Dear Members
Well, another month has passed by, the days are getting longer and the first shoots are appearing on bushes and trees. Hooray, Spring is rapidly coming up on us!
You will have noticed the recent sad loss of “The Englishman’s Castle” from their shop in Church Street. In order to widen the range of occupiers who might lease the vacant property, the owners (Hague Investments), have submitted a planning application to broaden the permitted uses to include commercial, business, services and restaurant/takeaway. It would appear that no decision on the application has yet been made.
On Sunday, 14 April between 2 and 4pm we will be having our biannual Litter Pick. This will be centred on the car park in Leatherhead adjoining Randalls Road and lying between the Station and the Red House Grounds. My (black) car with grey picnic table will be parked next to the hedge. Many members will have their own “favoured” litter picking area but don’t be shy of trying out another. Julia Jarrett is in charge of the day and if you have any questions, do Message her on 07866 210645. As you probably know, we have a good stock of picker sticks and black bags. We just need the volunteers! Don’t forget the town itself, its alleyways and, even, the new planters.
Regarding the Planters, I have (sort of) got used to their size but not their sheer number. However, I have been assured by Councillor Vyvyan-Robinson that 15 are going to be moved into the Swan Centre. So, the next concern will centre on whether the plants will get enough light and water. We have been assured of a “Maintenance Budget” but only time will tell if it is adequate.
We are still awaiting some bright and interesting landscaping on the Plough Roundabout and I went to a meeting on this very subject on 2nd February with Cllr’s Tim Hall and Vyvyan-Robinson, Bahram Assadi from Surrey C.C., a representative from “Rainbow Gardening” and Mr. Grant Way, proprietor of the Plough Inn. It would seem that all the legal hurdles have been overcome and all that is now required is a time slot ……! It also seems that another long-awaited town improvement, the repair of the Clock on the High Street, is continuing to make progress, albeit slowly!
I am sure that 29 February is being awaited with considerable anxiety by many Leatherhead Residents. In the Theatre, from 7pm till 9pm, the latest Development Plans for “Transform Leatherhead” will be on display and representatives from our Council and their development partner (Kier) will be present to explain their proposals and to answer resident’s questions thereon. For people who are fairly new to Leatherhead, there is a lot of information online on the “Transform Leatherhead” website: https://transformleatherhead.com/
As some of you may have noticed, the LRA website is being gradually re-vamped. We are trying to eliminate repetition, generally bring it up-to-date and to improve its visual appeal. We hope to also reveal a new LRA logo, which will be more adaptable to online usage. We are very indebted to LRA member, Mrs. Carol Webster for this work.
And now two dates to put into the diary: The first is a regular LRA meeting in the Methodist Church in Leatherhead on Monday, 13 May at 7.30pm. Our speaker for the evening will be Mr. David Stoves who will give a talk on “Scams”, how they work and the dangers they represent. David did a training course with Buckinghamshire and Surrey Training Standards which qualifies him to speak about this blight on the computer age.
The other date is Thursday 18 April when a talk on the inside story of the Post Office scandal will be shown at our Leatherhead Theatre in Church Street. Nick Wallis – series consultant on the ITV Drama – will expertly chronicle the very latest twists and turns of the whole affair on this one-of-a-kind tour. It will be a more detailed and in-depth study of what we all saw on our televisions a month or so ago and one of the unfortunate victims, Seema Misra, will also be there.
With my best wishes to everyone,
Caroline (Brown) Chairman …… for another 10 months only!