parish

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Winter Weather Advice and Emergency Contacts

This is a timely reminder that this website has a section containing advice and emergency contacts and this has been updated for the 2019/20 season.

This information can be found clicking the snowflake icon in the right hand column headed Winter Weather Advice or by clicking on this link. 

Here you will find practical precautionary measures and details of how to contact service providers such as electricity and water companies.

The village has a team of volunteers who will do their best to assist residents if in need, and their  contact details can be found on the above link.

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Update On Guildford Society’s Dunsfold Relief Road Proposal Through Surrey Hills AONB

This is an update on an earlier news item regarding a suggestion by the Guildford Society for a relief road linking the proposed housing development at Dunsfold Aerodrome with Milford Station and the A3. Please see https://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?p=11482  for background.

At the time of publishing this news item a response was awaited from Colin Kemp, Surrey County Council deputy leader, who had indicated he was prepared to consider whether a feasibility study should be held into the Guildford Society proposal. Cllr Kemp has since responded in the following terms:

“Although I was aware this idea had been looked into before I was not up to date with this proposal or the details. I am not above being open and re-looking at any proposal to make sure the correct decision that as originally made was correct at the time and the situation has not changed, I will not just say no because somebody else said no, if I am asked a question I will review the situation before giving a response.

This will entail me asking officers to brief me on the original report and findings, I will then ask questions and wait for responses and this is what I am in the process of doing. I will report back to the local committee when I have done this work.

I can only imagine the upset this proposal caused and for that I apologise but I have been asked a question and I will do the work before responding.”

Colin Kemp
Deputy Leader

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Parish Council Challenges Dunsfold Relief Road Proposal Across Surrey Hills AONB

A proposal to drive a new road through the heart of the Surrey Hills at Hambledon to relieve anticipated traffic congestion and HGV issues when Dunsfold Aerodrome is developed into housing is being fiercely opposed by Hambledon Parish Council.

The suggestion from the Guildford Society was presented at a recent meeting at Waverley council and despite Surrey Highways officers rejecting the idea, county councillors agreed to give the matter further consideration.

It envisages a new highway from Loxhill on the outskirts of Dunsfold at Hook House Lane, across the hills and fields of Burgate Farm and round the flanks of Hydon’s Ball to emerge on to the Hambledon Road at Feathercombe. It would then use Hambledon Road and Station Lane to reach a new “Milford Parkway” station and the A3

The Guildford Society, a registered charity with the stated aim of preserving and enhancing the environment of Guildford, submitted a written question to the Waverley Local Committee, which comprises members of both Surrey and Waverley councils.

In a covering letter, Alistair Smith, chairman of the society, wrote: “The link scheme we propose, some 12 kms long, is likely to be complex, expensive and controversial, as part of it would necessarily pass through some sensitive countryside and would need to be treated appropriately”.

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Training offered in Hambledon for use of life-saving defibrillators

Training in the use of defibrillators (AEDs) is being offered to residents following the installation of one inside the former telephone kiosk at the Hydestile Crossroads.

This takes the number of defibrillators in the village area to five; outside the village shop, on the exterior wall of the Merry Harriers, at St Peter’s Church, at Hambledon Football Club’s ground at Badger Park, and now at Hydestile.

Alison Martin, a Busbridge Parish councillor who helped arrange for the AED (automated external defibrillator) to be installed in the traditional red kiosk – which has also undergone renovation in the process – has arranged for a training session to be held in the meeting room at St Peter’s Church, Church Lane, Hambledon, on Saturday September 28th.

The training will be given by an expert from the London-based Barts City Life Saver organisation, a charity that teaches life saving skills and originated from St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The session begins at 11am with basic life saving training, then AED training at 2pm followed by baby and child resuscitation at 3pm. Participants can opt to attend the whole session, or part.

AED’s are used on people suffering from sudden cardiac arrest and, along with Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, can greatly increase survival rates.

Training will be free to the Hydestile volunteers on the Busbridge Parish Council-sponsored rota, but to all others there will be a nominal cost of £20 per person to cover the costs of the trainer travelling to and from London and a donation to the charity’s work.

Anyone in the village can register to attend. Please contact Alison Martin at email [email protected] or by phone on 01483 893619.

If you would like to know more about the work of the charity please visit www.bartscitylifesaver.org

 

 

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A New View Of An Old School

Hambledon Nursery School has a strong association with residents of the village. Many helped turn the former Church of England state primary school, which closed its doors in 1983, into what it is today.

Their initiative and enterprise led to the purchase of the Victorian school building and playground in the lovely rural setting of Rock Hill. And they were responsible for its transformation into a  nursery school for two to five-year olds, administered by a charitable trust.

Today the school is a popular choice for parents in Hambledon and beyond. Its strong links with the local community remain in place. Trustees are drawn from the village and include representatives from St Peter’s Church and the Parish Council.

