Railway ticket office closures criticed by council

30th July 2008
See article on Surrey Advertiser website

PLANS to cut opening hours at train station ticket offices in Surrey have been met with criticism from county hall. South West Trains (SWT) is currently consulting on proposals to cut back services at 27 stations, including Guildford, Milford and Witley.

Local Code of Conduct - Complaints about Conduct of Councillors

From May 2008, responsibility for considering complaints about the conduct of elected councillors moved from the Standards Board for England to the Standards Committees of Local Councils.

If you have a complaint about the conduct of an elected Member of Waverley Borough Council or a member of one of the town and parish councils in the Borough, you should contact Waverley's Monitoring Officer, Mr Mark Hill, who will be able to tell you about the procedure to be followed in such cases.

You can call Mr Hill on 01483 523240 or email him at mark.hill@waverley.gov.uk.

Further information is available on the Waverley website.

The new Mayor of Waverley visits Milford Fair

The new Mayor of Waverley, Cllr Len Bate with Councillors from Witley Parish Council - Cllr Joy Hicks, Cllr Julie Grist and Cllr Maxine Gale (Chairman) at the Milford Fair, on June 14, 2008

BT have earmarked phoneboxes for removal

Around have of the BT payphones in the Waverley area have been earmarked for removal. These include 33 of the traditional red boxes. BT is undertaking a formal consultation, which closes on 9th June. Visit www.waverley.gov.uk/payphones to submit your views.

Waverley will discuss their response at the Executive meeting on 10tyh June. To see this meeting live, visit www.waverley.goc.uk/webcast.

Dunsfold Planing Application Number WA/2008/0788

A Planning application is in for Dunsfold Park New Town with 2,600 dwellings for6,350 residents and 3,000+ cars.

The planning application can be seen here.

A large number of people oppose the building of this new town and their views are published at http://dunsfoldparknewtown.com/

If you have concerns, send Waverley your written objections. You must quote their reference - WA/2008/0788. If you want to comment on the planning application online click here

Report on social care services for older people in Surrey

Th Commission for Social Care Inspection publishes reports and a directory of care homes.

Click here to see the December 2004 Surrey County Council report.

Clisk here to see reports on care homes in the Witley area.

Surrey Waste Plan adopted

The Surrey Waste Plan was adopted by Surrey County Council at its meeting of 6 May 2008.

Click here to see full details.

The Surrey Waste Plan, Adoption Statement, Inspectors’ Report, Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Directive Appropriate Assessment April 2008 and post adoption statement, which summarises how sustainability has been taken into account in the plan, may be inspected free of charge at the Waverley Borough Council Offices.

Witley war memorial flagstones stolen

Published by the Surrey Advertiser, 9th May 2008
Click here to view story

In an overnight attack between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, (6-7 May) thieves removed a large paved area from the Witley war memorial's garden of remembrance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 quoting reference WV/08/794. Alternatively Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously and free of charge on 0800 555 111.


Witley census - 2001

The last census revealed that the Parish of Witley (including Milford) had a population of 7703. 6001 people were over 16 and between them they owned 5297 cars or vans meanwhile 322 households in Witley have no car or van at all.

The parish of Witley contained 7703 inhabitants at the last census, or 6.7% of the whole population of Waverley.

To see more, click below.

Witley 2001 Census Information


Sewage reappears in Cherry Tree Road, Milford
Published by the Surrey Advertiser, 25th April 2008

Residents in Cherry Tree Road have suffered another flooding of raw sewage - the eleventh time since January 2006.

Jeremy Hunt makes debut on YouTube

Our local MP, Jeremy Hunt has started to publish short videos on YouTube. Here he is talking about a recent government decision that Dunsfold should not be a candidate for Government eco-town status:

Audit Commission assessment for Waverley

The Audit Commission has recently published its annual assessment for Waverley.

The main messages for the Council included in this report are as follows.

* The Council's performance in overall terms has improved in line with most district councils over the past 12 months.

* While significant savings were secured over the past 12 months, the financial outlook for the Council is extremely challenging. Members will need to keep Waverley's financial strategies under review, particularly where reliance is being placed on the use of reserves to finance expenditure plans and maintain a low level of council tax increase.

* The Council has been operating with transitional management structures since April 2006 and has decided that a new Managing Director should be appointed in April 2007. While there is no evidence of any adverse impact on the Council's performance in the short term, the Council will need to ensure that organisational structures are fit for purpose and provide effective community leadership.

* The Council is involved in some major regeneration projects and improvement programmes that require significant senior management expertise to deliver. The financial and managerial capacity of the Council to deliver such projects will need to be kept under close scrutiny.

* The Council will not achieve the targets set for meeting the government's Decent Homes Standard (DHS) by 2010. Officers estimate there is a shortfall in resources available to the Council of £17 million which means that only 58 per cent of stock will have achieved the standard over the next three years. Efforts are being made to find solutions and investment is being prioritised to improve those properties most at risk of further deterioration. Tenants are being kept informed of progress. However, the Council has only limited financial capacity available to improve the standard of its stock.

