Newsletter

WINTER 2008/9        Issue No. 95

 Calling All Egham Residents

- Join (or Re-Join) Today!

Our aim is to work to make your community a better place to live. For 25 years, the ERA has focused on preserving and improving the facilities in Egham Town and championing the interests of its residents. Known issues that are top of the ERA Committee agenda for 2009 include:

Þ Airtrack proposals affecting level crossing downtimes;

Þ the continued threat of gravel raising;

Þ the Precinct car park redevelopment (proposed for Waitrose and a Travelodge hotel);

Þ relationship development with the 7,500 students who are in higher education in Egham area;

Þ improving waste management and recycling services; and of course

Þ the ever-popular Egham Royal Show and Barn Dance, Community Fair, Magna Carta Day, carol singing, coach day trips, quiz nights and other community events. 

Our Committee do this by:

Þ working in liaison with the key influencers for our town such as the Independent Runnymede Borough Councillors, Surrey County Councillors, Egham Chamber of Commerce and other community  groups e.g. the Police Neighbourhood Panel

Þ actively seeking to protect our local environment e.g. against gravel extraction and air pollution

Þ keeping a watching brief on planning issues and raising concerns where valid

Þ organising public meetings and speakers on issues affecting Egham

Þ working on committees to enhance our town and foster a sense of connected community

Þ supporting local groups and charities

Þ producing quarterly newsletters (N.B only this January issue is free to non-members) 

The more members we have the bigger our voice and the greater our chance of success. If you are concerned about the future of Egham Town, then join the ERA now!

This year we can announce that ERA members will also be able to receive great discounts on ERA social events, at the Egham Leisure Centre & at a number of local restaurants, retailers & businesses in the promotion of our local community. These will apply from 1^st April & more details will be available in the membership pack issued with the next Newsletter & on our website.

Contact our Membership Secretary, Genna Clark, on 01784 437044

  ANNUAL  GENERAL  MEETING

This is advance notice that this year’s AGM will be held on

Tuesday  24^th  February

at the United Church in the High Street starting at 7.30pm

Guest Speaker :  Darren Harding, Waste Minimisation Officer, RBC

“Recycling : Runnymede’s Approach”

The AGM will be followed by Cheese & Wine

Everybody welcome to attend! 

AIRTRACK UPDATE

BAA’s consultation on their plans for the Airtrack scheme closed on 15^th        December & focused mainly on new track required from Staines to Heathrow T5 & plans for a new depot at Feltham. However, BAA;s complete dismissal of the need to address the level crossing issues in Egham caused a considerable furore across the community & led to a widespread campaign to complain to both BAA & other authorities involved in the process (including a Downing Street petition which closed on 24^th January with some 1,850 signatures). Bridges &/or tunnels are under review & it should be noted that we have been joined in the level crossing issue by Spelthorne & Richmond. BAA’s response to the consultation is awaited with interest! We, along with RBC, SCC & our MP, remain in favour of the scheme in principle on environmental grounds but only if the crossings issue is resolved as part of the project. 

HEATHROW AIRPORT EXPANSION

Following last year’s public consultation on adding a 3^rd runway & a 6^th Terminal and introducing “mixed mode” runway operations at Heathrow, which saw more than 70,000 responses, the government’s supportive decision was delayed from  December to 15^th January, as there were “strong views” that needed “proper  consideration”!! The £9bn scheme, which is due for completion by 2020, is opposed by local councils, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats & the Mayor of London & is believed to have divided the Cabinet. Concessions to the “no” lobby include proposed high-speed rail links through a Heathrow hub, a reduction in extra flights to 125,000 p.a. (on top of the current 480,000), strict monitoring of noise & pollution levels (with “green slot” limits for the new runway requiring the newest, least polluting aircraft) and the dropping of “mixed mode” plans to make more use of the existing runways. Nevertheless campaigners plan a legal challenge, claiming that the Government has tinkered with the  evidence & that Heathrow will fail to meet, & already breaches, noise & carbon emissions levels required under EU legislation. It is also expected that if Labour lose the next  election in 2010 then the scheme will be cancelled? The immediate next stage is for BAA to prepare detailed plans for submission to a Public Inquiry, ahead of a detailed planning application which is unlikely to be submitted before 2011. 

PRECINCT CAR PARK REDEVELOPMENT

The much-awaited planning application for the Waitrose/Travelodge project was submitted to RBC on 19^th December and confirms the developers confidence that the £35mm scheme (creating 200 jobs) will progress despite the current economic climate, claiming that “at a time of economic uncertainty, we are proposing a scheme that will see a significant investment of  private sector cash into Egham”. We are currently reviewing the application details but the developers claim to have addressed comments made by us, the Chamber of Commerce & the residents of Tudor Court (who will directly overlook the development) since their earlier draft  proposals. If the application is approved, the developers hope that work could start this August, with completion scheduled for early 2011. Copies of the full application are available from RBC’s Planning website or the Council offices in Addlestone & will not be considered by the RBC Planning Committee until at least 18^th February. 

GRAVEL RAISING - HANSONS/MINERALS PLAN

The saga continues! In December the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA), following their earlier consultation on the appropriate level of primary aggregate extraction in the region, came out firmly in favour of a much-reduced volume of 9.01 million tonnes p.a. to 2026 (compared to the earlier Government  requirement of 12.18mtpa). This reduced the allocation to Surrey to 1.32mtpa compared to the earlier 2.62mtpa (& should reduce the pressure for sites to be contributed by the Egham/Thorpe area).  Government reaction to SEERA’s proposals are expected shortly & are likely to lead to a Public Inquiry (or Examination in Public) in late summer, with the final Inspector’s report by end 2009. As a result SCC have deferred their production of a revised draft Minerals Plan (including preferred gravel extraction sites) until this October, after which there will be public consultation on the Plan proposals until year-end. In the meantime, a planning application from Hanson Aggregates to SCC for an initial 10 year phased  development of the Milton Park Farm site is still awaited, although apparently imminent?? (in which case a Residents Against Gravel Extraction (R.A.G.E.) campaign against the development will swing into action & your support will again be necessary to keep vast numbers of gravel lorries off our streets!!) 

SCC ELECTION  2009 

This year the normal RBC elections are replaced by an SCC election for the 2 Egham wards (Englefield Green (including that part of Egham to the left of   Station Road & High Street) and Egham Hythe & Thorpe (the rest of Egham, plus the Hythe & Thorpe). With no candidate forthcoming, the ERA will not be supporting an Independent candidate at this election on June 4^th. 

                                                                                                          SCC CONTACT NUMBERS