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Please Water Your Young Trees!

Frances Fancourt - BRA Tree Warden Please water your young trees through this hot spell. Saplings and young trees planted in the past 1 - 3 years are really struggling to find water in this parched soil. They are also losing moisture through their leaves at a greater rate than usual. In this heat they need watering every 1 or 2 days. Pop outside and give them a big drink of water now. The Tree Wardens gave away trees at Village Day in 2021 and these trees are particularly vulnerable right now be...

Surrey Police - HMIC Inspection Report

In May when I wrote to you with my quarterly Commitments update, I mentioned that we had recently been inspected by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS, or HMIC for short). The HMIC regularly inspects every Police Force in the UK, acting as an independent body to ensure that we are efficient and effective in the service we offer to our communities. These inspections are known as Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) assessments and to...

Update on MVDC Local Plan

Christine Milstead reports The Examination of the Mole Valley Local Plan is underway.  It is divided into three Stages and began with Stage 1 on the 22nd June 2022 which examined the Plan’s Legal & Procedural Requirements; has the Plan been prepared with due regard to the appropriate legislation, procedures and regulations. The Inspector, Ms R Barrett, has subsequently announced that the Examination can proceed to Stage 2, provided additional studies to assess the Plan’s impacts on the ...

BRA Chairman - Peter Seaward receives Mole Valley Chairman's Certificate

Peter Seaward - Chairman of the Bookhams Residents' Association has been awarded the Mole Valley Chairman's Certificate for promoting Community Cohesion.  The citation reads: "Peter has been chair of the Bookham Residents Association for over fifteen years. He has led the association through the Bookham Neighbourhood Plan, the current draft local plan consultation and he has actively been involved with the Bookham Youth and Community Centre.However he is involved in so many more ways. ...

Village Sign Restored

We are pleased that announce that the Village Sign has been restored to its former glory at Lower Shott. Thanks go to Peter Seaward - BRA Chairman in arranging for a new sign to be made following a mounting bracket failure of the previous one and to David Belsham and his team for erecting the new one. The next stage is to see if we can arrange for illumination of the sign.    ...

Local Plan - HM Government Inspector's Initial Questions Published.

On 6th April 2022, the HM Government's Inspectors initial questions were published by Mole Valley District Council in the Examination documents on the Future Mole Valley website with the deadline for responses by the Council by 5pm on Friday 22nd April. Residents should note the observation from HM Inspectors in paragraphs 22 on Housing and 23 on Green Belt which are a major concern to residents.  At this stage we do not know whether these questions are the normal clarification requests pos...

Do you get your prescriptions from Boots pharmacy in Bookham High Street?

Simon Edge, BRA Director, reports: The BRA has been told about Resident's concerns at the withdrawal of the "managed repeat" prescription ordering service (i.e. when your pharmacy orders repeat descriptions from your GP on your behalf without you having to do anything) by Boots the Chemist in Bookham High Street.    Also that communications between Boots and our GP Surgeries need to improve.  These issues cause difficulties for residents when trying to order and then obt...

National Trust Tree Planting in Surrey

The National Trust fights against climate change Climate Change is affecting our heritage. The National Trust manages properties and places all over the country and is taking action to fight against climate change and protect our heritage into the future. James Brown, National Trust Archaeologist for London & South-East Region, and newly elected to the Society’s Council, has also shared a link to the Historic Environment Forum where climate change and other issues are discussed. And, thanks to...

Step into Mole Valley...

...and discover over 20 incredible walks in and around the Surrey Hills....

Simplified Parking Permits to be introduced by MVDC with special traders permit for Bookham

Simplified Parking Permits Coming Soon to Mole Valley Residents Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) are introducing a new, simplified structure for off-street parking permits across the district, reducing 14 available options to 4. Residents can choose from Gold, Silver, Bronze and Concessionary permits. The new scheme is being introduced to create a transparent and equitable approach. It will remove anomalies that meant near neighbours had vastly different off-street permit prices and it will r...

SCC's Keswick Care Home to Close

Following Surrey County Council's Cabinet meeting on 22nd February a decision was taken to close the Keswick care home in Bookham along with seven others. There is a suggestion that the site could be used for new adult care facilities and a commitment that the closure would not be sudden....

MVDC Boundary Commission Review delayed

Message from Mole Valley District CouncilAs I am sure you will be aware, we had been expecting the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to be publishing its draft recommendations for Mole Valley tomorrow (1st March). However, we have been advised that, along with a small number of other Councils, the LGBCE Board did not have sufficient time to consider the draft recommendations for Mole Valley at its February meeting and these have been deferred to March. As a result the LGB...

Draft Local Plan: Regulation 19 - BRA Response

Peter Seaward: BRA Chairman We attended the full MVDC Council meeting on 3rd February to hear the debate and observe the vote on whether the Mole Valley Local Plan now in the form of what is known as Regulation 19 should be passed and sent to the Government Planning Inspector for examination and possible approval. The debate was disappointing as it was discussed on strictly political party lines and although various Bookham Councillors made their contributions the outcome was as expected an...

