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Preston Farm Outline Planning Application - MVDC's Planning Officer's recommendation to grant approval - BRA Concerns submitted

From Simon Edge - BRA ChairmanDear Development Management Committee members (substitutes) and Bookham CouncillorsThe Bookham Residents Association (BRA) has a number of concerns about the Planning Officer's report regarding the Preston Farm planning application MO/2024/0096.  This email provides clear evidence that the application being recommended for approval does not comply with the Local Plan and Council Policies by providing specific references to the issues of greatest concern to...

New Local Government Unitary Authority Summary

The Government plans to restructure local government in England by replacing County Councils and District Councils with new Unitary Authorities.  Surrey County Council is seeking for Surrey to be part of the first wave of reorganisation.  The BRA calls for all those involved to: work constructively together, provide effective communication and resident engagement, and to focus on the impact of the changes on people’s lives as a result of the restructuring.The BRA wants to alert resid...

BRA Plan for 2025

The BRA is a non-political voluntary membership organisation open to all residents of Great and Little Bookham.  It informs and voices residents’ views on local issues and helps maintain and improve life in the Bookhams. The BRA will therefore continue to work to:Understand local issues and help inform residents’ viewsHelp residents’ views to be heard, and deliver work to benefit the communityReport Back to residents on actions taken, andHelp to improve/hold to account those...

Joint Statement from the Leaders of Surrey District and Borough Councils

On 7th January the Leaders of the 11 Surrey District & Borough Councils and Leader of Surrey County Council met to discuss the English Devolution White Paper and what this would mean for the residents of Surrey.There was acknowledgement from all the Leaders that central government is determined to introduce sweeping changes to local government through their plans for devolution and local government reform which will see the district and county councils merged into new unitary councils.All th...

Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) - Apply by 30th January to participate in a pilot scheme

Happy New Year and welcome to the first oak processionary moth (OPM) update of 2025.  We're pleased to welcome Dr Edward Straw to the OPM team as the new Programme Manager. Edward is taking over from Andrew Hoppit in leading the OPM team at the Forestry Commission. He’s worked in university research science for nearly a decade, working with flies, plants and bees, both in the UK and Ireland. Edward is looking forward to working with stakeholders and helping protect Great Britain’s preci...

Preston Farm - Design and Access Statement Addendum: revised November 2024

If any resident wishes to view and/or comment on the revisions, they may do so on the MVDC Planning portal: MVDC Planning Application for MO/2024/0096.  We understand that the formal closing date is 19th December for comments to be submitted by residents but MVDC Planning Officers do consider comments up to the point of decision. ...

Village Centre Christmas Lights

The village centre lights are now adding to the festive season and our thanks go the following traders and public bodies for supporting this BRA initiative:Ada's DelicatessenBlakes of BookhamBookham CarpetsBookham TandooriBootsBrackenbury'sCL Pearce & SonsDiamond NailsHartsHenshaws Estate AgentsHeartwood InnsHuggins EdwardsIndigo StripesLaytonsMole Valley District CouncilOne Mizuho (kitchen furniture)Patrick GardenerRawlings and KensitRohallion SecuritySurrey County CouncilThe Bakery ShopWar...

November 2024 BRA Newsletter

The BRA November 2024 Newsletter has been published and the print version will be distributed to all households in Bookham by our team of volunteer Road Stewards. In this edition our lead articles are the approval of the MVDC Local Pan, MVDC Master Plan for Bookham centre, Heritage Bookham and The Crown Redevelopment.People ask why we produce a print version of the Newsletter. It's a very simple answer. Not everyone in the village has access to a PC, tablet or smart phone and we want all residen...

Statement on the Financial Position of Mole Valley District Council

Following a publication of a report by BBC News on 14th November on the financial position of Mole Valley District Council we have received the following statement from MVDC's CommunicationsCouncillor Bridget Kendrick, Cabinet Member for Finance said: ‘Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) is updating its Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) covering the period from 2023/24 to 2028/29. We remain in a stable financial position but face continued budget pressures due to rising service costs...

David Smith receives BRA recognition award

Well known former owner of Wishing Well in the High Street, David Smith, has received a BRA Contribution Award. David was presented with his award by Simon Edge, BRA Chairman. At the AGM in July David stood down from the Board of Directors after an eight year term and prior to that served on the BRA Committee representing Bookham Retail & Business Association (BRABA). David along with his wife Michelle continues to volunteer as our Noticeboard co-ordinators. Thank you David!...

Bookham remembers its fallen

On a quiet sunny autumn Monday morning at the 11th hour of the 11th day Bookham residents remembered the fallen at St Nicolas Church...

BRA Concerns over HMG Inspector's Local Plan Report

The Government Inspector has completed her report on the Future Mole Valley Local plan and on October 15th MVDC will meet to decide on whether it will adopt the Plan incorporating the 92 major modifications recommended by the Inspector. There are items that we raised with the Inspector that do not appear to have been fully taken into account, in part due some of them having been challenged by MVDC to our disappointment. We are requesting that Local Bookham Counsellors who will be attending the C...

