Felbridge Parish Council

Detailed information on all discussions and decisions made by FPC, including planning applications, can be found under the Minutes tab.                                                                                                                                                             

Last updated 2.12.2018

SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL CONSULTATION ON SERVICES REVIEW

Surrey County Council are inviting comments on their services consultation.  Topics include SEN Education, Community Recycling Centres, Children’s Centres, Libraries and Cultural Services and Concessionary Bus Travel.  Visit surreycc.gov.uk/consultations | Call 03456 009009 | Text 07860 053465  Deadline for comments is 4th January 2019

SERVICE OF COMMEMORATION ON THE VILLAGE GREEN, Friday 9th November, 2.45pm.  

100 people attended a service of commemoration on Friday 9th November at 2.45pm on Felbridge Village Green to dedicate the new memorial bench.  The Parish Council would like to thank all those who helped make the event such a success.

PARISH COUNCILLOR VACANCY

Councillor Linda Hainge has taken the decision to resign her position at the end of December after twenty years’ service to the community. Felbridge Parish Council are now seeking applications from members of the public who would like to join the other six members of Felbridge Parish Council.

Parish Councillors attend the monthly full Parish Council meetings which take place on the first Thursday of each month (excluding January and August) and shorter planning meetings which take place on the third Thursday of each month. 

If you feel you would like to get involved in making decisions about your local community, local issues and make a significant contribution to the area in which you live then please contact the Parish Clerk on clerkfpc@aol.com for an informal discussion. Councillors have a particular interest in our local environment, amenities, maintenance, planning and development.

Councillors must be aged 18 or over, eligible to vote and have lived within Felbridge Parish for twelve months or more or live within three miles of the parish boundary.

Unless ten electors of the Parish give written notice to the Proper Officer of Tandridge District Council by 4th December 2018 (www.tandridge.gov.uk) requesting an election to fill this vacancy, the Parish Council will fill the vacancy by co-option at its February meeting.  The closing date for applications is 31st December 2018.

To apply please write to the Parish Clerk either by email to clerkfpc@aol.com or in writing to Parish Clerk, Felbridge Parish Council, Felbridge Village Hall, Crawley Down Road, Felbridge, RH19 2NT.  The Parish Clerk will also be happy to provide further information, help and advice to potential applicants on an informal basis.

For more information on Felbridge Parish Council and to view an archive of Minutes, please visit www.felbridge-pc.org.uk

FELBRIDGE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS

The annual audit of Felbridge Parish Council's financial records has now been approved and uploaded to the Finance section of this website.  Any questions relating to the audit should be addressed to the Parish Clerk on clerkfpc@aol.com

FELBRIDGE PARISH COUNCIL RESPONSE TO TANDRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL LOCAL PLAN 

Felbridge Parish Council response to the Regulation 19 consultation on the Local Plan.

Housing

Felbridge Parish Council is supportive of the fact that the Local Plan does not allocate any housing sites within Felbridge. We are aware that sites FEL001, FEL004, FEL005, FEL008 were assessed in the HEELA and were considered not to be in accordance with the preferred strategy. Felbridge Parish Council would oppose any future development of these Green Belt sites.  Any future development in Felbridge would be better met through infill development within the village.

Infrastructure

The Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) identifies nine Transport schemes for the Parish of Felbridge. Four of these are considered to be High Priority and we welcome the proposed improvements.

The proposal is made by the IDP that improvements to Copthorne Road/Crawley Down Road Junction are funded through contributions from SES02 (Hobbs Industrial Estate). Whilst we would support improvements to the junction, we are unclear as to why the industrial site would be required to make contributions to this residential road scheme.

The IDP refers to the potential delivery of a relief road by the new Garden Village but with no detail at present as to the exact route this would take. Felbridge Parish Councils feels that further information is required before further comments can be made on this point.

The impact of the A22/A264 junction remains one of the biggest issues faced by Felbridge village and its residents now and in the future. The Local Plan proposes that as part of the mitigation for the proposed new Garden Village at Godstone that the A264 right turn onto the A22 heading South is made into two lanes.

However this mitigation is already proposed for the consented development at Hill Place Farm and therefore the extra capacity that this will generate will already be absorbed by traffic from the Hill Place Farm development. Therefore, this mechanism cannot be used to mitigate the impact from the proposed new Garden Village on the A264/A22 junction.

