CAT carry out temporary improvements

So, as promised in September, the Countryside Access Team have carried out temporary improvements to the path before the winter sets in. On Mon 3rd Nov, work began to widen the path and create drain off areas at various places...

Work begins to widen path

Path before it gets widened

Before widening

The surface is still badly eroded however, so we can hopefully get help to have it resurfaced next year. Here's how it looks after the improvements...

This stretch isn't too bad.

As you can see, puddles still gather along the eroded stretch of path

Some fairly big pot holes in places. Notice the drain-off dug into the left of path.

This end of the path usually floods right across, but a drain off has been dug which helps.

Thanks again to the Country Side Access team for doing the above improvements. Hopefully we can get the path resurfaced next year...

Surrey Heath Local Committee mtg: Thu 2nd Oct

The following is my update to the committee at the 2nd Oct Surrey Heath Local Committee meeting: 

~~~~~~~~~~~

I sent an open letter to you all on Sun 21st Sep to update you on the Hatches Path petition so hopefully you are already aware of what we'd like to achieve.

To recap, the Hatches Path connecting Frimley Green & Farnborough North is a popular path used by a lot of people every day to commute between the two areas. The alternative route would be via Frimley High street, adding 10 mins to a cycle, or at least 40 mins if walking.

The path has become overgrown over the last few years with the grass verges taking over a third of the path on each side. What was once a 9 foot wide path is now only 3 to 6. Those verges become very muddy as people need to use them to walk/cycle past each other on the narrow path. Long stretches of the tarmac path have also become eroded over the years. There aren't many potholes as such, but layers of tarmac have eroded enough to cause flooding across the path during the winter months.This exacerbates the muddiness of the verges as people try to avoid the puddles...

I have been in contact with the Countryside Access Team who updated me on the 18th Sep. They are arranging for the grass verges to get cut back to the original tarmac, widening the path. They will also add drainage to the eroded lengths of path to allow rain water to drain away. They are aiming to do this by the end of Oct once approval has been given by all parties, including the Fisheries. The CAT reported "It was decided that the surface repair works would be best undertaken once we know if funding will be secured for improvements. The principal reason being, that repairs would need to be substantial as the current surface has been constructed on top of another and so would require a significant repair to last any length of time". Hopefully, the CAT have prepared a report for today's meeting with costs for more long term improvements.


The petition requesting these improvements has reached 215 signatures (to date), with 191 separate Facebook likes too. An article has also appeared in the Camberley & Sandhurst News & Mail. So, there is a lot of interest from the public in the improvements to the path.


I also wrote to you all to discuss the Surrey Transport Plan & Cycling Strategy. The executive summary of the Local Transport Strategy states that it..

"...has been produced by the County Council in partnership with Surrey Heath Borough Council.

The purpose of the strategy is to support the growth set out within the borough Local Plan and provide a programme of transport infrastructure required to deliver this growth. They also provide an evidence base for future funding bids.
The objectives of this strategy are to reduce the reliance on the private car in Surrey Heath by providing more attractive sustainable travel choices, to manage local bottlenecks and traffic congestion within the borough, and to encourage economic development and regeneration. These objectives are in accordance with Surrey’s Environment and Infrastructure Priorities." -- Executive summary

This document is currently open for consultation which I've responded to, suggesting the Hatches Path is listed as a problem area that needs investment.
 
We would ideally like the above improved to something similar to the scheme they did in Winchester (a shared cycle/pedestrian path)...

We can understand that a fully resurfaced shared pedestrian/cycle path would be costly. Would you therefore please consider some of the following approaches:

~ introduce the improvements in phases. e.g. resurface the worst half of the path in year 1; then resurface the other half the following year?
 
~ The CAT is aiming to make temporary improvements  by the end of Oct to cut back the grass verges widening the path, and improve drainage. This will help with the winter 2014 but a more permanent solution is required.

~ include the Hatches Path in the Surrey Transport Plan & Cycling Strategy.


~ Work with Michael Gove who I recently wrote to, to see if these improvements fall under his campaign to improve rail services (and access thereto?) in Camberley.