Publication of HMG Inspector's report in to the Mole Valley Local Plan 2020 - 2039

The Planning Inspector examining the Mole Valley Local Plan 2020-2039 has published her report (in accordance with the Section 20(8) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004, as amended) and Regulation 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012).The Mole Valley Local Plan sets out the vision and objectives for the district between 2022 and 2039. It covers the geographical area of Mole Valley district, provides the strategy for development for the nex...

 Proposed Change of Status of Polesden Lacey Infant School to Academy Status. Community Meeting 24th Sept from 5.00pm to 7.00pm in the school hall,

Message from Mark Rogers, Chair of Governors and Rebecca Mole, Headteacher Polesden Lacey Infant SchoolThe governing body of Polesden Lacey Infant School is considering a proposal to convert our school to an academy as part of LEO Academy Trust. We believe it's important to involve our local community in this decision and would like to explain this proposal and how you can share your thoughts....

New dates announced to help shape Leatherhead’s future (Bookham - 11th September)

FAQsWebinar event recording...

Launch of My Mole Valley

“As part of Mole Valley District Council’s (MVDC) comprehensive internal three-year Transformation Programme, I am delighted we have successfully launched My Mole Valley; an online portal enhancing digital options for our residents and businesses to enable easy self-service via our website. We appreciate of course that not everyone is digitally savvy, so My Mole Valley goes hand in hand with improvements to our Customer Services Unit. We recently ran a very well received Digital In...

New Community Volunteering Opportunities for Mole Valley in 2024!

It’s great news for those looking to help keep Mole Valley beautiful thanks to a range of new volunteering opportunities on offer in 2024. Whether getting involved in pond maintenance, putting green fingers to work in a community garden, or helping to create homes for our crucial bee population, these activities provide a great chance to meet new people, get some fresh air, and try something new!Key projects include rejuvenating Buckland Pond ( Sunday 1 September) lead by experts fro...

479 Bus Service - 2nd September 2024 - Timetable and service frequency improvements

We are pleased to announce that from Monday 2 September 2024 we will be introducing a brand new timetable on Falcon 479 running between Guildford, Effingham, Bookham, Leatherhead and Epsom.Our new timetable will see buses running up to every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes across the full route between Guildford and Epsom.We'll also be running later journeys in the evening and a new hourly timetable on Sundays making it even easier to get around using Falcon 479.Falcon Buses also has a ti...

SEND School Application Update

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Draft Mole Valley Local Plan - Consultation Documents ED82 & ED83

The BRA submitted the letter below to the Planning Inspector following the publication of ED83 Examination Document.The Inspector had not invited comments on publication of ED83 and when we requested that the points raised should be taken in to consideration the Inspector has stated that she  is not prepared to accept the BRA response. We are disappointed that the Inspector has taken this decision on what are valid points to the Major Modifications,...

June 2024 Newsletter

The BRA June 2024 Newsletter has been published and the print version will be distributed to all households in Bookham by our team of Road Stewards. In this edition our lead articles are the Preston Farm planning application, Main Modifications to the MVDC Draft Local Plan and progress on the new Lower Road Youth & Community Centre. People ask why we produce a print version of the Newsletter. It's a very simple answer. Not everyone in the village has access to a PC, tablet or smart pho...

Supplementary submission to Planning Application MO/2024/0096: Land north of Lower Road and west of Little Bookham St.

The representation stage of this planning application has now closed. MVDC have advised that the Applicant (Thakenham Homes) has submitted additional information.The BRA Planning Team has examined this additional information in close detail and has found nothing that has led us to amend the views and statements set out in our initial Letter of Representation dated 20th March 2024, where we strongly objected to the proposed development. The BRA Planning team have yet again produced...

BRA Representation on Major Modifications to the Draft Mole Valley Local Plan

The Bookham Residents Association has strong concerns as to the soundness of MVDC’s draft Local Plan, including elements of the Main Modifications open for consultation as detailed in ED 71, ED74 and associated documents ED75 – 80. As the same topic can arise within one or more of the examination documents open for consultation, we have grouped our comments under topic headings and then referenced to the individual examination documents. The full Representation may be viewed in the PDF docum...

SCC Grass Cutting Schedule

Surrey County Council (SCC) has recently introduced an interactive map which shows the grass verge cutting schedule across the county. If you have a verge outside your residence you may zoom in on the map to see the schedule for the season. Enter your road name or postcode in the search box to go to your location and then click on the green verge on the map to show your schedule. (Note: you may need to zoom out a little to see all of your road).Please bear in mind that the dates given are estima...

BRA Response to Preston Farm Planning Application Submitted

Les Huett - BRA Communications reports:On 21st March, following more than 200 hours of research, verification, and drafting, the BRA Planning Team has submitted a Letter of Representation (LoR) concerning the Preston Farm Planning Application to Mole Valley District Council. (The site is officially designated as the land north of Lower Road and west of Little Bookham Street, reference number: MO/2024/0096).The LoR is an outstanding piece of work. The thought, care and dedication shown to Bookham...