The Parish Council warmly invites everyone in the village to the Annual Parish Meeting, taking place in the Village Hall on Thursday 23rd April. This informal evening is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate everything that makes Hambledon special.

Representatives from a variety of local organisations will share short updates highlighting achievements, activities, and successes from the past 12 months. It’s a great chance to learn more about what’s happening in the village and discover new ways to get involved.

Doors open at 7.30pm and the meeting starts at 8pm, so come along early to enjoy a drink, and have a chat with neighbours before the meeting begins. Whether you’re new to the village or a long-time resident, everyone is welcome.

Following the Thursday evening, we’ll also be hosting our Annual Village Litter Pick, taking place on Saturday 25th April from 10am. This is a fantastic way to help keep our village looking its best and as a thank you to all volunteers, the morning will finish with a well-earned BBQ.

You’ll be able to sign up on Thursday night or in the village shop afterwards.

On Thursday 7 May 2026, elections for the new West Surrey Shadow Unitary Authority will be held. Registered local government electors will be able to vote for two candidates representing Waverley Eastern Villages.

Those elected will go on to form the new Unitary Authority (West Surrey Council). The new council will replace Surrey County Council and the Boroughs of Waverley, Guildford, Woking, Surrey Heath, Runnymede and Spelthorne. These county and borough councils will cease to exist on 1 April 2027.

Waverley Borough Council has opened the consultation on its emerging Local Plan. This is an opportunity for residents to provide feedback on the document that will shape the future development of the borough. The consultation is now open and will run until Monday, 8th December.

Your input will help shape the future of the borough. By participating in the consultation, you can influence decisions that will impact the area’s growth and development over the coming years.

The Local Plan is a key planning document that guides how land is used and developed across Waverley. It sets out policies and proposals that act as a roadmap for the borough’s future, helping to ensure that new development supports local needs and reflects Waverley’s long-term vision. As part of this process, the Council has published an Issues and Options document, which identifies the main planning challenges facing the borough and presents potential ways to address them. Waverley has asked for feedback on this document.

You can find out more here online:

Hambledon Parish Council has been notified by Surrey County Council’s Countryside Access team of Notices of Section 31(6) of the Highways Act 1980 relating to land on both Burgate Farm and Pockford Estate. This notice allows a landowner to acknowledge the existence of rights of way already in place across their land, but prevents any new ones from being created. The landowner deposits a map with SCC showing the extent of their land and what rights exist across it. Hambledon Parish Council will look into whether there are any rights of way that have been missed off the maps. 

If you are a regular user of the footpaths or bridleways across these areas, please take a look at the deposited maps to ensure your favourite exists.

Further details are available on the Countryside Access website under the Landowner deposits tab and can be searched for via the name of Burgate Farm or Pockford Estate.

Local Government is changing in Surrey. There are currently 12 councils within Surrey, these will be reorganised in order to simplify the services provided to the public. Waverley Borough Council is holding a number of in person sessions at 4 venues across the borough to explain the proposals. Two options are being considered: reorganising Surrey into either two or three unitary authorities. Surrey County Council support having two (East and West Surrey), whilst Waverley support having three (East, West and North Surrey).

The sessions will be hosted by the Leader of Waverley Borough Council, Cllr Paul Follows, together with local ward councillors. These sessions will explain what Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is, outline the different options being considered, and show you how to get involved.

You’ll also have the chance to ask questions about what these changes could mean for you, your family, and your community.

Following the retirement of Cllr Stewart Payne after 24 years of service to Hambledon Parish Council, there is now a vacant seat on the Council. Waverley Borough Council’s Electoral Services team have confirmed that the official Notice of Vacancy of 14 working days has been completed with no request for an election from the electorate. This means the Council will now move to co-opt a suitable candidate. 

An update on Wednesday 12th February: Hambledon Parish Council has had some positive news about the road closure. Surrey County Council believe they have fixed the issue causing the water to pour down the road. SCC’s drainage team have been on site today and cleared a root that had grown into and blocked a drain. Thames Water now has until Friday to backfill the hole and make the road passable.

The advice in the Bernard Cribbins comedy hit song The Hole in the Ground was: “Don’t dig there, dig it elsewhere”.

In Hambledon, as fed-up residents will know, the holes in its roads are no laughing matter. As for where they are being dug, it is not just “there” but “elsewhere” as well.

Hambledon Road at Rock Hill has been blocked since January 29, when Thames Water arrived to fix a recurring water leak. The hole is still there, the road remains impassable, and no one has been on site for a week.

Since then, there have been closures, for different reasons, on Church Lane and Hambledon Road at Hydestile. New Road approaching Witley Station is due to be closed for four days from next Monday, again by Thames Water. All this follows many other closures this winter, leaving villagers fed up and frustrated.

A three bedroom property on the new Livery Close development has become available to rent. Applications are being accepted between Thursday 30th January – Sunday 2nd February. Applicants must be registered for housing with Waverley Borough Council and those with a connection to Hambledon are prioritised. Further details are available via English Rural.

This winter, Hambledon has already experienced disruptive weather, and more is forecast.

Tomorrow (Saturday January 4th), a brief period of heavy snow is predicted for the late afternoon and evening, followed by heavy rain.

It is worth remembering that Hambledon Parish Council has an Emergency Plan in place in the event of severe disruption or health risk and details of this follow.