Examination in Public

Felbridge Parish Council would also like to actively participate in the Examination in Public process in due course. 

Additional Notes

FPC consider the source of funding of a residential road improvement being the Hobbs Industrial Estate is Unsound (not justified) as the industrial site has no impact upon this road. The funding should be via CIL derived from local in-fill housing.

FPC consider the Plan is Unsound (Not Effective & Not in Compliance with the NPPF) in relation to the mitigation of the Garden Village traffic being proposed as the two right turn lanes southbound onto the A22 at Felbridge.  This mitigation is already going to be delivered as a result of Planning Appeal APP/D3830/W/16/3142487 and the works would only provide mitigation of the 200 dwellings associated with that development, thus proposing the same mitigation (that is already being implemented) will not be effective in relation to providing any mitigation for the Garden Village. 

FPC are concerned with the failure to provide any material mitigation within the Plan for the recognised traffic impact resulting from the Garden Village upon the already “severe congestion” (quoted from Surrey Highways) at the A264/A22 junction is not in compliance with Paragraph 32 of the NPPF (2012) or Paragraph 109 of the NPPF (2018).

CRAWLEY DOWN ROAD RESURFACING

Surrey County Council recently announced additional funding for B roads in Surrey which were in most need of repair.  The Parish Council could only select one road so chose Crawley Down Road and submitted a detailed bid for funding.  The bid has been successful and Crawley Down Road will be included in the first batch of roads to be resurfaced.  The bid was supported by County Councillor Lesley Steeds.  Dates and details are to be confirmed.

Tandridge District Council Additional Recycling - Door Step Collection

You can recycle textiles, paired shoes, small electrical items and batteries every week in your own plastic bags, by leaving them out with your food waste caddy.

All you need to do is:

1. Place each type of item in a separate supermarket carrier bag (no larger than 35 x 40cm and not in black bin bags).
2. Put batteries in a separate, sealable/tied up small bag eg a sandwich bag.
3. Tie each bag.
4. Leave the bags at the front of your property boundary next to your food waste caddy on your usual recycling/waste collection day by 6am.

For further information visit https://www.tandridge.gov.uk/Recycling-and-rubbish/Recycling/Textiles-electricals-and-battery-collections

COUNCIL TAX RATE 2018-2019

Tandridge District Council have agreed an increase of £2.99% (for a Band D property) in their share of the council tax for 2018/2019. This means Band D council tax will increase by £6.09 to £209.71, which is less than 12p a week. Tandridge District Council’s share of the Council Tax helps fund a wide range of services including recycling and waste collection, planning, street sweeping, housing, housing benefits and children’s play areas.

SPEEDWATCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED 

The Parish Council are looking at options for operating Speedwatch within the village and would like anyone interested in volunteering to get in touch.  Please email clerkfpc@aol.com . 

BUS SERVICE TO GATWICK FOR FELBRIDGE RESIDENTS

APH based behind the Shell Garage are offering Felbridge residents and their family and friends return coach travel to and from Gatwick airport from their terminal on the Copthorne Road. The return fare costs £5 per person.  There's no restriction on when the return journey is made and it can also be used for day trips, for example if travelling by train to London.  
Coaches run every 10-15 minutes, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
This service may be used by commuters travelling by train, plane, etc
There is no parking available with this product, it is a transfer service only
Customers must book in advance and phone 01342 710071 and quote the code FELBR.

FOOD RECYCLING BINS

Residents can now line their food waste caddy with plastic bags or liners, which makes it easier, cleaner and cheaper to recycle food waste. You can use anything from old shopping bags to bread or salad bags, but not black bin bags or plastic food packaging.

To find out more visit www.recycleforsurrey.org.uk.  

COVERED SEATING AREA

The new shelter has now been installed in the Village Hall grounds.

DEFIBRILLATOR

A defibrillator has now been installed next to the entrance to the Village Hall.  To access the equipment you first need to dial 999 and the emergency services will provide a code to open the cabinet.  The equipment works automatically with audible instructions on use.  It will not work if not correctly positioned so is safe to use.  The equipment and location were selected with advice from our local First Responder and SECAmb.