White Rose Lane
Further roadworks on Onslow Crescent, Shaftsbury Road and Pembroke Road
I’ve been informed that there will be further diversions around Onslow Crescent, Shaftsbury Road and Pembroke Road for two weeks from Tuesday 11th August, so the County Council can take forward highway maintenance and resurfacing. The work will take place between the hours of 8:30am and 5:30pm and is not expected to take longer than two weeks.
As with the repairs on White Rose Lane, access will be maintained for residents and emergency services although any other vehicle found to be obstructing the highway will be moved to a suitable location after all reasonable efforts have been made to contact the owners.
While I appreciate this will cause some inconvenience, I am told that the work is necessary and residents will of course benefit from the resurfacing of parts of these roads, which is long overdue.
Temporary road closure on White Rose Lane
I’ve just received notice from Surrey County Council that White Rose Lane will be temporarily closed to traffic between the junction with Ashwood Road and Cleardown for five days, starting from this Wednesday 22nd July. The purpose of the closure is to enable the highways authority to carry out urgent repair works.
The restrictions will only operate when traffic signs are displayed, and access will be maintained for pedestrians, business and emergency vehicles and those living in the area. Access will instead be diverted via Ashwood Road, Heathfield Road, and through the Hockering, and so residents in these areas may notice more traffic than usual.
Should residents have any complaints about these works, they can contact Surrey Highways on 01483 517514.
New planning application at St Dunstan’s church site
Residents living near the old St Dunstan’s church off White Rose Lane will have received a letter from the council in the last few days advising them of a new planning application on the site. A plan has been submitted for landscaping and beautification changes to accompany the proposal for a residential development of 91 flats with retail units and amenity space, which was approved by the Planning Committee in 2012.
There is a long history of contentious planning applications on the St Dunstan’s site, which remains an under-used brownfield site that would benefit from some form of house building. I have always felt that any development at this location needs to be in keeping with the local area and similar to neighbouring properties on White Rose Lane and around from the post office on the corner of Oriental Road. My colleagues and I successfully defeated a proposal for a 23 storey building in 2010, and were able to negotiate with the developer over the height of the currently approved planning consent, securing a reduction from 17 storeys to a much more acceptable range of between 7 and 11 storeys.
The current application does not represent a material change to the plans that were agreed a few years ago and so it will be dealt with under delegated powers rather than going to a full Planning Committee. However, residents are still able to make representations and can have their say through the council’s public access planning portal, or by contacting the planning department by post or email. The deadline for responses is Wednesday 22nd Juy and any comments received will help inform officers’ decision on whether to recommend that the application be granted and on what conditions to attach to the approval if it does go through.
Speeding on White Rose Lane
I recently held a meeting with people who live in the properties at the bottom end of White Rose Lane towards the junction with Old Woking Road. Residents have been campaigning for additional measures to reduce the speed of traffic coming into Woking from the east of the borough. Although White Rose Lane already has a number of speed reduction features built in, the numerous blind curves, the narrowness of the road and the lack of a proper footpath beyond the Jack & Jill steps makes it a particularly treacherous route for pedestrians.
Earlier in the year residents submitted a petition to Surrey County Council calling for the introduction of a 20mph speed limit. Unfortunately, that proposal was not accepted on the grounds that very few roads in Woking have such a low limit.
My County Council colleague Liz Bowes and I are currently working with officers to explore what could be done to install a footpath which would run from Toad Hall in White Rose Lane to the corner of Old Woking Road. There are, however, a number of obstacles which need to be looked at carefully. There are uncertain land ownership issues, with part of the highway and pavement being owned by Woking Borough Council, other parts being owned by Surrey County Council, and others being privately owned by residents. There is also the lack of a consensus in favour of a footpath, with some residents being strongly opposed. The fact that this part of White Rose Lane is so narrow also presents logistical difficulties, and, even if a solution can be found, there are a lot of demands on the highways budget and the project will need to compete with other areas which are also looking for funding.
As a first step, Councillor Bowes and I have arranged a meeting between White Rose Lane residents Surrey County Council officers Alan Milne and Keith Patching, to take place on Tuesday 16th June. The purpose of this meeting will be to identify ownership of the land running along White Rose Lane and to discuss ways in which we can either reduce speeding along the road or make pedestrian access safer. Separately to this, I have also contacted Serco and asked them to carry out remedial work on the shrubbery between Toad Hall and the White Rose Lane Nature Reserve so the road can be made easier to navigate for those walking along this route.
Once this meeting with highway officers has been held we will be able to decide the next best steps. I will continue to keep residents updated and ensure they are a part of the discussion.