~ work with Network Rail to see if they can contribute to costs. This path provides access to their customers commuting via Farnborough North & Main stations.The path approaching Farnborough North is particularly bad, e.g.

.

Surrey Transport Plan & Cycling Strategy

The Local transport strategies and forward programmes have been recently published and consulation is now open for Tranche 2. The Surrey Heath LTS consultation documents are:
   - Section 1 to 6
   - Section 7 to 8
   - Annex

This document outlines the transport strategy which...

"...has been produced by the County Council in partnership with Surrey Heath Borough Council.

The purpose of the strategy is to support the growth set out within the borough Local Plan and provide a programme of transport infrastructure required to deliver this growth. They also provide an evidence base for future funding bids.
The objectives of this strategy are to reduce the reliance on the private car in Surrey Heath by providing more attractive sustainable travel choices, to manage local bottlenecks and traffic congestion within the borough, and to encourage economic development and regeneration. These objectives are in accordance with Surrey’s Environment and Infrastructure Priorities." -- Executive summary

Section 2, Objectives & Delivery Priorities, references the Environment and Infrastructure Directorate Strategy 2014-19 priorities, which includes:

Priority 2: Optimise the use of highway and transport infrastructure to
support health, wellbeing and economic development
o Deliver the Travel SMART programme.
o Deliver the Surrey cycling strategy with Local Committees.
o Complete the passenger transport review.
o Develop business cases for major transport schemes to secure
required funding.

Of particular interest were these sections:
- Walking Provision: 3.29 to 3.34
- Cycling Provision: 3.35 to 3.37: "Lack of cycle provisions resulting in cycling on non-shared footways.."

The Surrey Cycling Strategy is discussed further in 6.11

"Surrey’s Cycling Strategy was published in March 2014. The strategy covers cycling as a means of transport, leisure and as a sport, setting out our aim for cycling in Surrey for the period to 2026. One of the aims of the Cycling Strategy is to develop Local Cycling Plans for each district and borough as appropriate. These will be incorporated into future versions of each of the district/borough Local Transport Strategy and Forward Programmes."

"...a true Olympic legacy would see every child in Surrey learning to ride a bike, and being able to do cycle safely to school. It would mean that many more of our residents cycle for transport and leisure, reducing congestion and reliance on cars and reaping the considerable health and economic benefits this brings. And it would mean that people without access to a car can travel safely and affordably around the county....” 

- Problems & Issues
   - Frimley : 7.24 to 7.32
   - Frimley Green: 7.34 to 7.40
 ...the above list various issues and point you at Potential Solutions in the Forward Programme (Annex).

Section 8.13 talks about funding sources, including a combination of:

- Developer contributions through Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
- Capital funding by the county council (government grants such as the Local Transport Plan (LTP) allocations, Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) and major schemes funding available from 2015 from designated Local Transport Bodies
- County council capital funding allocated for more strategic schemes by the Surrey Heath Local Committee
- Capital funding by the borough council
- Capital funding from the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership. A number of schemes have been submitted by the county council to the LEP for consideration in their strategic economic plan.

The Consultation now open for Tranche 2 as discussed on the Surrey County Council website:

"We want to make sure that we’re managing transport issues in the way that people who live and work in the local areas believe is best. We asked for your views on the first tranche of local transport strategies earlier this year.

Now we would like your views on the second tranche of local transport strategies and forward programmes:

• Reigate and Banstead
• Surrey Heath
• Tandridge

Consultation drafts of the strategies are now available on this page from the list below. You will also be able to access hard copies of the documents from County Hall, Kingston-upon-Thames and from the relevant district and borough council offices.

To give us your views on the above strategies, please fill in our online survey.

The consultation will close on 28 October.

I have responded to the online survey. In particular this is my response to Q2:

Q2. We have tried to identify the most pressing transport issues impacting the District/Borough. Are there any other transport problems that we should consider:

Yes: The path between Frimley Green & Farnborough North needs improvement. Ideally it should be changed to a shared pedestrian/cycle path. I have a blog & petition already running to raise awareness of this with SHBC:

Blog:     http://thehatchespath.blogspot.co.uk/

Petition: http://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/TheHatches/

