Hatches Path Improvements Completed

Great news! The final surface has been added and it's looking great!

Thanks to everyone involved in pushing through these improvements, from supporters who signed the petition, the Countryside Access Team, Surrey Heath Borough Council, The Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust, and of course funding support from the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership.

Work begins on the Hatches Path!

Tomorrow morning, Mon 20th July, work will finally begin on The Hatches Path..

  




I popped down today to take a few 'before' photos. Some chaps from Surrey County Council were there doing a survey (for the last 4 days) on who was using the crossing.

The crossing will be closed occasionally when heavy machinery is in use, although it's maybe best to avoid the path until it's completed.

This is great news that it's starting. Looking forward to seeing the finished results...!

Blackwater Valley Sustainable Transport Package Consultation

Long time since we had an update, but here we go...

The Hatches Path is one of several transport schemes in the Blackwater Valley that are part of the Sustainable Transport Package (STP) which Surrey County Council has applied to the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership for funding.

These schemes are now open to the public for consultation betwen 15th June until 27th July. More information is available on the SCC Roads & Transport site.

The Hatches Path is the STP "Red Route".

A short (2 page) questionnaire has been published... 
www.surveymonkey.com/s/blackwatervalleystp

Would you please spend a few minutes to fill in the questionnaire as your feedback will help influence the decisions to fund these projects.

Hopefully we will received news of funding approval soon...

Update from CAT (Jan '15)

Following the petition response & report by Claire Saunders of the Countryside Access Team, I spoke to Claire on Tues 13th Jan to see if she had any update on the funding the CAT applied for (from the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership).

She said their application is still under consideration. The good news is that it has passed the initial stages, so the scheme has been recognised as a worthwhile venture.

We will have to wait and see for a bit longer but I'm hoping to have more news in mid-to-late February. So, at the moment, no news is good news.

Petition response following SHLC meeting

The Surrey Heath Local Committee have provided a very fast response to the Hatches petition (decided at the Thu 11th Dec meeting).

The response was provided by Claire Saunders (Senior Countryside Access Officer) which gives a good summary of the issue and a recommendation for the committee to "note the report and Enterprise bid".

The particularly interesting part of the response is detailed in Claire's update...

Any proposed improvement works would need to raise the level of the path surface, and carry out drainage improvement works to reduce the number of occasions when the path floods. The path surface will also need to be renewed.
Any improvement scheme should consider widening the width of the surfaced section between the fences to capitalise on the available fence to fence width. It would also be beneficial to look at thinning the tree canopy to allow more light onto this public bridleway.

...all very sensible recommendations. She goes on to say...

The County Council have submitted a bid to the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) on 16 September 2014 in partnership with Hampshire County Council. The proposals in the bid are for improving routes for cyclists and walkers linking residential areas to railway stations and businesses. The bid is strongly linked to the economy and jobs.
At the time of writing, the EM3 LEP are considering the bid, but it is hoped that an announcement will be made at the beginning of December 2014.

This is all very encouraging and we can only hope for funding to be approved by the the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership. This will hopefully be decided in the next week/two (early Dec 2014).

Surrey Heath Local Committee mtg: Thu 11th Dec

The following was my update to the committee at the 11th Dec Surrey Heath Local Committee meeting: 

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The petition to improve the Hatches Path between Frimley Green and Farnborough Main completed on 16th Nov with over 300 votes, including official support from the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust.

In early November, the Countryside Access Team carried out temporary improvements to the path, widening it and adding drainage. This is a welcome improvement to take us through the winter. These are only temporary however as the mud and grass will work its way back onto the path, which is still heavily eroded.

At the July meeting, the committee voted in favour of a Traffic Regulation Order, under section 1 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit horse use on Public Bridleway No. 19, Camberley and Frimley. The path should therefore be considered a shared footpath for pedestrians and cyclists. The path gets more traffic by pedestrians and cyclists than many footpaths in Camberley, and needs to be resurfaced to cope with the demand. The supporters of the petition would therefore request the committee support more permanent improvements to the path.

I have asked for the Hatches Path to be included in the Surrey Transport Plan and Cycling Strategy. The Surrey Heath Borough (Draft) Forward Programme includes a request for improvements to cycling routes between railway stations and town centres (Annex ref 3, estimated at £3.91m). Perhaps the Hatches Path could be included in these improvements?

The LTS Tranche 2 consultation is now closed, and revised version of the local transport strategies have been published (Sept 2014). Let's hope the Blackwater Valley Path improvements will get approved, including the Hatches Path...

Petition closed @ 300 signatures

So, the petition is now closed, and we reached 300 signatures. Many thanks to all who signed!

I will present the petition to the Surrey Heath Local Committee on their next meeting (Thursday, 11 December 2014 @ 6.30 pm).