If you need help, other than that of the Emergency Services, please contact Stewart Payne, chair of the council and he and other volunteers will do their best to lend a hand where needed. Contact details are at the end of this article.

• Despite the problems snow can bring, it also creates beauty, as this photo of Church Lane taken in January 2010 shows.

Hambledon Parish Council has an Emergency Plan procedure in place in the event of harsh winter weather bringing disruption to the village.

However, there are many simple precautions villagers can take to make sure they can cope with cuts to power supplies and phone lines, a problem that has affected Hambledon in the recent past and usually caused by high winds or heavy snow.

A public consultation on the the first draft of Surrey County Council’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan has been published. Surrey County Council would love to hear from you. Back in February 2024, Surrey County Council first asked for input to the plan. The plan helps shape the way local highway authorities identify how to make the rights of way network more useful to the public and gives a strategic approach to managing public access. Many residents took part in the initial survey which will have been used to inform this new plan.

As listed on the Rights of Way website the plan is required to:

• Refer to other relevant plans and strategies that may affect use of the network, including structure plans; local plans; healthy living; leisure; tourism; transport and community strategies
• Assess where the existing rights of way network is considered to be deficient and where it could be changed to better reflect current needs
• Assess the extent to which the rights of way network is accessible to blind and partially sighted people and those with mobility problems
• Indicate how any identified deficiencies could be remedied

The first draft of the plan can be found here. Surrey County Council have asked for feedback via a survey which is available until Sunday 9th February 2025, so there is plenty of time to consider it:

Rights of Way Improvement Plan Statutory Consultation – Surrey County Council – Citizen Space

More information can be found on the main website here.

After many years of campaigning, the whole of Hambledon village is now within an HGV exclusion zone. This means that a driver/owner of a lorry over 7.5 t weight is breaking the law if it enters the zone, unless on a local delivery or operating from a base within the zone.

Emergency and public services vehicles are exempted.

The ban replaces the previous advisory notification, a blue sign largely ignored that simply stated a road was unsuitable for HGVs. Now, all roads at the entrance of the zone have signs with a red diagonal line.

Hambledon resident Paul Osborne, Surrey County Councillor Kevin Deanus and Hambledon Parish Council pressed for a ban repeatedly over the past few years. The exclusion zone required careful consideration to ensure that, in banning HGVs from Hambledon’s narrow lanes, other nearby villages were not blighted. There also had to be a public consultation.

The result is one of the largest HGV exclusion zones in the country and covers not just Hambledon but all adjacent parishes. First time offenders will receive an official warning but repeat offenders can be fined or prosecuted.

Work is well underway to restore Bridleway 186, which runs from beside the Marry Harriers towards Enton and Hambledon Common.

Hambledon Parish Council, supported by residents concerned at the appalling state of this bridleway, successfully lobbied Surrey County Council which, after a visit by a rights of way officer, agreed to prioritise repairs.

Much of the route from Hambledon Road to Hambledon Common had become so waterlogged and muddy that it was almost impossible to walk.

Four years ago, village volunteers had tried, with some success, to improve the state of what otherwise would be a popular walking and riding route. However, it became clear that a lasting solution required major works beyond the skills and budget of villagers.

Surrey County Council agreed to fund this and contracted the work out, with a financial contribution from the Parish Council’s neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Hambledon Nursery School kindly agreed to allow the contactors the use of its car park for its machinery during the summer holidays. It will receive some surface repairs in return.

Heavy goods vehicles using the village’s narrow lanes as a cut through could soon be a thing of the past as Surrey County Council proposes an exclusion zone which will include all of Hambledon, Hydestile and Vann.

Hambledon Parish Council has lobbied SCC on this issue over many years, calling for measures to restrict HGV movements unless making local deliveries. In addition, Paul Osborne, a Hydestile resident living on Salt Lane, a rural route blighted by HGVs, has tirelessly campaigned on the issue, providing compelling evidence of inappropriate use by large lorries.

In recent years, Kevin Deanus, our ward county councillor, has taken the issue up at County Hall, pressing for an enforceable ban.

Finally, we have a result. SCC Highways Department has picked up on the issue and, after extensive research, has published details of the proposed exclusion zone. Hambledon Parish Council has already responded positively to the proposal and residents have the opportunity to express their own support, objection or comment. Details of how to do this can be found at the end of this article.

As Hambledon’s 503 bus service enters its final months of operation, more details have been announced about its on-demand replacement.

Over the past year, Surrey County Council has been rolling out “Surrey Connect”. It will arrive in Godalming in September, when the Hambledon to Milford, Godalming and Guildford timetabled route will cease.

Instead of Hambledon’s scheduled service, which operates just three days a week, passengers can instead request an accessible electric mini-bus to collect them from designated pick-up points in the village to anywhere in the Godalming zone.

It is already available for journeys to and from Cranleigh.

The new service will operate Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm and on Saturdays between 8am and 6pm. Proposed pick-up point include the village shop, Malthouse Lane, Merry Harriers and the Hydestile Crossroads.

This type of bus operation is known as Digital Demand Responsive Transport (DDRT). Passengers need to registered for an account, and then can use either a call centre number, a mobile phone app or go online to book a single or return journey.

All journeys must be within the greater Godalming area (boundaries yet to be announced) with an adult single fare ranging from £2 to £6, depending on the distance travelled. For onward journeys, passengers would need to request a DDRT from a neighbouring zone.