I am therefore hoping that the Surrey Heath Local Committee will include the Hatches Path in its Objectives & Delivery Priorities for the Local transport strategies and forward programmes, including the Surrey Cycling Strategy.

The Annex shows a major project in the Blackwater Valley to improve cycling routes between railway stations. This seems very similar to the Hatches Path requirement, so perhaps it can be included in the Surrey Local Transport Strategy...

Surrey Residents Network – Podcast

I've been interviewed by the Surrey Residents Network. Have a listen...

 

Write to the committee!

I have just sent an open letter to all of the Surrey Heath Local committee members....

Sun 21st Sep  (from: thehatchespath@gmail.com; to: denis.fuller@surreycc.gov.uk, adrian.page@surreycc.gov.uk, bill.chapman@surreycc.gov.uk, chris.pitt@surreycc.gov.uk, david.ivison@surreycc.gov.uk, mike.goodman@surreycc.gov.uk, John.Winterton@surreyheath.gov.uk, Paul.Ilnicki@surreyheath.gov.uk, rodney.bates@surreyheath.gov.uk, Josephine.Hawkins@surreyheath.gov.uk, valerie.white@surreyheath.gov.uk, vivienne.chapman@surreyheath.gov.uk)

Would you please take a few minutes to read the following letter to each of you...?
http://thehatchespath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/open-letter-to-committe-members.html

The main aim of the letter is to keep you informed about the Hatches Path petition in advance of the next committee meeting on Thu 2nd Oct. If you have any questions for me in advance of the meeting please let me know.

This is mainly to keep the Hatches Path situation on their radar so that they are well informed in advance of the next committee meeting on Thu 2nd Oct.

Please help to get the attention of the committee by writing to them too. Just send a repeat of my email above, or preferably add your reasons for wanting to see the improvements. 

To email ALL of the committee members, use these email addresses:

denis.fuller@surreycc.gov.uk, adrian.page@surreycc.gov.uk, bill.chapman@surreycc.gov.uk, chris.pitt@surreycc.gov.uk, david.ivison@surreycc.gov.uk, mike.goodman@surreycc.gov.uk, John.Winterton@surreyheath.gov.uk, Paul.Ilnicki@surreyheath.gov.uk, rodney.bates@surreyheath.gov.uk, Josephine.Hawkins@surreyheath.gov.uk, valerie.white@surreyheath.gov.uk, vivienne.chapman@surreyheath.gov.uk

More info about each committee member below (click on their names for a contact web page):

Mr Adrian Page	adrian.page@surreycc.gov.uk	West End
Mr Bill Chapman	bill.chapman@surreycc.gov.uk	St. Pauls
Mr Chris Pitt	chris.pitt@surreycc.gov.uk	Frimley Green
Mr David Ivison	david.ivison@surreycc.gov.uk	Heatherside
Mr Dennis Fuller	denis.fuller@surreycc.gov.uk	Camberley West
Mr Mike Goodman	mike.goodman@surreycc.gov.uk	Bagshot
Mr John Winterton	John.Winterton@surreyheath.gov.uk	Lightwater
Mr Paul Ilnicki	Paul.Ilnicki@surreyheath.gov.uk	Heatherside
Mr Rodney Bates	rodney.bates@surreyheath.gov.uk	Old Dean
Mrs Josephine Hawkins	Josephine.Hawkins@surreyheath.gov.uk	Parkside
Mrs Valerie White	valerie.white@surreyheath.gov.uk	Bagshot
Mrs Vivienne Chapman	vivienne.chapman@surreyheath.gov.uk	St. Pauls

Open letter to the Surrey Heath Local committee members

To all the Surrey Heath Local Committee members:

Mr Adrian Page	adrian.page@surreycc.gov.uk	West End
Mr Bill Chapman	bill.chapman@surreycc.gov.uk	St. Pauls
Mr Chris Pitt	chris.pitt@surreycc.gov.uk	Frimley Green
Mr David Ivison	david.ivison@surreycc.gov.uk	Heatherside
Mr Dennis Fuller	denis.fuller@surreycc.gov.uk	Camberley West
Mr Mike Goodman	mike.goodman@surreycc.gov.uk	Bagshot
Mr John Winterton	John.Winterton@surreyheath.gov.uk	Lightwater
Mr Paul Ilnicki	Paul.Ilnicki@surreyheath.gov.uk	Heatherside
Mr Rodney Bates	rodney.bates@surreyheath.gov.uk	Old Dean
Mrs Josephine Hawkins	Josephine.Hawkins@surreyheath.gov.uk	Parkside
Mrs Valerie White	valerie.white@surreyheath.gov.uk	Bagshot
Mrs Vivienne Chapman	vivienne.chapman@surreyheath.gov.uk	St. Pauls

As a member of the Surrey Heath Local Committee I am contacting you in regards to an issue I raised at the 3rd July committee meeting.
My original preamble & question to the committee, and response is repeated below:

Q. Written question from Mr Jon McClelland, Local Resident

The Hatches path, officially referred to as Bridleway BW19 by the Countryside Access Team, is long overdue maintenance. The path is overgrown on each side and is now a narrow strip of tarmac, much of which is badly potholed. In winter the path is muddy and flooded making it very difficult for pedestrians & cyclists to navigate.

Many people would like to see the path properly tarmacked across the full width of the path (approx 7-9 feet) and treated as a "Shared Use route for Pedestrians & Cyclists". I have started a blog and petition to raise awareness of this, which has 89 signatures to date. I expect more signatures as conditions get worse in the autumn.

Blog: http://thehatchespath.blogspot.co.uk/

Petition: http://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/TheHatches/

