan is the establishment of a Neighbourhood Forum. An application for a Pyrford Neighbourhood Forum was submitted to the council in November. Following a public consultation and engagement with residents, the application was approved by councillors on Thursday after minimal debate and no objections. A Neighbourhood Forum was also approved for Byfleet at the same meeting.
This is a great opportunity for Pyrford residents to have a much bigger say in the planing decisions that affect their lives, and recognition must be given to the organisers and officers of the Neighbourhood Forum which is one of the first in the country to take advantage of the new powers devolved down to communities through the Localism Act. Special acknowledgement should also be given to Cllr Ashley Bowes, the council’s planning portfolio holder and ward councillor for Pyrford, who expertly took the proposal through Full Council and whose legal expertise and in depth knowledge of the minutiae of planning policy will no doubt be of immense value to the Neighbourhood Forum in drawing up their plan.
Once a Neighbourhood Plan has been drawn up by the forum it will be subjected to an examination to ensure that it complies with national planning policy as well as the development plan for the borough set out in the Core Strategy, before residents are given the final say in a referendum.