So villagers may like to take a look at the school’s new website which can be found at www.hambledonnurseryschool.co.uk This is beautifully and colourfully illustrated with photographs of the school, including an interesting aerial view. You will find photographs of staff and of children, at work and play.

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Parish Magazine Pays Tribute To Two “Great Lives” in July Edition

The families of Mic Coleman and Pat Williams have expressed their gratitude to the people of Hambledon following the funerals of both, held in the past month.

They were much loved and respected residents and both contributed enormously to life in the village.

Mic’s funeral was held at Guildford Crematorium, followed by a gathering at the Merry Harriers. In a message afterwards, his family said: “We would like to thank all those who attended the service at the crematorium and those who sent condolences and thoughtful messages”

Pat’s funeral was held in Hambledon at St Peter’s Church and her sister Margaret Romney said that the love and friendship in the village had been “overwhelming”.

The lives of both have been celebrated in earlier articles on this website. The July edition of the Parish Magazine carries the tributes paid to both at their funerals. It will be on sale at the village shop from tomorrow (Saturday June 29th).

                                                               

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Proposal to Replace Fire-Damaged Hambledon House

A planning application to demolish Hambledon House and replace it with a new building has been received by Waverley Borough Council, the local planning authority.

This follows the fire that devastated the large Vann Lane property in January of last year, leaving it uninhabitable and beyond repair.

The proposal is for a house of similar size but of different proportion. The new property, if approved, would be set back further from the road and with a lower profile.

Full details of the application can be found on the planning section of the Waverley Borough Council website where there is an opportunity to comment until a deadline of June 27. The application number is WA/2019/0671. All comment must be on planning grounds.

Hambledon Parish Council has been consulted on the proposed application and a site visit has been held. It will consider the application at its June meeting. The application will be determined by Waverley Borough Council.

Details can be found here.

 

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Local Beers, Local Bands – It’s The Merry Harriers Beer Festival

Local beers and ciders and local bands will feature at a Spring Beer Festival to be held at the village pub over the weekend of Friday May 30th to Sunday June 2nd.

The Merry Harriers has sourced a range of bitters and ciders from breweries in Surrey and neighbouring counties which will be served from a marquee in the pub garden.

In addition, Toxic Sausage will be playing on the Saturday evening. A popular covers band which regularly performs at the fete ball, it features village resident Mike Blanchard on keyboard.

On Sunday afternoon another local favourite, the LuxDeLux blues band, will be performing. Featuring Jim Luck on vocals, this band has been playing in the Godalming area for many years to great acclaim.

Music will be outside if weather permits.

It is expected that comedy routines will be performed on the Friday evening, yet to be confirmed.

Hot dogs will be served from a barbecue throughout the festival.

Entry is free. The festival hours are 4pm to 11pm on Friday and Saturday and 4pm to 8pm on Sunday.

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Tuesley Farm Grant Gives Green-Fingered Benefits To Nursery School

Kate Walford, head teacher of Hambledon Nursery, reports on how a grant from the Hall Hunter Foundation has helped transform the school’s vegetable garden and pond.

The work was carried out by volunteers from the local Hall Hunter-run Tuesley Farm, growers of soft fruit.

“Thanks to a very generous donation from the Hall Hunter Foundation we have been able to revitalise and enhance the outside space at the nursery.

We are thrilled to have been able to gain raised beds in our vegetable garden. A working team visited the nursery over the Easter holiday and set about laying paving slabs and building up the beds out of large wooden sleepers. A huge lorry arrived delivering enormous bags of soil and the team filled the wooden beds ready for use as soon as the nursery returned for the start of the summer term.

The nursery staff and children were so excited to see the results and we have already planted potatoes and pumpkins into the space.

In addition to this project, the team from Tuesley Farm made us a pathway around our two ponds in our environmental garden which will help the children to access the area for pond dipping and bug hunting more easily.

Finally, we received a new wooden picnic bench for our playground from which to serve drinks in the warmer summer months. The nursery now eagerly awaits a delivery of a large collection of wooden blocks that we can use to build enclosures and dens that the Hall Hunter Foundation have so generously purchased for the nursery.

We are so grateful for the work carried out and for the awarded fund that we have been able to use to further improve and enhance our beautiful outside area at the nursery.”

The Hall Hunter Foundation was set up in 2011 and raises funds in support of good causes which are then donated to a range of local charities.

Hambledon Nursery School, a registered charity, is a thriving nursery school for children aged two to five and was formerly the village primary school at Rock Hill, Hambledon Road. When the school closed in the 1980s a village-led initiative secured its Victorian classrooms and playground for the benefit of local families and it reopened as a nursery several years later.

 

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Local Borough Council Election Results

The Conservatives have lost overall control of Waverley Borough Council.