I have been in correspondence with Luke Dawson of the Countryside Access Team who has visited the path and confirmed it needs maintenance work carried out. He has requested funds "from a bigger pot" to fund improvement works but was unsuccessful this year. He has investigated interim solutions to fix the worst of the potholes and improve drainage. He also suggested "a scrape of the surface mud to allow the full available width". I noticed this was done recently (by Mon 23rd June) but this has only cleared the existing 4 foot wide path. Potholes still need to be fixed and drainage improved.

My blog has full details of my discussions with the Countryside Access Team and sustrans. I will also update with the committee's feedback. Thank you for your time".

The question:
Can the committee help the Countryside Access Team with funding to upgrade the path properly to a Shared use route for Pedestrians & Cyclists?

A.    Response from Chairman on behalf of the Committee:

The Countryside access team have been working with Mr McClelland on this issue and initial remedial work has taken place as mentioned above.  The team are working with Highways officers and the cycle strategy group to provide options and costings for the committee to consider. 

A report will be produced for the next meeting.

So, at the next meeting on Thu 2nd Oct, the Countryside Access Team will present you with a report on the costs for resurfacing the path, improving drainage, etc.

The petition requesting these improvements has reached 197 signatures (to date), with 191 separate Facebook likes too. An article has also appeared in the Camberley & Sandhurst News & Mail. So, there is a lot of interest from the public in the improvements to the path.

The path is currently dry, but the winter months are soon setting in and the path will return to a terrible state...

We would ideally like the above improved to something similar to the scheme they did in Winchester (a shared cycle/pedestrian path)...

We can understand that a fully resurfaced shared pedestrian/cycle path would be costly. Would you therefore please consider some of the following approaches:

~ introduce the improvements in phases. e.g. resurface the worst half of the path in year 1; then resurface the other half the following year?

~ work with Network Rail to see if they can contribute to costs. This path provides access to their customers commuting via Farnborough North & Main stations.The path approaching Farnborough North is particularly bad, e.g.

~ Work with Michael Gove who I recently wrote to, to see if these improvements fall under his campaign to improve rail services (and access thereto?) in Camberley.

~ The CAT is aiming to make temporary improvements  by the end of Oct to cut back the grass verges widening the path, and improve drainage. This will help with the winter 2014 but a more permanent solution is required.

We would therefore greatly appreciate your support for any improvements which can be made over the next year or two...

Countryside Access team (Thu 18th Sep update)

<Previous posts to the Countryside Access team>

On 15th Aug, I chased Luke for an update:

Fri 15th Aug  (to: luke.dawson@surreycc.gov.uk)

How did you get on with your visit to the Hatches (earlier this week)? I notice the grass has been cut & hedges trimmed back.  It's starting to rain more now so people are chasing me for updates on the improvements to the path.

 ...we then had this email exchange a couple of weeks later:

Tue 9th Sep  (from: luke.dawson@surreycc.gov.uk)
I am writing to provide an update to you. I have met with the contractor and received a price for completion. I have arranged access and will hopefully soon have permission from the Fisheries, once I have spoken with them. It was decided that the surface repair works would be best undertaken once we know if funding will be secured for improvements. The principal reason being, that repairs would need to be substantial as the current surface has been constructed on top of another and so would require a significant repair to last any length of time. 

In terms of time frame, I really hope to see this works completed within the next 6 weeks. I appreciate this short term fix has already taken a long while, but it is dependant on the contractor being available to carry out the scheduled works.

Tue 9th Sep  (to: luke.dawson@surreycc.gov.uk)

Many thanks for the update Luke. So, are those costs for 'temporary repairs' or are these longer term improvements? i.e. were you asked to provide separate quotes temporary improvements (to the worst parts of the path) versus the costs of widening & improving the full length of the path? Presumably these need to be approved at the 3rd Oct Surrey Heath Committee mtg..?

Anyway, it's great to see progress being made & I look forward to any improvements.

Thu 18th Sep  (from: luke.dawson@surreycc.gov.uk)
The price I obtained was for temporary edging out and drainage improvements. My senior colleague has drafted a report for the committee meeting in October. 

I hope that temporary repairs are enough to assist users in the interim

So, the Countryside Access team should hopefully soon have funding approval for temporary improvements to drainage & edging out. The CAT are aiming to complete these works by the end of Oct 14.

Meanwhile, Luke's senior colleague will present a report to the next Surrey Heath Local Committee meeting (on Fri 3rd Oct) on the costs for a more permanent improvement project.