Mole Valley District Council’s Local Plan approved for submission

On 3 February, the Council voted to submit its Draft Local Plan to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The submission will take place in the next few weeks and then a Planning Inspector will examine the plan for its legal compliance and soundness.This is the first time Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) has submitted a Local Plan in almost a quarter of a century and the first time it has submitted any planning document in a decade. The plan sets out a...

Streetsafe - a new initiative from Surrey Police

Message from Surrey Police StreetSafe is a pilot service for anyone to anonymously tell us about public places where you have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, eg street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, eg being followed or verbally abused.Please note: 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents.If something has happened to you or someone you know (including in public spaces online) you can call us on 101 or...

Hurrah – at Last - The Garstons Triangle Takes Shape!

Some two years ago we all feared that the triangle might be lost to development, posing a threat to Village Day and Bookham’s public outdoor events. Through the combined action of local residents, the Bookhams Residents’ Association (BRA), the Bookham Community Association (BCA), and liaising with both Surrey and Mole Valley Councils, we have now secured this area as a public space complete with benches and plantings.Just before Christmas two benches were fixed onto concrete bases, adding to...

BRA Representation to MVDC on the Draft Mole Valley Local Plan 2020-2037.

On 5th November the BRA submitted their formal representation to Mole Valley District Council Draft Local Plan - Regulation 19. The Document has been prepared on behalf of the BRA by Brian Madge Ltd - Planning Consultants.  The BRA are opposed to the development of the Green Belt as detailed in the report Executive Summary and Conclusions This representation is submitted on behalf of Bookhams Resident’s Association (BRA) and focuses upon the Draft Mole Valley Local Plan (as published for...

Surrey County Council approves £2.5 million funding for new Bookham Youth and Community Centre

Images above show a Computer Generated Image (CGI) of the new centre. This is not the final design and is for illustrative purposes only. At the meeting of the Surrey County Council Cabinet held on 23rd February, SCC approved the funding of £2.5M for the construction of a new shared-use building to replace the old Bookham Youth Centre on Lower Road. The new development at the Lower Road Rec has been designed to accommodate various community uses such as the Bookham Colts – yout...

Peter Seaward Receives Lavender Caterings’ “You’re Amazing Award”

Congratulations to Peter Seaward who wins Lavender Caterings’ “You’re Amazing” Award. Melanie Williams from Lavender Catering has awarded Peter Seaward, BRA Chairman, with her “You’re Amazing” award treat box this week. Melanie says “Peter and his team have worked tirelessly to ensure our village keeps going through all these lockdowns. BRA have supported our retailers, helped with grants for local businesses, flooding and environmental issues. We dropped off a ver...

The Garstons Triangle – MVDC Grants Asset of Community Value

In 2020 following a campaign by local people working in conjunction with the Bookham Community Association (BCA) and the Bookhams Residents’ Association (BRA) a joint appeal was made to Bookham residents requesting support to help safeguard the Garstons by having the parcel of land known as the Garstons Triangle as an Asset of Community Value. (Click here to read more in the 2020 Archive)We are pleased to announce that on 17th February 2021 the nomination to have the land at The Garstons ...

Local Information Services

There are a number of e-mail information and notification services available from MVDC, the Police etc. that residents may wish to subscribe to.  Clicking on the buttons to the right will take you to the service provider’s sign up page....

Looking After Bookham’s Green Spaces

Later this year the Bookham Youth Centre will be closing but fortunately the BRA Tree Warden team have been able to rescue some of the shrubs and plants and relocated them to the area outside of the library which had become almost devoid of plants as people walked through.Here’s  “before” and “after” photos of the work the Tree Wardens have completed.Excellent!Before:...

Bookham Station Platform One Accessibility

Tunnel Car Park to Platform One Footpath Accessibility: BRA Member Andrew Matthews reports on the options. Bookham Station is Grade II listed, and lies at the North of the Bookham villages. It has long been an issue that the London bound Platform One cannot be accessed by people using wheelchairs or mobility scooters, due to the lack of facilities at the station.The ideal solution is to provide a new footbridge with lifts, designed to be sympathetic to the station architecture, and car...

Future Mole Valley Draft Local Plan Update

Update from Peter Seaward – BRA ChairmanThe BRA has been heavily involved in lobbying the Council to get a fair deal for Bookham from the Future Mole Valley Draft Local Plan. The BRA recognises, and wants the Council to respect, the effort and views expressed by all in the village as part of their engagement.By far the largest number of responses came from Bookham. We have been asking when we can see a summary of the results as MVDC will have to ensure that when this Plan goes to an Inspector ...

Future Mole Valley Draft Local Plan: BRA Response Submitted

We have finished our response to the Draft Local Mole Valley Local Plan and delivered it to the Council on Monday, 23rd March.I need to thank many people who spent far too many hours of their personal time responding to this weighty document. Also thanks to Richard Davey and Dan Coffin of IliveinBookham Facebook and web sites did so much in providing and encouraging all in the village to respond individually to Mole Valley Council.Les Huett and Carolyn Elson with Dan Coffin and Richard Davey hel...