Witley and Hambledon Ward returned two Tory councillors, although only a handful of votes separated them from a challenge by an Independent candidate.

The result, as reported by Waverley Borough Council, is as follows.

  • George Adam Davies, Labour Party – 267 votes
  • Jan Floyd-Douglass, Conservative Party candidate – 617 votes – ELECTED
  • Maxine Beatrice Gale, Independent – 601 votes
  • Trevor James Sadler, Conservative Party candidate – 615 votes – ELECTED
  • Total number of ballot papers verified: 1225
  • Electorate: 3007
  • Turnout: 40.7%

 

Following the local government elections on Thursday (May 2nd) the count was held today.

Across the Borough there were gains for the Liberal Democrats and the Farnham Residents party.

The Conservatives had 23 candidates returned. Farnham Residents Association had 15, Liberal Democrats 14, Labour 2 and there was one Independent – a combined total of 32.

The full results can be found on the Waverley Borough Council website by clicking on the following link.

https://www.waverley.gov.uk/info/200138/elections/2153/results_for_borough_elections_-_thursday_2_may_2019

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Merry Harriers Installs Defibrillator To Pub Wall For Use In An Emergency

A defibrillator has been installed on the external wall of the Merry Harriers pub and is available for public use in an emergency.

Danielle Montgomery-Page, pub manager, said that it had been decided to provide the potentially life-saving device as the pub now caters for an increasing number of guests staying in its accommodation as well as local customers, cyclists and walkers.

Our photograph shows the defibrillator in position secured to the pub’s front wall, on the left side of the building.

Defibrillators, also known as AEDs (Automated External Defibrillator), are used on people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, a major cause of premature death. The device detects the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, delivers an electric shock (defibrillation) to re-establish the heartbeat.

They are increasingly common, in places of work and in public. In Hambledon there are already defibrillators available on the wall outside the village shop, at St Peter’s Church and at Hambledon Football Club’s ground at Badger Park.

It is expected that another will soon be installed inside the decommissioned red telephone kiosk at the Hydestile Crossroads, which is currently undergoing renovation.

Although the devices are easy to use and instructions are given when it is activated, courses are also available and a number of villagers have already received basic training in their operation.

Further information can be found here

 

 

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Annual Village Meeting Will Hear From Police Commander And Discuss Speeding

Hambledon’s Annual Village Meeting, hosted by the Parish Council at the Village Hall this Thursday evening,  is to be addressed by Inspector Gary Smith, Waverley Borough Commander for Surrey Police.

He will give an overview of policing in the borough as well as deal with concerns about speeding traffic in the village.

The Parish Council has been exploring various road traffic initiatives and has held meetings with police and Surrey County Council highways engineers in recent months. However, it has been made clear that no traffic calming measures are likely to be introduced.

Budget restraints and a lack of statistical evidence to indicate that Hambledon has a speeding problem have been cited as reasons why the village can expect little in the way of new measures. The council had been exploring a proposal for a 20mph speed restriction in the centre.

The Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity to ask questions of our borough commander as well as hear more about what the Parish Council has been trying to achieve.

There will also be an opportunity to consider whether Hambledon wants to set up a Community Speed Watch where volunteers, with police training, use detection devices to check on the speed of vehicles in the village. Those caught above the limit are sent warning letters.

This would also be a means of determining whether speeding is a real issue and not just anecdotal and would help reinforce the case for traffic calming measures.

The scheme would have to be run by villagers and without sufficient volunteers it will not happen.

Those interested in taking part will be asked to sign their names at the end of the meeting, which will also hear annual reports from the Parish Council and village clubs and organisations.

Refreshments will be served from 7.30pm and the meeting starts at 8pm. (See previous news item for more information)

Details will also be given about taking part in the annual village clean-up, which takes places on Saturday (April 27th) followed at around noon by a parish barbecue outside the village shop.

All are welcome at the Annual Meeting, the clean-up and the barbecue.

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A New Lease Of Life For Hydestile’s Red Telephone Kiosk

The red telephone kiosk at Hydestile crossroads is being given a make-over after it was decommissioned as a working pay phone.

The kiosk is a familiar and much-loved landmark at the entrance to the village and was at risk of being removed by BT. It is on the border of Hambledon parish but just inside the boundary of neighbouring Busbridge.

 

Fortunately, Busbridge Parish Council has undertaken to preserve the box by financing a renovation before the expected installation of a defibrillator for public use in an emergency.

This work is currently underway and is being carried out by a professional restorer (Ralph Restorations) who works from the back of his 1960s Austin A35 van, which is pictured here parked at Hydestile beside the kiosk.  A familiar sight on Britain’s roads in years gone by, it was an Austin A35 that featured more recently in several Wallace and Gromit animated films.

