10/4/2008

Woking

Letters from April 10 2008

Our community needs this development

EDITOR — Reading your article on St John’s Memorial Hall (News and Mail, April 3, 2008), I notice that the same small vociferous group is complaining about the proposed redevelopment of the hall — obviously paid-up members of The NIMBY Association.

The hall provides a centre for a considerable number of local organisations. Winston Churchill School will not provide for them.

These organisations deserve up-to-date facilities. The hall has been in operation since the end of the war. It was purchased by public subscription from the Canadian YMCA when they vacated it and returned to Canada.

It was dedicated to those villagers who gave their lives during that war. With a building of this age facilities are outdated and have deteriorated to a point where they cannot sensibly be updated. The re-location will also be of benefit to immediate neighbours.

I have been associated, to a greater or lesser extent, with the hall for more than 40 years and have seen a number of proposals for refurbishment, redevelopment or relocation objected to by this same small group, although their membership has obviously changed.

The hall must be replaced and the present proposals are as good as any that have been put forward and the considerable support by Woking Borough Council must be applauded.

One of the objectors has quite obviously only lived here for seven years. Any resident of long standing will have known that, up until quite recently, cricket was played on the Lye nearly every weekend in the cricket season.

There was also a cricket pavilion. Perhaps he does not also know that further back on the Lye there has been a football pitch and tennis courts.

The hall must be saved. Most villages in Surrey have halls at the heart of the village and residents are proud of them. Let St John’s be the same. We cannot go on for another quarter of a century listening to such trivial objections.
Michael Bowser
Oakwood Road
St John’s

Parking fiasco will drive us off

EDITOR — Last week I attended the wonderful matinee production of Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking.

I travel quite a distance from Liss in Hampshire but do so willingly to visit this theatre with its excellent programme and facilities and friendly staff.

However, my experience was marred by the fact that it took more than 40 minutes to exit the Peacocks car park, with half an hour of that time spent motionless on the third floor.

Hopefully the teething problems of the new car parking arrangements will soon be rectified.

Unfortunately it shows the town of Woking in a poor light to visitors and could make them stay away in future.
Marilyn Cunningham
Liss
Hampshire

EDITOR — The new system of paying for parking in the town centre may work during the day but in the evening it is another story altogether.

The system is guaranteed to cause long delays when the curtain comes down at a theatre the size of the New Victoria and several hundred patrons return to their cars.

My wife and I, having enjoyed a truly excellent production of Nutcracker!, found ourselves in a queue of 20 to 25 people taking it in turns to insert their cards and then pay.

There was another queue at the exit machines as each of us thrust our cards in and waited for the barriers to rise.
This is not the perfect end to a perfect evening.

Parking in the evenings used to be free and needs to be again, with the barriers raised each evening if Woking’s reputation as a welcoming entertainment centre is to be maintained.
John Hunter
Pirbright
Address supplied

EDITOR — Queueing at the Peacocks new car barrier system, with cars stationary behind and in front of me, I pressed for a ticket.

With the cars in front of me still stationary, I waited and a minute or so later the barrier came down. The cars in front of me moved so I had to press for another ticket, the barrier raised and I went through while the going was good.

I hope not too much time is spent on wondering how the owner of a ticket managed to get his car out without paying.
L E Phillips
St Catherines
Woking

The way to avoid landfill

EDITOR — Your correspondent (News and Mail, April 3) is right to touch on a major problem concerning the services available in Woking for the collection and re-use of unwanted domestic items (furniture, gas appliances and electric/electronic goods).

The Martyrs Lane site is the responsibility of Surrey County Council which is well aware of the problem and is looking at possible solutions. As a trustee of Woking Community Furniture Project, a registered charity with 20 years’ experience in the collection, repair and re-use of domestic goods, I am grateful for the financial support of the county council.

As many of your readers will be aware, householders can currently choose to donate their surplus goods to one of a number of charities which will pass them on to low-income families or sell them (often after refurbishment) to the public for re-use.

Alternatively, they may pay to have them collected by Biffa. Most of these items finish up in landfill including many, which are perfectly capable of being re-used. Biffa is simply not in the business of re-use.

One answer is a single organisation which provides an efficient daily collection service as well as facilities for repairing and re-selling goods.

Another approach, which may be more suitable for Woking, would be to let the various organisations do what they do best; for example, Biffa could provide a comprehensive collection service and store all items in a central depot (an expanded Martyrs Lane site?) where representatives of accredited organisations would be given access to select and take away whatever goods they believe could be re-used.

Safety issues with repairing electrical and, particularly, gas appliances would need to be addressed. In this way Woking could increase the total tonnage rescued from landfill, as many towns are doing already.
J D Moran
Woking Community Furniture Project
27 North Road
Woking

There  are other options

EDITOR — I write with regards to the letter from R E Braham (News and Mail, April 3) and his views not only on local politics but on local matters which have occurred in the last 12 months.
I take strong objection to the notion that the Liberal Democrats will receive a proportion of any local ‘protest’ vote this year.
The real truth is that the Liberal Democrats have played a large part in projects which have resulted in hideous overspends of our council tax money.
They have been in a position to vote on projects such as the station canopy, the introduction of ‘technology’ into the town’s car parks and they’ve been there while the chief executive has ‘lent’ £400,000 of local people’s money.
R E Braham wishes to put that little story to bed of course. Local voters may think differently on May 1.
So let’s get local politics in Woking straight:
The Conservatives aim to shut the Sheerwater Community Office and the town’s visitor centre and then want to boast they haven’t cut services in their election propaganda. Er, kettle… black?
The Liberal Democrats have sat alongside them all year,               and in previous years watching (or allowing?) certain projects to go ahead which have had a dreadful impact on the town’s finances.
R E Braham suggests you follow his lead in his habit of voting for a particular party. It’s a habit he should quit.
Rob Burberry
Goldsworth East
UK Independence Party

The wrong end of the village

EDITOR — The free bus pass situation in Chobham is even more unfair than your article suggests (News and Mail, April 3).

If you live at one end of Chobham you have to wait until 10.05am to travel free to Woking and until after 11am to make free use of the little shopping bus to Sainsbury’s as  our buses are infrequent and there is no service at 9.30am.

If, however, you live at the other end of the village which comes under Woking, you can set off at 9.05am as before!
Nova Atkinson
Waterperry Lane
Chobham

First printed in: Woking News and Mail

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