* Progress in achieving the Council's ambitions for ensuring a high quality of life and socially inclusive communities is mixed. While electronic access to services and disabled access to buildings has improved over the past 12 months, progress is slow in some important areas in that:

- the Council does not yet have an agreed social inclusion strategy (although a strategy is in draft) and no progress has been made in developing an implementation framework for the strategy when it is agreed;

- the Council has assessed itself as achieving Level One of the Equality Standard for Local Government, which is behind Waverley's target and most local authorities for 2005/06; and

- in 2005/06, performance in processing new benefits claims was firmly in the worst quartile of local authorities, which means that the needs of some of the most deprived people in the area were not being met. Recent management reports (in December 2006) highlight that the situation is improving.

* Performance in achieving community safety targets is good and is in the best quartile for Audit Commission Best Value performance indicators.

* Waverley did not meet the government's targets for recycling of household waste (24 per cent was recycled compared to a target of 30 per cent). The Council introduced alternate weekly collection of household waste and recyclables. At the end of January 2007, the Council estimates that recycling levels of up to 40 per cent are being achieved and that improved performance should be reported for the 2006/07 year.

* From a low base, performance in processing planning applications is getting better but remains below the average level for district councils.

* The Council's arrangements for ensuring the quality of data need to be improved, particularly in identifying and providing the training needed for staff involved in data processing.

* The Council is demonstrating better performance in its use of resources. Action was taken in 2006 to enhance arrangements for financial management, internal control and for securing improved value for money. Notably, an Audit Committee was established in September 2006. While it is too early for sustained improvement in performance to be evident in all areas, the Council is well placed to deliver even better performance over the next 12 months.

* The Council continues to prepare accounts which meet the earlier timetable for financial reporting required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 and in overall terms, performance has improved compared to previous years. We gave an unqualified opinion on the Council's financial statements for 2005/06.

* The Council demonstrates notable practice in the way it promotes external accountability, producing an annual report that summarises the business of the Council in an accessible way.

Click here to see the latest information published about Waverley by the Audit Commission

Classic car garage in Witley given permission to be turned into homes

Following a string of planning applications, and an appeal the owner of Baynards Garage has been given permission to demolish the showroom and build new houses on the site.

Click here to see the application.

Decision time on funding for the Waverley webcasts

Waverley's webcast project has been hailed a success, but the EU funding which heavily subsidises the project will come to an end this year.

Click here to see the broadcasts

Free wireless internet agreed for Godalming town centre

Surrey Advertiser, 6th February

Godalming town centre is set to go wireless as a one-year pilot scheme for free internet access has been given the go-ahead. Waverley Borough Council's Executive committee has agreed to help establish a secure, wireless network covering an area from the railway station to the council offices. The WiFi zone will take in The Pepperpot, High Street, Bridge Street and The Burys.

Elstead Mill cut off by floodwater

Surrey Advertiser, January 18th, 2008
The River Wey burst its banks beside the low-lying watermill on Tuesday, January 15.

Road repairs online

Surrey motorists will soon be able to find out online when their roads will be repaired. In the meantime you can use this page to report a problem or make an enquiry relating to Surrey's highways.

Surrey Advertiser coverage of the Tuesley Farm polytunnels

NFU says 'common sense prevails' over polytunnels
Surrey Advertiser, 7th December, 2007

The National Farmers’ Union expressed relief following last week’s decision by Waverley planners to approve the continued use of polytunnels at Tuesley Farm in Milford.
In what was widely regarded as a landmark case, the farm owner, UK soft fruit grower Hall Hunter, was given to the end of this year to remove all the polytunnels on which its business depends. They had been judged as unacceptable within the green belt by the High Court in 2006.

Soft fruit tunnels allowed
Surrey Advertiser, 30th November, 2007

The battle of the polytunnels was concluded on Wednesday night with an overwhelming majority of Waverley planners permitting continued, but reduced coverage, at Tuesley Farm in Milford.

Waverley made planning history in 2005 when it became the first local authority to determine polytunnels constituted development and required planning permission.

Protesters angry over polytunnel U-turn
Surrey Advertiser, 16th November, 2007

Council planners stand accused of executing a major U-turn on green belt policy by recommending approval for polytunnels at Tuesley farm.

It was revealed this week that Waverley borough officers believe the new application submitted by the Hall Hunter Partnership for their Milford based soft fruit business “strikes the right balance between the needs of modern agriculture and the needs of the area”. But the support for the plan has angered campaigners who feel the council has caved in to external pressures and are not fulfilling their obligation to protect the green belt site.

Polytunnel farm accused of ‘smokescreen tactics’
Surrey Advertiser, 12th October, 2007

Campaigners opposing the Hall Hunter Partnership’s application for 20 hectares of polytunnels to protect its crops at Tuesley Farm, Milford, have claimed the company is employing “smokescreen” tactics.

“They want to turn a local landscape issue into a referendum on the soft fruit industry,” said a spokesman for the Tuesley Farm Campaign this week. “They are seeking to force Waverley to abandon its clear and unwavering support for the green belt and the area of great landscape value.