 

 

For several years Busbridge Parish Council has paid towards BT’s continued maintenance of the kiosk as a working pay phone. However, so few calls were made that the council decided to end this agreement and instead to “adopt” the box under a BT scheme, to ensure it remained in place as a distinctive feature of the rural cross roads landscape.

Under this scheme the ownership of the kiosk is transferred to the parish council for a nominal fee and BT undertake to maintain the working light inside.

The only other red kiosk left in the immediate area is the one in Hambledon, outside the shop and Post Office on Cricket Green. Hambledon Parish Council succeeded in getting the box “Listed” as a heritage feature by Historic England and it remains in working order although it no longer accepts coins.

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Annual Village Meeting and Parish Clean-Up and Barbecue – All Welcome

Hambledon’s Annual Village Meeting takes place on the evening of Thursday April 25th and all are welcome to come along.

This is an opportunity to hear a round-up of the past year’s activities from all of the village organisations, clubs and groups as well as a report from the Parish Council, which hosts the meeting.

Refreshments including wine, tea and coffee will be available from 7.30 and this is a chance to chat to village friends and neighbours before the meeting itself starts at 8pm at the Village Hall.

There will be a short presentation concerning the efforts made by the Parish Council to address concerns about speeding in the village and other local traffic issues.

Residents may like to consider whether they want to form a Community Speed Watch Group. A minimum of six volunteers would be required. Speed detection devices would be provided by Surrey Police together with appropriate training.

Full details of this scheme can be found here: www.communityspeedwatch.org

Further details will be provided at the meeting. Mary Grove, a parish councillor, can be contacted in advance for those who wish to register at [email protected]

Although the parish council can make the necessary arrangements with Surrey Police and register the speedwatch group, it is for villagers to step forward and volunteer if they want this initiative to succeed.

Despite widespread concerns across the village about speeding, both Surrey Police and Surrey County Council Highways engineers have stated that there is no gathered evidence to support this belief. It is highly unlikely that any traffic calming measures can be introduced in Hambledon until there is data to support the proposal. Community Speed Watch is one way in which such evidence may be gathered.

The Village Meeting is followed two days later – on Saturday April 27th – with the parish clean-up ending with a community barbecue outside the Village Shop at noon. Volunteers are asked to collect litter in designated areas for which they can register at the Village Meeting. Bin bags and litter grabs will be provided and all rubbish will be removed by the local authority.

 

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Local Elections – Hambledon Parish Council Uncontested

There will be no election for Hambledon Parish Council next month as the seven available places are uncontested.

Waverley Borough Council, the electoral authority for the area, published the list of nominated candidates for borough, town and parish councils yesterday.

This can be found on the Parish Council section of this website here. https://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?page_id=166

It showed that six of the current seven parish councillors offered themselves for re-election – John Anderson, Mary Grove, Mike Parry, Stewart Payne, Sean Sinnott and Philip Underwood. Paul Pattinson, a parish councillor for 12 years, is standing down.

Only one other candidate put his name forward for nomination, Robin McKeith, who lives in Vann Lane.

This meant that there were seven candidates for the seven available places and Waverley duly posted a Notice of Uncontested Election.

Both current Waverley Borough councillors for the Witley and Hambledon ward are standing down. Four candidates for the two places were nominated – two Conservative, one Labour and one Independent. The election will take place for this and all other contested Borough wards, and town and parish councils, on May 2nd.

The existing parish council remains in place until that date.

Very few of the 20 parish and town councils in the Waverley area have contested elections as most only have enough candidates willing to stand as there are places available. Parish councillors are unpaid and do not stand for political parties.

A full list of candidates for wards and parishes can be found here. https://www.waverley.gov.uk/news/article/480/candidates_announced_for_local_elections

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Parish Council Gives Conditional Support to Orchard Farm Housing Proposal

Hambledon Parish Council has given its conditional support to a planning application to build nine houses, seven of them affordable, at Orchard Farm, Wormley Lane.

At its monthly meeting on Tuesday (April 2) councillors were unanimous in agreeing its response to Waverley Borough Council which, as the local planning authority, will determine the application.

Full details can be found on the Parish Council section on this website, under the heading Legislation and Planning. https://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?page_id=166

English Rural Housing Association is seeking approval for a scheme to build seven 1, 2 and 3-bedroom properties for affordable rent or shared ownership and two open-market bungalows. Priority will be given to local people with a connection to Hambledon.

This application follows the rejection of a previous proposal to build 17 homes – 12 affordable and 5 market – on the site, which occupies land between Wormley Lane and Petworth Road.

In its response, Hambledon Parish Council stated that it continued to support the provision of affordable housing in the village and noted the reduction in the size of the proposed development, which is on land within the Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Waverley would need to determine whether the proposal satisfies the requirements for it to be considered a rural exception site.

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